Investigate activities of "healing camps"

The Youth Alert Network (YAN), a local youth advocacy group, on Tuesday appealed to the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) to investigate activities of healing camps in parts of the Volta Region on how they handle people believed to have psychiatric problems.

According to a release issued by YAN in Accra, a recent survey conducted by its members into the activities of about 50 prayer camps and healing centres in the region revealed that 80 per cent of the centres were offering healing services to so-called psychiatric patients.

Unfortunately, these patients had not been diagnosed of any sicknesses but had been chained at these camps for months and were sometimes denied food and water for weeks, the release said.

"In connection with this YAN is calling on the Chairman of CHRAJ, Mr Emile Short to set up a committee to investigate this serious issue," it said.