Human Rights Reporters Ghana lauds Police Service for the arrest of perpetrators of assault on two minors at Akuapem-Adawso

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The Human Rights Reporters Ghana (HRRG) has followed with sorrow the troubling story of two minors who were publicly and forcibly stripped naked and paraded on the streets of Akuapem-Adawso in the North Municipality of the Eastern region over an alleged GHC100 theft and a mobile phone.

HRRG outrightly condemns this barbaric act visited on these teenagers by residents of the said community with the sole aim of robbing them of their dignity which flies in the face of United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 5, which states, ‘No one shall be subjected to torture, or to cruel or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.’

The victims, both 14 years of age, according to a video that went viral shows that the hands of the minors were tied while being assaulted and paraded naked from the Tinkong stretch of the Koforidua -Mamfe highway to the Adawso township on the market day on October 29, 2021, as this shameful act is in clear violation on the rights of the child which stipulates that, “A child accused or guilty of breaking the law must be treated with dignity and respect. They have the right to legal assistance and a fair trial that takes account of their age…” (Article 40; UN Convention on the Right the Child).

HRRG hereby commends the Ghana Police Service for their swift intervention which led to the subsequent arrest of the two main suspects alleged to have led the discharge of this inhumane treatment on the minors. We are equally calling on the police service to further demonstrate the commitment exuded and help expedite actions and ensure a swift probe into the matter.

It is our hope that the accused persons are properly arraigned before the law courts to seek justice for the victims and their families, who we also understand have been provided some psychological assistance.

We join the Police force in cautioning the public to refrain from indiscriminately usurping the powers of the proper adjudicative arm of the state in proffering judgment and other punitive processes.

Rights violations especially of the child, have no place in today’s world and the open society Ghana seeks to surge towards and acts of this nature only put her in a bad light as it would appear to seem, it is not doing enough to offer adequate protection for its children.

Source: Ghana Web

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