Attafuah Raps NRC Critics

THE EXECUTIVE Secretary of the National Reconciliation Commission (NRC), Dr. Kenneth A. Attafuah, has dismissed as unfounded speculations that the commission is bent on discriminatory selection of cases on complaints of torture, abduction, detention, and disappearances, among others, to seal the doom of a particular political party.

"There is no malicious selection, there is nobody on this commission to my knowledge who is bent on getting any particular political party to be exalted or demoted as it is in the minds of the Ghanaian populace," he told the Chronicle in an interview in Accra yesterday.

Dr. Attafuah said as far as the commission is concerned, it is in the interest of Ghana to make sure that for the over 3,700 cases of abduction, killings, torture, confiscation of property, ill-treatment, disappearances, violation of human rights and unlawful detentions filed, people who were peeved should be given the opportunity to air their grievances, receive healing and get well.

"The work of the commission is not a one day event. The work of the commission is not a hearing driven process. The hearing process does not constitute reconciling the nation. The hearings are part of our investigative process which at the end of the day, would reconcile the country," Dr. Attafuah explained.

According to him, the actual reconciliation would continue long after the commission shuts its doors, adding that to achieve this reconciliation requires meticulous and sincere implementation of the recommendations that the commission would make, which would perhaps remain for years.

Explaining the criteria for selecting cases for hearings, he said the selection is based on first-come, first-served basis but, he added, the commission also takes into account the egregiousness of the cases.

"If someone files a complaint in September 2002 and alleged that his or her human rights were violated in 1958 and the human rights violation was in the form of detention, torture and confiscation of property, then that person would be heard ahead of someone who filed a complaint in December 2002 and said that during the PNDC period, he was wrongly dismissed. This is because wrongful dismissal does not constitute an egregious human rights violation and the complaints also came after that of September and has alleged a violation in 1958."

Dr. Attafuah said most of the cases heard so far focused on the PNDC and AFRC regimes, not because of any special selectivity, but because of two critical factors - the longevity and the nature of the regimes.

He pointed out that civilian regimes are by nature less prone to egregious human rights violation as compared to military regimes.

The PNDC regime, which stayed in office the longest, had a greater potential for atrocities than the civilian administrations, he said, adding that the only exception of the general principles in terms of longevity, is the AFRC regime.

"AFRC was a cataclysmic regime which came into an office and within three months did far more egregious human rights violation officially and unofficially than perhaps most of the civilian governments with two or three years.

It is understandable that if people would take their time to analyze the trend of events that most cases we have heard about the AFRC do not have anything to do with the former president.

The issues tackled a phenomenon called June 4 and PNDC era with its uprising and excesses. There is no doubt that in any system, those in the helm of affairs often take credit for the accomplishment of that particular institution but by the same token takes responsibility for the limitations or failures for that period."

Re-echoing, the position of the NRC that it would not accept any media information, Dr. Attafuah noted that the statements made on the airwaves or in the papers are not relevant to the commission.

"A statement made before the commission under oath is superior to a statement made on the airwaves because they are not sworn or affirmed and cannot be subjected to cross-examination for purposes of clarification."

He stressed that it is important for the public to understand that the commission is a quasi-judicial institution set up by Parliament and has procedures of receiving information, which does not include information channeled through the mass media. "

There are specific laid down procedures for persons wishing to bring any information to the attention of the commission to do so through statements, which would be investigated by the commission," Dr. Attafuah asserted.