A witness at the National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) on Wednesday appealed to government to investigate the causes of the ordeal some individuals went through during the PNDC era and bring the perpetrators to book.
Atta Kuma, brother of Samuel Boamah Panyin who was executed for allegedly attempting to overthrow the government of the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) in 1985, said the Commission should investigate where his brother was buried to enable the family to give him a fitting burial.
He said he himself was in detention at the cells of the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) for 57 days. Atta Kuma said his wife became mentally retarded due to his imprisonment and the state must help take care of her. The state should also return to him his brother's car that was confiscated.
He said Boamah was alleged to have conspired with his siblings to supply arms to overthrow the PNDC government. He said Atta Panyin was executed together with Kyeremeh Gyan, Mawuli Goka and Brefo Berko who were all alleged to have conspired to buy guns to overthrow the PNDC government.
He said in November 1985, Boamah's wife informed him that police and army personnel arrested Boamah around 0200 hours but she did not know where they had sent him. Atta Kuma said in the morning, he and his siblings went to the Police Headquarters, Kaneshie and Accra Central Police stations but did not find Atta Panyin.
He said at about 1000 hours the next day, a young man informed him that Atta Panyin had been sent to the Gondar Barracks where he was beaten and his clothes were torn. Atta Kuma said upon enquiries at the Gondar Barracks, he got to know that his brother had been sent to the BNI.
"At the BNI, the soldiers collected the toiletries I brought for my brother but did not allow me to see him." He said two days later, some army personnel arrested him adding that when he boarded the vehicle, he found other young men in his neighbourhood who had been arrested as well.
Atta Kuma said Peter Nanfuri, the BNI boss was sitting on the vehicle that was being used. He said they were sent to the BNI head office where he saw Serwaa, the wife of his brother Atta Panyin, and a tailor in their neighbourhood, who had also apparently also been arrested.
He said he was told that Esther, the second wife of his brother, who had given birth a few days earlier, was also arrested and brought there but was later sent to the Castle. Atta Kuma said the people were interrogated and were released at around 1400 hours with the exception of himself, his cousin and the tailor. That was the beginning of his 57 days' stay in detention.
He said it was at the BNI that he met Agyeman Badu, Brefo Berko, Braimah Kankani, Mawuli Goka and Kyeremeh Gyan who were alleged to be conspirators trying to overthrow the government.
"I saw that Gyan's back was cut and Mawuli had burns all over his back. According to Mawuli, an iron blade was heated on fire, placed against a wall and his back was pressed against it, resulting in the burns."
Atta Kuma said Mawuli Gyan could not walk properly. He told him that he was blindfolded and something like a candle was used to burn his private parts and an instrument was used to cut the tip of his penis. He said usually at 1300 hours, some men in mask came to take Mawuli and his colleagues to a place they described as Asutuare where they were tortured. This continued for about four days and the pains became so severe that they were unable to talk.
Atta Kuma said the soldiers one day brought his brother Atta Panyin to the BNI cells where he saw that his eyes were bloodshot while his fingers and toes bled but could not confirm whether the nails were removed. His brother came for his clothes and they took him away.
He said a week later about 20 men led by Nanfuri interrogated him at the BNI where he was charged with joining some men including Mawuli Goka to overthrow the government. He said he told the panel that he knew nothing about the charge.
Atta Kuma said the panel called him again the following Monday where they informed him that investigations they conducted revealed that he knew nothing of the charge. He was then released and warned never to reveal to anybody the torture he saw people go through at the BNI.
He said he later heard that his brother was being kept at the Nsawam Prisons. On 20 June 1986 Atta Panyin, Brefo Berko, Mawuli Goka and Kyeremeh Gyan were executed. Atta Kuma said his younger brother, Kwesi Owusu, who was staying with Atta Paynin at the time of his arrest, had a deformed arm due to the beatings he received from the soldiers. A vehicle knocked down their father two years ago due to too much thinking.
