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22 August 2000
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CERD
57th session
22 August 2000
Afternoon
The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination this afternoon reviewed a report presented by a Government delegation from Ghana on the measures undertaken by that country to comply with the terms of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.
Introducing his country's fifteenth periodic report, Yaw Adjei, Minister and Deputy Permanent Representative of Ghana to the United Nations Office at Geneva, said that even though Ghana had a diverse ethnic, cultural and religious composition, its people had always endeavoured to live in peace, harmony and friendship with each other and with other people who lived among them.
Mr. Adjei told the Committee that the authors of the report could not come to Geneva because of budgetary constraints and the present delegation did not have all the answers to the issues raised by the members of the Committee.
Gay McDougall, the Committee expert who served as country rapporteur to the report of Ghana, said that Ghana had faced the challenge of governing a diverse population relatively well; however, the fifteenth periodic report of that country contained many of the same failings found by the Committee during its review of Ghana's previous periodic report. For example, it lacked sufficient demographic information about the country's population.
Also participating in the discussion were Committee experts Brun-Otto Bryde, Régis de Gouttes, Deci Zou, Michael Parker Banton and Luis Valencia Rodriguez.
The delegation of Ghana was also made up of L.Y. Sae-Brawusi, Minister-Counsellor; Kwasi Asanti, Minister-Counsellor; J.J. Nwaneampeh, Minister Counsellor; Amma Twum-Amoah, First Secretary; and Aaron Tsakpoe, Second Secretary; all from the Permanent Mission of Ghana to the United Nations Office at Geneva.
Ghana is among the 156 States parties to the Convention and as such it is obligated to present periodic reports enumerating the measures undertaken by the Government to combat racial discrimination in compliance with the treaty.
Following the conclusion of its consideration of the report of Ghana, the Committee started adopting its conclusions on the fifteenth periodic report of the Holy See; in the paragraphs it adopted, it noted with satisfaction that the laws and teachings of the Catholic Church promoted tolerance, friendly coexistence and multi-racial integration.
When the Committee reconvenes at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, 23 August, it will adopt the rest of its conclusions on the report of the Holy See which was reviewed earlier in the session.
Report of Ghana
The fifteenth periodic report of Ghana (document CERD/C/338/Add.5) gives account of the administrative, judicial, legislative and other measures undertaken by the State on an article-by-article basis. The report provides demographic information in which it says that the non-Ghanian population was observed to have declined from 1960 onwards because the economic conditions were no longer attractive. The population of Ghana will grow to 20.1 million in the year 2000, with an average annual growth rate of 3.1 per cent.
The 11-page report further says that in furtherance of Ghana's commitment under the Convention, it has not relented in its efforts to implement the provisions enshrined in the Convention, although cases of racial discrimination have rarely occurred in the country. The Government is also firmly committed to the elimination of all forms of racial discrimination and the promotion of international friendship and cooperation and tolerance among peoples in Ghana, irrespective of their origin, beliefs and affiliation.
Further, the report says that to promote understanding among persons with ethnic differences, the Government in 1994 set up a commission to provide a forum for identifiable ethnic groups and to look into the remote and underlying causes of the hostility and conflict between the Konkombas on the one hand and the Nanumbas, Gonjas and Dagombas on the other.
Presentation of Ghana's Report
YAW ADJEI, Minister and Deputy Permanent Representative of Ghana to the United Nations Office at Geneva, said that even though Ghana had a diverse ethnic, cultural and religious composition, the people of Ghana had always endeavoured to live in peace, harmony and friendship with each other and with other people who lived among them.
The harmonious relationship was due in part to the attitude of openness, which Ghanians of all walks of life, ethnic and religious backgrounds exhibited towards one another and to foreigners, Mr. Adjei went on to say. It was also due to the legislative, judicial, administrative and other measures which the Government had adopted to build a unified and inclusive society. The measures were aimed to promote and protect all human rights and fundamental freedoms as well as to implement and give effect to the provisions of the Convention and other human rights instruments.
