Scorpions set on Liberian Refugees

Two pregnant women among a number of Liberian refugees seized by Ghanaian security agents are reported to have had miscarriages at the Kordiabe Youth Camp in the Eastern Region where they are being held.

Two others have suffered scorpion bites, and according to Nana Oye Lithur of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, conditions are simply appalling for the refugees.

Another woman who had diarrhoea was only saved by the intervention of a human rights activist who called the commander of the security unit for her to get medical attention.

About 600 demonstrating refugees were on Monday arrested at their Gomoa Buduburam Camp and carted to Kordiabe by security forces after they spurned Interior Ministry warnings to cease the demonstrations because they contravened the Public Order Act.

But Nana Oye Lithur, who spoke to Citi FM in Accra on Thursday, said the government itself was violating the Constitution by holding the refugees beyond the legally permissible period of 24 hours for arrests and detentions.

She said since their arrest, the refugees are yet to be charged before any court, arguing that even if their case was a special one, it still remained the prerogative of the courts to decide their fate, and not even the President, let alone the Interior Minister.

"No, you see, nobody, not even the President of the Republic of Ghana can go against the Constitution, nobody and more so a Minister of Interior.

That is why we have the courts to ensure that the powers of Government are balanced with the individual rights and these Constitutional provisions are entrenched in our Constitution and it is for these very reasons that we have them entrenched and that is why the Minister of the Interior should take the matter to court for the courts to decide.

And he has to inform the courts why he is still holding them beyond the 48 hours rule. We are not talking about whether they are refugees or not, we are talking about the fact that he is violating the Constitution and detaining people in custody beyond 48 hours and their conditions are not good enough, they are deplorable if you ask me. They are deplorable from what I saw today and that is not right," Nana Oye said.

She added that tents housing the refugees had no underlay and it exposed them to a lot of danger.

Nana Oye Lithur said even if the government intended to deport the refugees, there were procedures that did not allow the abuse of the rights of the refugees.

She therefore urged the Interior Ministry to respect the Constitution and go to court if it intended to press charges since their current state left their lives in danger.