Ashaiman, state-sponsored terrorism against rule of law II

There have been praises by some for what we did in Ashaiman. Please do not expect us to follow the Constitution when we undertake these exercises. Who is talking and about what exercise?

Fellow Ghanaians, that is none other but a Director-General in the Ghana Armed Forces. That is Brigadier General Eric Aggrey Quarshie reporting how proud they feel to have besieged Ashaiman recently fully armed using helicopters and armored cars, and terrorizing innocent people in the name of searching for suspects of the gruesome killing of young trooper Imoro Sherrif on March 4, 2023.

Yes, he is proudly talking about how they acted lawlessly and treated fellow humans like animals in a democratic Ghana. They stopped people from moving out of their homes; they broke doors and woke people up from their sleep; they blocked roads, lined people up; made them swim in rain-water mud while using various dangerous weapons to inflict injuries on their bodies.

Yes, they seemed to celebrate the suffering and bloodletting they saw and took or allowed these footages to be taken and shared publicly. They, with such impunity engaged in the most egregious violations of the Constitution, laws of Ghana and all known international laws, conventions and instruments against their very conduct.

It is not surprising that by the police’s official account, this invasion was sanctioned even when the army had knowledge of the police’s lawful and professional pursuit of the suspects of the dastardly act to face justice. So, while the police picked up six of the suspects of a robbery incident during which the soldier was stabbed, the army tortured an entire community and took as many as 184 supposed suspects into custody only to release them later.

When citizens demanded explanations for their unconstitutional and illegal conduct, they issued a statement insulting the intelligence of over 30 million Ghanaians and making a mockery of themselves – they called it an intelligence-led operation. What superior intelligence to keep a country safe from terrorism?

Well, Brigadier General Aggrey Quarshie is not alone, even ministers, blind party-loyalists and some who refuse to think, justify and praise the wrong for as long as it does not affect them or their relations. Of course, they can’t think beyond their stomachs to see the danger in entertaining such terrorism against the rule of law and due process.

All 184 people they arrested and detained without due process were released without an apology. Now it is not the State, but the man standing trial for staging a coup on facebook, Oliver Barker-Vormawor’s FixTheCountry that has mobilized lawyers and volunteers to visit with this fresh batch of victims of military brutalities to properly document their ordeal and assist them seek justice.

Is this the same Ghana army that gets all the plaudits for outstanding professional conduct on peace-keeping missions abroad?

Once again, I join citizens with conscience like Kweku Antwi-Boasiako, Professors Kwadwo Appiagyei Atua and Stephen Kwaku Asare and groups like CDD Ghana and OccupyGhana to demand investigations and sanctions for those behind these violations and their supervisors.

The victims must be adequately compensated. Dear champion of rule of law and due process, reputable human rights lawyer and now President of (Democratic not Military) Republic and Command-In-Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces, your silence is such loud complicity, George Floyd would be asking to know if it is not better to fight for justice for the living than the dead. And that, is My Take.

 

Writer: Samson Lardy Anyenini