Mr. Adjei continued to say that the Government of Ghana had also spared no efforts in trying to inculcate in the people the culture of tolerance and understanding; that did not mean that there had not been or there were no conflicts or violence of a religious or ethnic nature in the country; indeed, there had been such conflicts in the recent past in certain parts of the country. For example, from 1993 to 1995, a conflict broke out in the north of Ghana between ethnic groups over land rights and chieftaincy issues in which several people died on both sides, but the Government had intervened to restore law and order.
Mr. Adjei noted that while the incidence of racial discrimination was not a major problem in his country, the Government was doing all it could and would continue to do so, to ensure that all persons in Ghana lived in friendship and unity, and also in friendship and cooperation with peoples of other countries.
Discussion of Report
GAY MCDOUGALL, the Committee expert who served as country rapporteur to the report of Ghana, said that the population of Ghana was extremely heterogenous, consisting of more than 50 different ethnic groups and subgroups. The present and the previous periodic reports of Ghana, however, failed to provide demographic information about the country's population.
Ms. McDougall said that the current periodic report explained the Government's efforts to resolve ethnic conflicts, such as the creation of a commission to look into the hostility between ethnic groups in the north. Although laudable, those efforts had not yet succeeded in ending ethnic strife generally, or the conflict in the north specifically; numerous conflicts between ethnic groups continued to rise, particularly surrounding chieftaincy succession issues and land rights; on 1 January 1998, one such dispute in Kue, a farming village on the Togolese border, ended with eight dead, twelve injured, and four houses burned.
Ms. McDougall asked: What laws and regulations were currently in place to make the Convention enforceable in Ghana? For example, was the Avoidance of Discrimination Act of 1957 still in force and had it been updated to conform with the 1992 Constitution? Could the texts of all such laws and regulations be provided to the Committee? And what efforts were underway to equalize land rights for all peoples in Ghana?
Ms. McDougall said that not only did the report lack details on the exact language of Ghana's legal texts on rights guaranteed without distinction of race, colour or ethnic origin, it also failed to acknowledge problems in the enforcement of Ghana's guarantees of fundamental rights. For example, in the area of political rights, some of Ghana's ethnic groups complained that they were not adequately represented in the national government. A 1997 survey by the International Foundation for Electoral Systems had found that 25 per cent of respondents felt discriminated against based on their tribal origins. The Ashanti majority believed that the current regime was controlled by the Ewe minority and voted overwhelmingly in the last election for the opponent of the current President.
Ms. McDougall asked the delegation about the efforts made by the Government to include representatives of diverse ethnic backgrounds in positions of power in the current Government. Could the delegation provide figures on the ethnic composition of the Government and military? What was the present policy of the Government regarding repatriation of refugees? Had there been occasions when refugees were forcibly repatriated?
Ms. McDougall said that Ghana had faced the challenge of governing a diverse population relatively well; however, the fifteenth periodic report of that country contained many of the same failings found by the Committee during its last review of a report of Ghana. It lacked sufficient detail and failed to acknowledge that there were any problems whatsoever with discrimination real or perceived along ethnic lines.
Other Committee experts also commented on the report, raising issues such as ethnic conflicts, the independence of the human rights commission and the commission established to inquire over the causes of the ethnic conflicts in the northern part of the country, and the real number of people who had died in that conflict, among other things.
Response of Ghana
In response to some of the questions raised by Committee experts, the members of the Ghanian delegation affirmed that Ghanians did not think of themselves in terms of their ethnic backgrounds but thought of themselves as Ghanians.
Unfortunately, no figure was available on the demographic composition of the Ghanian population, the delegation said; such information would be included in the next periodic report of Ghana.
Concerning the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice, established by Parliament in 1993, further information would be provided when it was available to the delegation, the officials said.
GAY MCDOUGALL, the Committee expert who served as country rapporteur to the report of Ghana, said despite the numerous ethnic components of its population, Ghana had been saved from severe ethnic conflicts. There had been fluidity among the various ethnic groups in Ghana, and there was a spirit of sharing and cooperation among the population.
