All Statements Will Be Investigated - NRC

The National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) has said that all statements submitted to it have to be investigated to ascertain their truth or otherwise.

"The present procedure is an internal arrangement to make the Commission's work less cumbersome. It is not intended to sift the complaints or prevent any of them from reaching the Commission," the Director of the NRC Public Affairs Department, Ms. Annie Anipa told the NRC press corps in Accra yesterday.

She said currently each of the nine investigators of the Commission is handling twelve cases. "Research has also commenced on the workings of some public institutions," which she commended for their maximum co-operation.

On the assertion that each statement must be heard publicly, she said the Act setting up the Commission provides for private hearings when it becomes necessary.

For instance, she said, private hearings could be heard in cases which border on national security or upon a witness or complainant's request only if such a person have "very good reasons [and] all parties will be present at such hearings."

She reminded the public that the Commission has the powers to seek the assistance of the police to compel any witness who refuses to appear before it, and said, "the Act provides for the protection of witnesses."

Ms. Anipa announced that as at Wednesday nine hundred and twenty-nine statements had been taken nationwide. Accra is leading with four hundred and thirty-five, followed by Kumasi with two hundred and sixty-three, Takoradi with one hundred and ten, Ho - sixty-eight, Tamale - thirty-eight and Bolgatanga - fifteen.

The NRC established by Act 611 of Parliament is mandated to investigate human rights violations ranging from confiscation of assets, torture, unlawful detentions and abduction among others during periods of unconstitutional regimes in the country.

It also has the mandate to hear cases outside the specified periods of unconstitutional governments, that is from 6th March 1957 to 7th January 1992.

The Commission is tasked to investigate the context and the circumstances under which such incidents occurred and to identify and specify the perpetrators and the victims. It is to investigate and determine whether or not the violations were deliberately planned and executed by the state or any persons, and to promote national reconciliation.