Amnesty International condemns creeping mob violence in Ghana

Mr Lawrence Amesu, the Director of Amnesty International, Ghana, has raised concern about citizens who arrogate the law to themselves and carry out instant justice to innocent civilians.

He has therefore called for an end to the mob actions meted out to unarmed civilians, which he described as “gradual but disturbing social evil creeping back into the Ghanaian society.”

Mr Amesu addressing the launch of Amnesty International’s “The state of the world’s human rights report for 2014/2015” in Accra on Wednesday.

The report documented the state of human rights in 160 countries and territories during 2014.

Some key events from 2013 were also reported. The report also celebrated those who stood up for human rights across the world, often in difficult and dangerous circumstances.

Mr Amesu said Amnesty International had been receiving media reports of some people taking the law into their own hands to mete out instant justice on innocent individuals accused of one reason or the other.

The Director cited an incident in which four military personnel were reported to have beaten up a driver’s mate to death and yet nothing happened to them and described it as “unfortunate and disturbing”.

“Soldiers, who are expected to protect Ghanaians, are also involved in taking such instant justice,” he said.

Mr Amesu therefore called on the government to ensure that human rights issues were central to its programmes and also commit itself to implementing a clear agenda for human rights to protect the vulnerable in society.

Source: GNA