Amnesty International Ghana has condemned the public flogging of two alleged lovers at the forecourt of the Wa Naa’s Palace for engaging in a sexual act that went viral on social media on May 31, 2022.
The human rights organization in a public statement on Wednesday, June 1, 2022, said the flogging of the two adults in public is a clear sign of mob injustice, jungle justice, and demeaning of the dignity of the two people contrary to the laws of Ghana.
More specifically, Amnesty said the act of taking the law into our own hands should not be happening in Ghana, where our 1992 Constitution is very clear in Chapter 5 Article 15 (1 & 2) that: 1) “The dignity of all persons shall be inviolable.” And 2) “No person shall whether or not he is arrested, restricted or detained, be subjected to (a) torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; or (b) any other condition that detracts or is likely to detract from his or her dignity and worth as a human being.” Further, the 1992 Constitution states in Article 19 (2) that: “A person charged with a criminal offence shall-(c) be presumed to be innocent until he or she is proved or has pleaded guilty.”
“There is no justification whatsoever, for such an act of flogging or beating suspects -not even on cultural or religious ground. Anyone who engages in such an act must be punished. These acts, if not checked, go to tarnish the human rights records of the country-Ghana,” the statement said.
Amnesty International has also called on the IGP to use the images in the video to trace, arrest and prosecute all those who approved, condoned, and participated in the cruel act.
Below is the full statement by the Amnesty International Ghana
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL GHANA CONDEMNS THE FLOGGING OF TWO ALLEGED LOVERS AT THE FORECOURT OF WA NAA’S PALACE FOR ENGAGING IN SEXUAL ACT CAPTURED ON A VIRAL VIDEO
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL GHANA has taken notice of a video recording, making rounds on social media and other online portals of two alleged lovers were flogged in public at the forecourt of WA Naa’s Palace for engaging in a sexual act captured on a viral video.
We in Amnesty condemn the flogging of the two adults since this is a clear sign of mob injustice, jungle-justice and demeaning of the dignity of the two people contrary to the laws of Ghana.
This act of taking the law into our own hands should not be happening in Ghana, where our 1992 Constitution is very clear in Chapter 5 Article 15 (1 & 2) that: 1) “The dignity of all persons shall be inviolable.” And 2) “No person shall whether or not he is arrested, restricted or detained, be subjected to (a) torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; or (b) any other condition that detracts or is likely to detract from his or her dignity and worth as a human being.” Further, the 1992 Constitution states in Article 19 (2) that: “A person charged with a criminal offence shall-(c) be presumed to be innocent until he or she is proved or has pleaded guilty.”
There is no justification whatsoever, for such an act of flogging or beating suspects -not even on cultural or religious ground. Anyone who engages in such an act must be punished. These acts, if not checked, go to tarnish the human rights records of the country-Ghana.
We strongly call on the IGP to use the images in the video to trace, arrest and prosecute all those who approved, condoned, and participated in the cruel act in clear violation of the fundamental rights of the two people to serve as a deterrent to others who may consider such acts in future.
Contact for Amnesty International, Ghana:
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Amnesty International, Ghana
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