
In time to commemorate the 20th World Day against the Death Penalty, two (2) human rights advocacy groups converge to clamor for amnesty to be granted to Ghanaian inmates on death row.
The theme for the 20th celebration is, “Death penalty: a road paved with torture” and a collaboration between the Action by Christians Against Torture (ACAT) and Human Rights Reporters Ghana (HRRG) invokes the global call spearheaded by the Federation of International Action by Christians Against Torture (FIACAT) for the abolition of the Death Penalty in Ghana today, Monday October 10, 2022.
Despite its inhuman nature, Ghana’s domestic legislation still retains the Death Penalty and inmates can be executed at any point in time at the signing of a death warrant by the President of the Republic.
According to civil society reports, people condemned to capital punishment are imprisoned in a separate wing for males and a separate cell for women – sometimes in poor conditions.
In 2020, Amnesty International recorded that there were 160 inmates including five females on Ghana’s death row and their conditions were described as unfair and discriminatory.
In an attempt to overhaul the current system that violates the right to life as proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights , ACAT and HRRG appeals to the President, His Excellency, Nana Akuffo-Addo to grant amnesty to all prisoners on death row carrying out life sentences.
In particular, ACAT and HRRG appeals to the Ghanaian media in a statement released on Monday October 10, 2022 and pleads with the President to immediately intervene in the case of the 75 year old John Narh Terkpe who has spent 20 years on death row, 26 years on life sentence with more to go in Nsawam Prison.
The concerned groups also take this opportunity to appeal to the president to grant general amnesty, appeals gone unanswered for the past 3 years, to deserving prisoners in the Ghanaian penal system.
This will go a long way in decongesting the prisons across the country and improve the health and living conditions of inmates who are facing their very own cells of psychological and physical hell.
Read the full statement below: