General News of 2012-07-13

Blame AG for dismissal of Legon “fingering” case – Oye Lithur

A human rights lawyer of the Human Rights Advocacy Centre, Nana Oye Lithur, has described the dismissal of Amina Haruna’s case as a big blow and huge disappointment to women.

According to her, Ghana has not done enough in the fight and the protection of the rights of women in the country.

All 13 male students of the University of Ghana who were accused of sexually assaulting an alleged female thief in the person of Amina Haruna were discharged on Tuesday by an Accra Circuit Court for want of prosecution.

Madam Lithur told Citi News: “It is a very big blow to women’s rights, especially when there is an increase in murder of female partners and wives and this is the same thing that happened in the Jesus One Touch case.”

She added, “if it’s want of prosecution, then the Attorney General did not prosecute.”

She called on all Civil Society Groups to initiate investigations into what caused the case to be thrown out of court.

“This has been in the public domain but it’s one failure too many. If government will not do it, Civil Society should initiate an investigation into what is happening at the Attorney General’s Department,” she said.

Nana Oye Lithur also mentioned that “I think in the fight of women’s right in Ghana, we have a gap that is using the law to ensure that women’s rights are protected. We need to cause those who brought about this disappointment to be accountable and in this case, it is the Attorney General.”

In a related development, authorities of the University of Ghana have said that they will not reinstate the students because they have brought the name of the school into disrepute.**