Assistant Director of Prisons denies allegations at NRC

Mr. Robert T. Baaba, Assistant Director of the Ghana Prisons Service, on Tuesday denied allegations of brutality and hostility brought against him by one Mr Rexford Ohemeng before the National Reconciliation Commission (NRC).

He also denied another allegation of corruption brought against him by one Mr Thomas Benefo, witness for Mr Ohemeng. Mr Ohemeng, 40, a former military staff and currently a security officer at the Castle, told the Commission that Mr Baaba, then the Director of Nsawam Prisons, oversaw acts of brutality and hostility against him and his colleague inmates for the nine years he was unlawfully detained in that prison.

In his statement to the Commission, Mr. Ohemeng said on July 17, 1983, he was arrested on allegations of associating himself with opponents of the PNDC government and was unlawfully detained at the Usher Fort prisons until August 8, the same year after a series of interrogations at the Bureau of National Investigation (BNI).

He said on August 12, 1983 he was re-arrested for no apparent reason and was detained in the Nsawam Prisons for nine years, from 1983 to 1992. He said in the course of his detention Mr. Baaba was transferred from Accra to Nsawam "to come to silence us the prisoners who were then perceived as notorious". Mr Ohemeng alleged that during his stay in prison he had an encounter with Mr. Baaba, during which he (Baaba) pulled a pistol on him and threatened to kill him.

"He told me point blank that he had the authority to kill me if I misbehaved so I had to kept my cool."

Mr Ohemeng said following that incident Mr Baaba barred all his visitors from getting to him. He said he got to know from his father that Mr. Baaba had told his parents that he was dealing in India hemp, "which was never true".

"I had to survive those months through smuggled food until the truth came out. When the truth came out sometime in 1990, I was in my cell when Mr Baaba led about 50 prison officers to search my room for reasons not known to be."

Mr. Ohemeng said he later heard there was some theft that night and he and one Attipoe who were suspects were stripped naked and later transferred to another cell. Mr Ohemeng said some of his colleagues at the time were moved from the regular cells to the segregation cells where mentally retarded prisoners were kept for no apparent reason.

He added that such treatments, among others, led to some amount of rioting by some of the prisoners, "but none of us from the military took part in the rioting". The rioting occurred in the absence of Mr. Baaba and when he returned, he mounted an operation for revenge on those who took part in the rioting, he said. Mr Ohemng said extra prisons officers, including Adama Mensah, former Ghanaian heavyweight boxer, were brought in from Accra to the Nsawam prisons and they visited brutality on prisoners who were accused of participating in the rioting.

"It was during this brutality that I was mercilessly beaten with batons by prisons officers till my leg was broken and my whole body was covered with blood." He said because of those beatings, he was admitted to the infirmary, where he was washed, treated and condemned to a wheel chair.

However, he alleged that Mr Baaba seized it from him and asked him to crawl, which he did. "Later when the rioters were discovered and they confessed that I was not part of them, Mr Baaba told me that as a military man I was familiar with suffering as an innocent person so I should just take it as one of those things. "I had to use crutches for a period of two and half years after those brutalities, until I could walk properly," he said.

Mr Ohemeng said when he was released in 1992, he returned to the Burma Camp where he found out that he had been dismissed from the Military since 1983 and yet his father received his monthly salary of 600 cedis on his behalf until 1985. In his statement to the Commission, Mr Benefo, a witness for Mr Ohemeng said the cause of the riot for which Mr Ohemeng was wrongfully brutalized was some 287,000 cedis received from foreign prisoners to be granted amnesty.

He said it was alleged at the time that Mr Baaba kept the money for himself and the prisoners felt that was a corrupt practice, which should have attracted stiff punishment from the prisons headquarter. He alleged that Mr Baaba was apparently asked to pay back the money. Mr Baaba, through his counsel, Mr Emmanuel Effah Anan, denied his involvement in any act of brutality, hostility and corruption as alleged. Mr Anan did not deny that Mr Ohemeng was brutalized, but said that those who carried out the brutality on the rioting prisoners were brought in from Accra under and separate command.

He said even so, the prison officers who carried out the alleged brutalities, did so as by law required for them to avert such situations through the use of any means, including force. Mr Effah Anan said Mr Baaba was never in charge of money at the Nsawam prisons and was therefore, not privy to any money collected from prisoners. Neither was he ever made to refund any such money at anytime.

The victim had five witnesses, out of which only two were called for want of time. Seating was adjourned to 0930 on Thursday, when the other three witnesses would be called.

