- Coordinator of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) in Africa, Nana Oye Lithur, turned the colours of a press conference marking the International Human Rights day yesterday in the Ghanaian capital Accra when she disclosed that Ghana should not play with the illegal killings of its 44 citizens in The Gambia last year.
44 Ghanaian economic migrants who transited through The Gambia were reported to have been murdered in cold-blood through extra-judicial means in July last year.
Ms Lithur scolded the Ghanaian Foreign Minister, Nana Akuffo Addo, to end silence on this serious issue and make his Ministry's stand point to the public, especially to the families who have been seeking for justice since then.
"Government should take a serious view of the state of affairs, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a matter of priority, provide regular updates on progress of their investigations, and the steps the Gambian government has taken to apprehend and punish the perpetrators of this serious crime" she said.
The CHRI Africa Coordinator asked the Ghanaian government to seek redress at the regional and international bodies if The Gambia fails to prosecute and bring to book the alleged perpetrators of the brutal killings.
She said a report issued by CHRI in The Gambia disclosed that a top government official spoke out against his government's action, and concurred that Ghanaian migrants were on their way to Europe when they were intercepted in Gambian waters and taken to a farm in the western part of The Gambia, where they allegedly were "brutally murdered with machetes, axes and knives before their bodies were dumped along beaches."
Human rights activists however wonder why the Ghanaian government still sits on the outcome of their joint investigation with The Gambia.
Ms Lithur explained that Ghanaian officials have confirmed the veracity of the story but they insisted that unless they gather ample evidence, no organisation would be accused of the heinous crime.
News of the July killings was disclosed by two survivors who hid in Ghana Town, a village along the coast of The Gambia. One of the survivors later telephoned 'Peace FM' in Ghana and disclosed the ninja-style killings.
This followed the discovery of 11 dead bodies at the coast of The Gambia. Without wasting time, Gambian authorities buried the bodies. After a strong public pressure, the Ghanaian government sent a mission to Banjul last year to deepen the investigation on the matter. In the process, they heard testimonies from Ghanaian migrants in Gambian cells.
The Gambia, the seat of the African Commission on Human and People's Rights, has been known for brutal killings, tortures and disappearances, prompting human rights activists to launch syndicated campaign against the country's regime.
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