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57th session
22 August 2000
Afternoon
The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination this afternoon reviewed a report presented by a Government delegation from Ghana on the measures undertaken by that country to comply with the terms of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.
Introducing his country's fifteenth periodic report, Yaw Adjei, Minister and Deputy Permanent Representative of Ghana to the United Nations Office at Geneva, said that even though Ghana had a diverse ethnic, cultural and religious composition, its people had always endeavoured to live in peace, harmony and friendship with each other and with other people who lived among them.
Mr. Adjei told the Committee that the authors of the report could not come to Geneva because of budgetary constraints and the present delegation did not have all the answers to the issues raised by the members of the Committee.
Gay McDougall, the Committee expert who served as country rapporteur to the report of Ghana, said that Ghana had faced the challenge of governing a diverse population relatively well; however, the fifteenth periodic report of that country contained many of the same failings found by the Committee during its review of Ghana's previous periodic report. For example, it lacked sufficient demographic information about the country's population.
Also participating in the discussion were Committee experts Brun-Otto Bryde, Régis de Gouttes, Deci Zou, Michael Parker Banton and Luis Valencia Rodriguez.
The delegation of Ghana was also made up of L.Y. Sae-Brawusi, Minister-Counsellor; Kwasi Asanti, Minister-Counsellor; J.J. Nwaneampeh, Minister Counsellor; Amma Twum-Amoah, First Secretary; and Aaron Tsakpoe, Second Secretary; all from the Permanent Mission of Ghana to the United Nations Office at Geneva.
Ghana is among the 156 States parties to the Convention and as such it is obligated to present periodic reports enumerating the measures undertaken by the Government to combat racial discrimination in compliance with the treaty.
Following the conclusion of its consideration of the report of Ghana, the Committee started adopting its conclusions on the fifteenth periodic report of the Holy See; in the paragraphs it adopted, it noted with satisfaction that the laws and teachings of the Catholic Church promoted tolerance, friendly coexistence and multi-racial integration.
When the Committee reconvenes at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, 23 August, it will adopt the rest of its conclusions on the report of the Holy See which was reviewed earlier in the session.
Report of Ghana
The fifteenth periodic report of Ghana (document CERD/C/338/Add.5) gives account of the administrative, judicial, legislative and other measures undertaken by the State on an article-by-article basis. The report provides demographic information in which it says that the non-Ghanian population was observed to have declined from 1960 onwards because the economic conditions were no longer attractive. The population of Ghana will grow to 20.1 million in the year 2000, with an average annual growth rate of 3.1 per cent.
The 11-page report further says that in furtherance of Ghana's commitment under the Convention, it has not relented in its efforts to implement the provisions enshrined in the Convention, although cases of racial discrimination have rarely occurred in the country. The Government is also firmly committed to the elimination of all forms of racial discrimination and the promotion of international friendship and cooperation and tolerance among peoples in Ghana, irrespective of their origin, beliefs and affiliation.
Further, the report says that to promote understanding among persons with ethnic differences, the Government in 1994 set up a commission to provide a forum for identifiable ethnic groups and to look into the remote and underlying causes of the hostility and conflict between the Konkombas on the one hand and the Nanumbas, Gonjas and Dagombas on the other.
Presentation of Ghana's Report
YAW ADJEI, Minister and Deputy Permanent Representative of Ghana to the United Nations Office at Geneva, said that even though Ghana had a diverse ethnic, cultural and religious composition, the people of Ghana had always endeavoured to live in peace, harmony and friendship with each other and with other people who lived among them.
The harmonious relationship was due in part to the attitude of openness, which Ghanians of all walks of life, ethnic and religious backgrounds exhibited towards one another and to foreigners, Mr. Adjei went on to say. It was also due to the legislative, judicial, administrative and other measures which the Government had adopted to build a unified and inclusive society. The measures were aimed to promote and protect all human rights and fundamental freedoms as well as to implement and give effect to the provisions of the Convention and other human rights instruments.
