The Ghanaian authorities have failed to protect and fulfil the human rights of hundreds of victims of witchcraft accusations and ritual attacks that forced them to flee their communities fearing for their lives, said Amnesty International in a new report.
Ghana’s new President John Mahama and his government must seize the opportunity of his mandate to ensure the promotion and protection of human rights including gender equality and women’s rights, the right to freedom of peaceful assembly, and the right to a healthy environment for everyone in the country, Amnesty International said today, as he is sworn into office.
This petition is a joint effort from the members of the Coalition Against Withcraft Accusations (CAWA):
Amnesty International Ghana recently hosted its Annual Planning Meeting from 7th to 11th February 2024, reaffirming its commitment to safeguarding human rights across Ghana. The gathering brought together AI Ghana’s board, staff, and regional coordinators from all regions of Ghana to strategize and discuss plans for the year moving forward.
The Ghanaian Parliament and the government should immediately withdraw the proposed Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill 2021 from consideration. This Bill gravely contravenes the principles of equality and non-discrimination, the rights to freedom of expression, association and privacy, and the prohibition of torture enshrined in the 1992 Constitution of Ghana and international human rights treaties ratified by the country. More specifically, it denies LGBTI persons their inviolable human dignity, guaranteed to all persons under section 15 of the country’s Constitution.
On November 18, 2023, Amnesty International Ghana (AI Ghana), under the leadership of the organization’s Growth and Activism Coordinator, Stephany Boateng, and the Human Rights Education and Youth Coordinator, James Selasi Quarshie, conducted a Human Rights Education and Membership Orientation at the Cape Coast Nurses and Midwifery Training College in the Central Region of Ghana. The event, attended by students from the college, featured the presence of the Central Regional Director for the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Mr. Daniel Amosah, Amnesty International Ghana Board Member Madam Gloria Emeka, and the Central Regional Coordinator for AI Ghana, Miss Estherla Banson.
On 15th July, 2023, the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) Youth Group led by the National Youth Coordinator for Growth, Lewis Ampem-Darko, put together a workshop on activism at the African Union Gardens on campus. It was a truly refining moment as the students were well inspired and motivated to take action in the defense of human rights.
Students of Yikene JHS in the Upper East Region have been educated on Sexual and Gender-Based Violence by Amnesty International Ghana. It was organised by the regional coordinator Vida Anoya and supported by some other members. New members were also recruited at the event.
On 16th August, 2023, the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) Youth group led by the National Youth Coordinator for Growth, Lewis Ampem-Darko, paid a visit to the J.H.S section of the Deduako M/A school to deliver in-depth insight on the pressing issues of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV), highlighting mainly on its devastating effects and effective ways to deal with it in the event of an abuse.
Amnesty International is issuing an urgent call for an immediate ceasefire by all parties in the occupied Gaza Strip and Israel to prevent further loss of civilian lives and to ensure access to life-saving aid for people in Gaza amidst an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe.