Threats to freedom of expression grew. Thousands of people were forcibly evicted and
thousands remained under threat of forced eviction. The criminal justice system remained
slow, and prisons were overcrowded and poorly resourced. Violence against women continued
to be pervasive.
A Constitution Review Commission was inaugurated by President Mills in January to
conduct public consultations on the 1992 Constitution. It received over 60,000 submissions
during the year.
In February, March and April, intra-communal violence in the Bunkpurugu/Yunyoo District
of the Northern Region left at least five dead and over 300 houses burned down. Thousands
of people fled their homes, some crossing into Togo. At least five people were killed
and several houses burned down in May in renewed inter-communal violence in Bawku
in the Upper East Region. The ongoing violence prevented local residents from carrying
out normal farming and trading activities, resulting in food shortages and leaving
approximately 2,000 families in need of food aid.
Threats to freedom of expression grew. At least six people were arrested, detained
or prosecuted for “causing fear and panic”.
In October, Amina Mohammad was arrested after saying on a local radio station in Tema
that there had been an armed robbery and rape on a bus. She was charged with “causing
fear and panic”, denied bail by the Accra Circuit Court and remanded in police custody.
She was eventually granted bail by a Human Rights Court in Accra in November and her
case was adjourned until 2011.
Individuals were regularly detained in police custody for longer than allowed by law.
Police cells were overcrowded and insanitary, and detainees often relied on family
members for food and water.
In February, two people died in a police cell in Ashiamang, a suburb of Tema. Fifty-two
people were being held in a cell built for 20.
In September, at least two people were killed and 15 seriously injured in Tema when
combined troops of the military and police used live and rubber bullets and tear gas
against people protesting against the demolition of their businesses. No investigation
was carried out.
In October, approximately 19 homes and businesses in Nankpanduri village in the Northern
Region were burned down by military and police officers and several people were injured
when they were shot or beaten by security forces, who were searching for an escaped
prisoner who had killed two police officers.
Access to legal aid was inadequate and some prisoners spent over 10 years awaiting
trial, although the proportion of remand prisoners began to fall. Prisons were overcrowded
and under-resourced.
Seventeen people were sentenced to death by hanging, all for murder. At the end of
the year, 123 people were on death row, including three women. No executions were
carried out.
Thousands of people were forcibly evicted from their homes. Evictions were carried
out without adequate prior consultation, adequate notice and compensation or alternative
accommodation. Thousands remained under threat of forced eviction.
In May up to 2,000 people were forcibly evicted from their homes in “Abinkyi slum”
in Kumasi. Residents were given just two weeks’ notice and were not offered any alternative
accommodation or compensation.
In July, scores of people were forcibly evicted from their homes in “Abuja slum” in
Accra. Residents were informed about the demolition only two days before and they
were not offered any compensation or alternative accommodation.
