No written agreement covers GITMO 2 - AG tells Supreme Court
The Attorney General (AG) and Minister of Justice has revealed that there was no written document between Ghana and the United States on the hosting of two former Guantanamo Bay (Gitmo) detainees in Ghana.
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According to the AG, a diplomatic communication described as “Note Verbale” was made to that effect.
The AG who was represented by the acting Solicitor General, Helen Ziwu, made this known to the Supreme Court on Wednesday when the Court ordered the state to produce the document that allowed the Gitmo Two to be transferred to Ghana for the court to determine whether it’s a privilege document.
Graphic Online’s Emmanuel Ebo Hawkson reported from court that the determination would be done in camera at the next sitting on July 6, 2016.
The AG’s appearance in court follows a threat by the apex court that it would rule on the case should it fail to turn up at the hearing.
Margaret Banful and Henry Nana Boakye dragged the Attorney-General and the Interior Minister to the Supreme Court for a declaration that the continued stay of Mahmud Umar Bin Atef and Muhammed Salih Al-Dhuby in Ghana is unlawful.
They also want an order directed at the Interior Minister to immediately return the two detainees to the US government.
The two applicants are seeking “a declaration that on a true and proper interpretation of Article 75 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana, the President of the Republic of Ghana, by agreeing to the transfer of Mahmud Umar Muhammad Bin Atef and Khalid Muhammad Salih Al-Dhuby (both former detainees of Guantanamo Bay) to the Republic of Ghana, required ratification by an Act of Parliament or a resolution of Parliament supported by the votes of more than one-half of all members of Parliament”.
According to the applicants, the President acted unconstitutionally in his failure to obtain the requisite ratification by an Act of Parliament or a resolution of Parliament when he agreed with the government of the US to transfer the two former detainees to Ghana.