Two Civil Society groups have called on the government to deepen the implementation of accepted human rights recommendations as the country prepares to appear before the UN Human Rights Council again in 2027.
They have also urged Parliament to swiftly pass the Code of Conduct for Public Officers Bill.
The Executive Director of the POS Foundation, Jonathan Owusu, and the Executive Director of the Africa Centre for International Law and Accountability, William Nyarko, made the call in separate interviews on assessing Ghana's progress on recommendations received during the fourth cycle Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in January 2023.
UPR
The UPR is a unique, state-driven peer review process of the UN Human Rights Council that assesses the human rights records of all 193 UN Member States every four to five years.
It involves countries presenting their progress, receiving questions and recommendations from other UN members, and then deciding whether to accept them for future implementation.
The UPR aims to improve human rights situations by promoting accountability and encouraging states to fulfil their human rights obligations under the UN Charter, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and relevant treaties.
Mr Owusu explained that the country had made notable strides in the criminal justice sector, citing the recent passage of the Community Service Bill by Parliament following sustained engagement among the POS Foundation, the Ministry of the Interior and the Parliamentary Committee on Defence and Interior.
“We are asking for immediate assent by the President to the Community Service Bill, because it is an important bill that needs to receive effective implementation,” he said.
He stated that the law would, for the first time, give judges the discretion to impose community service for offences carrying terms below three years.
He further explained that the Right to Information Act, 2019 (Act 989), recommended during the third UPR cycle, had similarly been passed, adding, “Gradually, gradually, some of these recommendations within the criminal justice sector are being adhered to”.
He flagged the Code of Conduct for Public Officers Bill, recommended by Nigeria in 2023, as a priority requiring urgent parliamentary action.
“We, therefore, urge Parliament to ensure that the public officers and conduct bill is passed immediately,” he said.
According to Mr Owusu, recommendations on women's rights, children's rights and disability rights formed the three largest categories received during the fourth cycle review, but Ghana had, despite its past glory, become stagnant in this area.
On the Persons with Disability Act, 2006 (Act 715), he said that a 10-year moratorium requiring public buildings to be disability-friendly had lapsed with minimal compliance, adding,
"It is only during road construction and footbridges that we see these changes implemented”.
Mr Owusu also flagged environmental degradation from illegal mining as an area that had received limited recommendations despite mounting health consequences.
"Newborn babies are being affected. Lives of people staying in mining sites are also being affected," he said, citing reports of mercury contamination and rising dialysis cases.
On press freedom, Mr Owusu said journalists must be allowed to operate without intimidation, adding, “If you feel that somebody might have said something that is not accurate, you have the laws under civil litigation rather than threatening them and arresting them,” he said.
Acceptance
Mr Nyarko traced Ghana's shifting position on the death penalty, from outright rejection of all related recommendations in 2008 and 2012 to full acceptance in 2023, describing it as a significant movement.
He described the opposite trend on sexual minority rights as a retrogression, saying, “In 2023, Ghana rejected every recommendation, even including ones that they had accepted in 2017, so in that respect, there's been a retrogression."
Mr Nyarko said the Office of the Special Prosecutor appeared to have stagnated under the current administration.
“We are not seeing in-regime accountability being pursued by the OSP. There is a lot more that needs to be done in the fight against corruption,” he added.