Mr. Robert T. Baaba, Assistant Director of the Ghana Prisons Service, on Tuesday denied allegations of brutality and hostility brought against him by one Mr Rexford Ohemeng before the National Reconciliation Commission (NRC).

He also denied another allegation of corruption brought against him by one Mr Thomas Benefo, witness for Mr Ohemeng. Mr Ohemeng, 40, a former military staff and currently a security officer at the Castle, told the Commission that Mr Baaba, then the Director of Nsawam Prisons, oversaw acts of brutality and hostility against him and his colleague inmates for the nine years he was unlawfully detained in that prison.

In his statement to the Commission, Mr. Ohemeng said on July 17, 1983, he was arrested on allegations of associating himself with opponents of the PNDC government and was unlawfully detained at the Usher Fort prisons until August 8, the same year after a series of interrogations at the Bureau of National Investigation (BNI).

He said on August 12, 1983 he was re-arrested for no apparent reason and was detained in the Nsawam Prisons for nine years, from 1983 to 1992. He said in the course of his detention Mr. Baaba was transferred from Accra to Nsawam "to come to silence us the prisoners who were then perceived as notorious". Mr Ohemeng alleged that during his stay in prison he had an encounter with Mr. Baaba, during which he (Baaba) pulled a pistol on him and threatened to kill him.

"He told me point blank that he had the authority to kill me if I misbehaved so I had to kept my cool."

Mr Ohemeng said following that incident Mr Baaba barred all his visitors from getting to him. He said he got to know from his father that Mr. Baaba had told his parents that he was dealing in India hemp, "which was never true".

"I had to survive those months through smuggled food until the truth came out. When the truth came out sometime in 1990, I was in my cell when Mr Baaba led about 50 prison officers to search my room for reasons not known to be."

Mr. Ohemeng said he later heard there was some theft that night and he and one Attipoe who were suspects were stripped naked and later transferred to another cell. Mr Ohemeng said some of his colleagues at the time were moved from the regular cells to the segregation cells where mentally retarded prisoners were kept for no apparent reason.

He added that such treatments, among others, led to some amount of rioting by some of the prisoners, "but none of us from the military took part in the rioting". The rioting occurred in the absence of Mr. Baaba and when he returned, he mounted an operation for revenge on those who took part in the rioting, he said. Mr Ohemng said extra prisons officers, including Adama Mensah, former Ghanaian heavyweight boxer, were brought in from Accra to the Nsawam prisons and they visited brutality on prisoners who were accused of participating in the rioting.

"It was during this brutality that I was mercilessly beaten with batons by prisons officers till my leg was broken and my whole body was covered with blood." He said because of those beatings, he was admitted to the infirmary, where he was washed, treated and condemned to a wheel chair.

However, he alleged that Mr Baaba seized it from him and asked him to crawl, which he did. "Later when the rioters were discovered and they confessed that I was not part of them, Mr Baaba told me that as a military man I was familiar with suffering as an innocent person so I should just take it as one of those things. "I had to use crutches for a period of two and half years after those brutalities, until I could walk properly," he said.

Mr Ohemeng said when he was released in 1992, he returned to the Burma Camp where he found out that he had been dismissed from the Military since 1983 and yet his father received his monthly salary of 600 cedis on his behalf until 1985. In his statement to the Commission, Mr Benefo, a witness for Mr Ohemeng said the cause of the riot for which Mr Ohemeng was wrongfully brutalized was some 287,000 cedis received from foreign prisoners to be granted amnesty.

He said it was alleged at the time that Mr Baaba kept the money for himself and the prisoners felt that was a corrupt practice, which should have attracted stiff punishment from the prisons headquarter. He alleged that Mr Baaba was apparently asked to pay back the money. Mr Baaba, through his counsel, Mr Emmanuel Effah Anan, denied his involvement in any act of brutality, hostility and corruption as alleged. Mr Anan did not deny that Mr Ohemeng was brutalized, but said that those who carried out the brutality on the rioting prisoners were brought in from Accra under and separate command.

He said even so, the prison officers who carried out the alleged brutalities, did so as by law required for them to avert such situations through the use of any means, including force. Mr Effah Anan said Mr Baaba was never in charge of money at the Nsawam prisons and was therefore, not privy to any money collected from prisoners. Neither was he ever made to refund any such money at anytime.

The victim had five witnesses, out of which only two were called for want of time. Seating was adjourned to 0930 on Thursday, when the other three witnesses would be called.