Mr. Adjei continued to say that the Government of Ghana had also spared no efforts in trying to inculcate in the people the culture of tolerance and understanding; that did not mean that there had not been or there were no conflicts or violence of a religious or ethnic nature in the country; indeed, there had been such conflicts in the recent past in certain parts of the country. For example, from 1993 to 1995, a conflict broke out in the north of Ghana between ethnic groups over land rights and chieftaincy issues in which several people died on both sides, but the Government had intervened to restore law and order.
Mr. Adjei noted that while the incidence of racial discrimination was not a major problem in his country, the Government was doing all it could and would continue to do so, to ensure that all persons in Ghana lived in friendship and unity, and also in friendship and cooperation with peoples of other countries.
Discussion of Report
GAY MCDOUGALL, the Committee expert who served as country rapporteur to the report of Ghana, said that the population of Ghana was extremely heterogenous, consisting of more than 50 different ethnic groups and subgroups. The present and the previous periodic reports of Ghana, however, failed to provide demographic information about the country's population.
Ms. McDougall said that the current periodic report explained the Government's efforts to resolve ethnic conflicts, such as the creation of a commission to look into the hostility between ethnic groups in the north. Although laudable, those efforts had not yet succeeded in ending ethnic strife generally, or the conflict in the north specifically; numerous conflicts between ethnic groups continued to rise, particularly surrounding chieftaincy succession issues and land rights; on 1 January 1998, one such dispute in Kue, a farming village on the Togolese border, ended with eight dead, twelve injured, and four houses burned.
Ms. McDougall asked: What laws and regulations were currently in place to make the Convention enforceable in Ghana? For example, was the Avoidance of Discrimination Act of 1957 still in force and had it been updated to conform with the 1992 Constitution? Could the texts of all such laws and regulations be provided to the Committee? And what efforts were underway to equalize land rights for all peoples in Ghana?
Ms. McDougall said that not only did the report lack details on the exact language of Ghana's legal texts on rights guaranteed without distinction of race, colour or ethnic origin, it also failed to acknowledge problems in the enforcement of Ghana's guarantees of fundamental rights. For example, in the area of political rights, some of Ghana's ethnic groups complained that they were not adequately represented in the national government. A 1997 survey by the International Foundation for Electoral Systems had found that 25 per cent of respondents felt discriminated against based on their tribal origins. The Ashanti majority believed that the current regime was controlled by the Ewe minority and voted overwhelmingly in the last election for the opponent of the current President.
Ms. McDougall asked the delegation about the efforts made by the Government to include representatives of diverse ethnic backgrounds in positions of power in the current Government. Could the delegation provide figures on the ethnic composition of the Government and military? What was the present policy of the Government regarding repatriation of refugees? Had there been occasions when refugees were forcibly repatriated?
Ms. McDougall said that Ghana had faced the challenge of governing a diverse population relatively well; however, the fifteenth periodic report of that country contained many of the same failings found by the Committee during its last review of a report of Ghana. It lacked sufficient detail and failed to acknowledge that there were any problems whatsoever with discrimination real or perceived along ethnic lines.
Other Committee experts also commented on the report, raising issues such as ethnic conflicts, the independence of the human rights commission and the commission established to inquire over the causes of the ethnic conflicts in the northern part of the country, and the real number of people who had died in that conflict, among other things.
Response of Ghana
In response to some of the questions raised by Committee experts, the members of the Ghanian delegation affirmed that Ghanians did not think of themselves in terms of their ethnic backgrounds but thought of themselves as Ghanians.
Unfortunately, no figure was available on the demographic composition of the Ghanian population, the delegation said; such information would be included in the next periodic report of Ghana.
Concerning the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice, established by Parliament in 1993, further information would be provided when it was available to the delegation, the officials said.
GAY MCDOUGALL, the Committee expert who served as country rapporteur to the report of Ghana, said despite the numerous ethnic components of its population, Ghana had been saved from severe ethnic conflicts. There had been fluidity among the various ethnic groups in Ghana, and there was a spirit of sharing and cooperation among the population.
* *** *