... Police, GES cited as worst offending institutions

RECORDS of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) indicate that complaints to the commission has been on the ascendancy over the last couple of years.

The commission's records state that since its establishment in 1993, cases brought before it has seen a consistent increase, with the last few years recording monumental increase in the number of cases it received.

Even though the human rights institution has not officially released its annual report for last year, enquiries made by the paper at the Public Relation (PR) unit of the commission confirmed that the number of cases received last year was higher than those of the previous years.

It was gathered also that cases received for the first six months of this year were strongly indicative of the fact that by the end of the year, the total of cases that would be received, would be far more than that of last year.

Records of the commission indicate that from its inception in 1993, up to December 2000, the total number of cases received stood at 41,901.

In 2001, the commission received 10,523 cases, in 2002, 12,381 while the figure for 2003, as contained in the annual report of the commission for that year, was 13,726. This means that for three years (2001 to 2003) the total number of cases received by the commission was 36,630.

Even though many would be surprised at the increasing number of cases of human rights and administrative justice in the face of the country's democratic advancement, officials of the commission argue that the increasing number of cases was a reflection of the increasing awareness of the citizenry on their rights and freedoms.

Mr. Samuel A. Bosompem, of the PR unit of CHRAJ told the paper that the fact that the commission was receiving many complaints reflected the great effect of the public education embarked on by the commission.

"The high number of complaints means that people have become aware of the existence of CHRAJ as an institution responsible for the protection of their rights. It also means that more and more people are becoming aware of the need to defend their rights and this is positive for our democracy," Mr. Bosompem said.

Documents of the commission show that most of the cases received were family-related ones, which, in 2003, constituted 57% of the total cases received. This has been attributed to the increased campaign for children and women's rights in the last couple of years.

Administrative or labour-related cases, which used to form the bulk of cases (76%) have seen a massive decline in the same manner as cases and complaints reflecting general basic rights.

The reports of the commission suggest also that a number of cases that were reported should, probably, have not gone to the commission at all.

For example, out of the 12,065 cases that were resolved by the commission in 2003, 2,186 (18% of the resolved cases) were dismissed for lack of prosecution, with an additional 274 (2.3%) cases being rejected by the commission on the grounds of lack of jurisdiction.

"It is significant that the Commission's informal approach to case resolution is bearing fruits. This is reflected in 7,275 of cases resolved or 60.3%, having been resolved through mediation and only 471 or 3.9% being handled through hearing and decided," the report stated.

Meanwhile, the Ghana Education Service (GES) and the Ghana Police Service have been named as the worst offending public institutions in terms of human rights issues. "Of the state institutions, the Ghana Education Service and the Ghana Police Service continue to be the worst offenders," documents of the commission contained.

The Chronicle gathered that the major cases involving the GES were usually those bordering on embezzlement of funds, salary disparities and delays among others, while those involving the police were usually cases that had to do with wrongful arrest and detention of suspects, interdictions and transfers, among others.