AI Index: AFR 28/07/91

Distr:SC/PO

0001 hrs gmt Wednesday 18 December 1991

£GHANA: @POLITICAL IMPRISONMENT USED TO SILENCE GOVERNMENT CRITICS

Ghana's government has been using political imprisonment to silence and

intimidate its opponents for the 10 years since it came to power, according

to an Amnesty International report released today.

"The government claims there are no political prisoners," said the

human rights organization. "The facts tell a different story. In the past

10 years, hundreds of people have been imprisoned because they were critics

or opponents of the current government. At least 50 are currently held in

Ghanaian jails without ever having been charged or brought before a court,

some since the early days of the government."

As well as the hundreds who have been held without charge, at least

90 political prisoners have been tried by special courts, where over half

have been sentenced to death. Defendants before such courts have sometimes

faced vague charges under vague laws, in a system that is clearly biased in

favour of conviction.

Under current laws, anyone can be held indefinitely without charge

"in the interest of national security". In reality, critics and potential

opponents of the government have been rounded up after allegations of coup

attempts and held on an indefinite basis. Some of those held in such

administrative detention are prisoners of conscience -- imprisoned solely

for their peaceful political beliefs.

In one recent case, a former government minister and a newspaper

editor were detained incommunicado and without charge after the publication

of an article seen to be critical of members of the government and the

armed forces. Kwesi Armah and George Naykene were arrested in October 1991

and were still being held without charge in late November.

Major Courage Quarshigah and at least five others have been detained

without charge for two years, accused by the government of conspiring to

overthrow the government in 1989. Major Quarshigah, a respected army

officer, was apparently seen by the government as a political threat.

Another detainee arrested in connection with Major Quarshigah died in

custody, amid rumours that he had been tortured. Yet another, a security

police officer, escaped from custody in May 1990 -- his mother was

reportedly arrested in June 1990, apparently in retaliation, and held

without charge or trial until November 1991.

Once detained under an administrative order, detainees have no

recourse to the law. The right to habeas corpus for political detainees was

abolished by government decree in 1984, so the authorities are not obliged

to bring them before a court. They may be held in secret, without access to

family or lawyers, and may not be told for weeks or months even why they

are being held.

But the fate of those political prisoners brought before a court has

often been worse. Of 90 people charged in political cases between 1983 and

1986, 50 were sentenced to death and 23 were executed.

Most were tried before Public Tribunals, special courts where the

bench is appointed by the government. There is a right of appeal only to

another special court which is also government-controlled. The tribunals

have power to impose the death penalty for a wide range of activities,

including offences not previously punishable by death or even defined as

offences in law.

"The government claims it is better for prisoners to be held without

charge, because once brought before the Public Tribunals they run a very

real risk of execution," said Amnesty International. "The threat of the

death penalty cannot be a justification for administrative detention - both

the death penalty and arbitrary detention are violations of human rights

and should be ended."

EMBARGOED FOR 0001 HRS GMT WEDNESDAY 18 DECEMBER 1991