Police brutality:Human Rights Reporters’ boss descends heavily on Ghana Police
Human Rights Reporters
3 min read
Human Rights Reporters Ghana boss, Joseph Wemakor descends heavily on Ghana Police Service over the unwarranted brutality of civilians by some of their men.
A renowned human rights activist, Joseph Wemakor contends that the Ghanaian police force lacks human rights education and is actively violating the rights of the Ghanaian citizenry.
According to Mr. Wemakor, the lack of education about the fundamental rights of the populace is directly correlated to the wave of human rights violations perpetrated by the service.
In an interview with Victoria Beeko Danso, host of HB Pulse on Homebase TV, during his morning appearance to discuss the topic: “Police Brutality” on Wednesday, October 5, 2022, Mr. Wemakor enlightened the audience on the shortcomings of the Ghanaian police force.
On Friday, September 23, 2022, Mr. Richmond Amedeh was apprehended by a police patrol team the night before at his workplace in Dawhenya without official charges.
Mr. Amedeh, a 23-year-old bartender was interrupted from his usual activities of tending the bar in his workplace when the police burst in and began searching the shop.
READ: Unwarranted arrest, detention of civilians by Ghana Police worrying
They presented no search warrant but instead began making away with a jackpot gaming machine from the bar.
Upon protest from Mr. Amedeh, the patrol team retorted that he come to the station and defend the hijacked item. The patrol team is reported to be affiliated with the Devtraco Police Station.
Mr. Amedeh was arrested, alongside two other young men present at the bar. He divulged to HRRG that upon arriving at the police station, the Commander of the patrol team received an anonymous phone call requesting the immediate release of one of the young men, citing an unsubstantiated mental health condition.
Mr. Wemakor who doubles as the Executive Director of Human Rights Reporters Ghana (HRRG) believes that bribery may have played a role in the targeting of the jackpot gaming machine and the sole release of the one arrestee.
READ: Police and Human Rights Activists Hunt for man abusing baby (Viral Video)
Mr. Amedeh and the other remaining young man were kept in the cell for 3 days after their arrest without being officially charged with any crime.
They were both released on Monday, September 26, 2022.
Mr. Wemakor was consulted on the case to do a follow-up and upon, placing a series of calls to the number of the Commander that went unanswered at first, the man in question responded with “I am busy and will call you back in about 30 minutes”.
A visit paid to the station by Mr. Amedeh’s parents was met with reticence by the lower-ranking officials. Again, at the station, the Commander remained unavailable to both his team and the parents of the young man.
The host asked Mr. Wemakor about the way forward concerning human rights issues and police brutality in the country.
Mr. Wemakor believes that part of the problem is due to lack of human rights education and training in the Ghanaian local police force.
He suggested that both current officers and recruits are to be equipped with the necessary knowledge of human rights education, especially before they are allowed to pass out of the academy.
Mr. Wemakor continued to cite Lawyer Xavier Sosu’s appearance on the AM show on JoyNews who advocated for police authorities to undergo human rights education because of his conviction that “if you are trained with the right knowledge on human rights, you will not violate someone else’s rights”.
Mr. Wemakor added that the police have conducted themselves “unprofessionally” and have continued to demonstrate unprofessional work ethics through direct assaults on unarmed civilians, negligence of duty, killings, and threats made to journalists in multiple spheres and sectors.
The host invited Mr. Wemakor to a retread of the case alongside members of the Ghanaian police force to answer for themselves
About The Author
