The Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) has backed a suit by 11 West African nationals over their detention in Ghana.
The Commissioner of CHRAJ, Joseph Whittal said the suit is key to ensuring clarity as there are many grey areas in the memorandum of understanding that brought them to the country.
“I am happy about this challenge because it seeks clarity on this issue. There are so many grey areas in the MOU that has resulted in their detention, and we need some answers. It will give us the facts from the government side so the Ghanaian public can be educated,” he said on TV3’s NewDay on September 18.
The government of Ghana said on Monday that 14 West Africans deported to the country from the US have been sent to their home countries, where lawyers representing some of the men say they face a risk of persecution or torture.
News of the West Africans’ deportation to Ghana emerged last week, sparking a lawsuit by US lawyers. They argue the move was an attempt by US authorities to evade their own immigration laws that prevent some of the men from being returned to countries where their well-being could be at risk.
The CHRAJ Commissioner, who hesitated to fault the government of Ghana for violating article 75 without parliament’s ratification, added that the use of the word temporary in the agreement means they are not going to be permanently stationed in the country.
Meanwhile, lawyers of eleven West African nationals who are challenging their detention in Ghana have told an Accra High Court that, contrary to claims by President Mahama and Foreign Affairs Minister Okudzeto Ablakwa, they remain in custody in Ghana and have not been repatriated to their home countries.
Lead Counsel Oliver Barker Vormawor has filed two ex parte applications: an injunction restraining the Ghana government from repatriating the US deportees, and a habeas corpus application seeks an order to compel the government to produce them in court.
The eleven West African nationals comprise of four Nigerians, three Togolese, two Malians, one Gambian and one Liberian.
During a virtual hearing on Thursday, September 18, Barker Vormawor argued that there was no legal basis for the continuous detention of the foreign nationals, adding that there was no court order to prove the same.
He noted that time was of the essence since President Mahama had through a media engagement indicated that the deportees had been repatriated to their home countries, with the Foreign Affairs Minister affirming same during a separate press conference.
He added that contrary to statements, the US deportees were still being held in military bases in the country, adding that the injunction application would prevent them from getting repatriated to their home countries, where they could face torture, persecution, among others.
But presiding judge Priscilla Dikro Ofori, sitting in for the substantive judge, indicated that she disagreed with the applications being ex parte.
Barker Vormawor explained that due to the long detention of his client, he was seeking an order through the ex parte motion to get the security agencies to produce his clients since they’ve not had access to them.
Justice Ofori, however, adjourned the proceedings to September 23 to consider the two applications by the lawyers for the deportees.
