The ECOWAS Court of Justice has ruled that the Government of Ghana violated the fundamental rights of 30 members of the Homeland Study Group Foundation (HSGF) by detaining them without trial for prolonged periods, ordering $75,000 in total compensation.
In a decision handed down on Friday at the Osborne Foreshore Court in Lagos, the regional tribunal found that Ghana breached its constitutional and international obligations by detaining the applicants, some for more than a year, without due process. Each applicant is to receive $2,500, payable in the Ghanaian cedi equivalent.
“The applicants were arrested and held for extended periods, some for over a year, without being brought before a court. This is a violation of their right to liberty,” said Justice Ricardo Gonçalves, who presided over the case alongside Justices Sengu M. Koroma and Dupe Atoki.
The ruling in case no. ECW/CCJ/APP/12/24 affirmed that the prolonged detentions contravened Article 14(3) of Ghana’s Constitution and Article 6 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, both of which safeguard the right to liberty and require suspects to be brought before a judge within 48 hours.
The 30 individuals, arrested on May 8, 2019, were charged under Ghana’s 1976 Prohibited Organisations Decree, legislation that criminalizes groups considered threats to national security. The applicants claimed the arrests were politically motivated and lacked legal justification.
While the court accepted jurisdiction over the matter, it dismissed the Homeland Study Group Foundation as a party to the suit, citing the group’s failure to present registration documents. “No registration documents were presented. Therefore, the Foundation cannot be recognised as a legal entity before this Court,” the judgment stated.
Ghana’s defense that national security justified the detentions was rejected. “Even where national security is cited, detention must comply with the law. Detaining individuals for over a year without trial is unjustifiable,” the court ruled.
The panel further dismissed the applicants’ claim to the right of self-determination, stating neither the Foundation nor its members had the legal standing to make such a claim on behalf of a community.
In addition to awarding compensation, the ECOWAS Court directed the Government of Ghana to either initiate legal proceedings against the detainees within two weeks or release them unconditionally. Other reliefs sought by the applicants were denied, and both sides were ordered to bear their own legal costs. A full written judgment will be issued upon final signature by the justices.
The ruling underscores the growing role of the ECOWAS Court in enforcing human rights protections across the region, particularly in politically sensitive detention cases. The judgment follows a similar decision a day earlier, in which the court ordered Nigeria to release a businessman held in pretrial detention for over 16 years.
Source:Punch Newspapers
