The Economic Community of West African States (ECOW AS) Court of Justice has ruled that the Government of Ghana must pay a total of $75,000 in compensation to 30 members of the Homeland Study Group Foundation (HSGF) for unlawfully detaining them. Each individual is to receive $2,500, converted into Ghanaian cedis.
Background of the Case
The case, numbered ECW/CCJ/APP/12/24, centered on the claim that the applicants were arrested and detained under Ghana’s 1976 Prohibited Organizations Decree without timely legal proceedings. The individuals were taken into custody on May 8, 2019, and several were reportedly held for over a year without being formally charged or brought before a court.
Though the HSGF as a group was dismissed as a legal applicant due to lack of legal personality, the 30 individual members had their rights upheld by the court.
Court Ruling and Human Rights Implications
A panel composed of Justices Ricardo Gonçalves, Sengu M. Koroma, and Dupe Atoki found that Ghana’s actions breached both its constitutional guarantees and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, which mandates that detainees must be brought before a court within 48 hours.
In addition to financial compensation, the court ordered the Ghanaian government to either prosecute the detainees within two weeks or release them unconditionally.
Also Read: Ghana Detains Over 2,200 Undocumented Sahelian Migrants Including 1,300 Children
