Ghana Police Service Victims Support Unit is 'dead' - Lawyer Sosu

Human Rights Lawyer, Francis-Xavier Sosu has labeled the Victim Support Unit of the Ghana Police Service as a dead institution.

According to him, the department which is supposed to protect the right of victims has never provided any form of assistance or protection for victims.

“Every victim of crime has the right to an automatic protection and that is why we have victims support unit in this country. Meanwhile, they always put in a zero effort. They are not functioning!”.

He told Ghanaweb's Ezekiel Fiifi Koomson on Wednesday, December 10, 2019, in an exclusive interview.

Supporting his claim with an example, lawyer Sosu narrated how the state failed in its duty protect one of his 12-year-old client who was defiled by two men.

“I have represented many cases and victims and as I am talking to you today, there is a 12year old girl, defiled by two men and has now delivered a baby. I was the lawyer until I made sure the two men were jailed. The state had no protection or whatsoever for her yet that’s her fundamental rights.” He bemoaned.

He added that rights are entitlements and not privileges hence Ghanaians should be bold to fight for their rights whenever they are violated.

“Most Ghanaians have this natural instinct that when a policeman speaks to you, you don’t speak back but you have the right to talk. When a policeman walks into your house and says that I’m inviting you to the police station, you have the right to refuse because the laws are very clear. Policemen can arrest people upon reasonable suspicion of crimes, there is no room for invitation,” He educated.

Meanwhile, Lawyer Sosu advised Ghanaian judges to be proactive whenever human rights cases appear before them, this he believes would expedite the process involved in handling human rights cases.