Challenges facing the OPCAT in theImplementation of the OPCAT IN THEAfrican Region Visiting places of detention-Methods

Lilian Ayete-NyampongDeputy Director-Public Education DepartmentCommission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice, Ghana

Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice-Establishment and Structure

The Commission (CHRAJ) was establishedin 1993 under the 1992 Constitution ofGhana by Act 456.

It is a national human rights institution, anOmbudsman and an anti-corruptionagency. It protects and promotesfundamental rights and freedoms, integrityand administrative justice in Ghana.

The monitoring role of CHRAJ derives fromits promotional function of educating thepublic on fundamental human rights andfreedoms.

The monitoring role of theCommissionMandateInvestigation of complaints –HRs, Corruption & Administrative

Injustice, promotional and educational function(Art. 18.3 of the OPCAT) –Functional independence(Art. 20 a and b of the OPCAT)-access to info on detainees(Art.20 d and e of the OPCAT) –Conduct of interviews in private(Art. 20c of the OPCAT) –access to all facilities

Main objectiveTo ensure the protection of the rights of detained persons and

the prevention of torture and all forms of cruel, inhumanand degrading treatment

Commencement of exercise The Commission has since 1995, undertaken regular

monitoring of the nation’s prisons and police cells toexamine the general living conditions of inmates suchas accommodation, feeding, health and sanitation,agricultural/vocational and recreational activities andother aspects of detention. It pays particular attentionto the situation of remand prisoners, juveniles,mentally ill persons, pregnant women and nursingmothers, children, and suspects who are detained formore than 48 hours

Regular review of exerciseMonitoring activities have been executed

yearly except in 2004, when thedepartment decided to review pastmonitoring activities, formats andquestionnaires and to train staff drawnfrom its offices nationwide in research,monitoring skills and the in use of thequestionnaires and monitoring formats.

Focused visitsIn order to undertake a more comprehensive

analysis of issues that have arisen duringprevious monitoring visits, the Commissiondecided in 2006 to focus on selected issuesof particular concern. In 2006 and 2007,the Commission’s selective monitoringvisits focused solely on remand prisoners.Other facilities such as refugee camps,camps for suspected witches and slumcommunities were monitored as part of theCommission’s human rights’ monitoringexercise.

Methodology of visits

Objective formulation: Specific objectives of visit are defined

–this is usually undertaken at thecentral level in consultation withresearch and public educationofficers- Reference is made torelevant international, regional anddomestic standards.

Initial preparation of research tools

This is also undertaken at the centrallevel

The objectives define the monitoringscope and indicators. Research toolsare developed based on theobjectives, monitoring scope,methods/approach.

Validation of research tools andmethodology

Representatives are invited from regionsand districts to validate both researchtools and methodology and in theprocess become conversant withquestionnaire, research approach,and administration of questionnaires,the interview process, focus groupdiscussions and documentation ofrelevant information.

Preparing for the visit

Initial meeting with the officer in charge ofthe facility;

Interviews and administration ofquestionnaires (structured);

Tour of facility- Observation; Group/one-on-one interview with inmates; Interview -select officers; Final meeting with officer in charge to

discuss key observations.

Representatives also agree on the ff: Composition and size of visiting team; Leader/coordinator of the team and

definition of roles of team members; Familiarity with the objectives, formats

etc Place of visit, Duration of visit; Draft Budget categories are agreed such as

meals , transportation, accommodation,equipment etc;

Other relevant details.

Prior contact?Establishment of prior contacts with

facilities to be visited-notification andnot permission-Reference is usuallymade in the letter of notification toresearch tools to be employed

The monitoring visitBrief meeting with the person in charge of the

facility to discuss the following: Objectives of visit; Introduction of visiting team; Methodology/approach of visit indicating

research tools to be employed; Brief introduction to monitoring areas. Conduct of key informant interviews and

administration of some select sections ofquestionnaire

Request for relevant registers and statisticaldata on inmates

Tour of prisons: Remaining sections ofquestionnaire are administered.Interviews and focus group discussionheld. Responses to questionnaire areverified during tour of facilities in alldetention facilities.

InterviewsInterviews focus on questionnaire

themes, inter-prisoner violence,disciplinary procedures, officer inmaterelationship and other issues thatinmates may raise

Observation Physical: Architecture of place, sanitary

facilities, kitchen, library, workshops

Summary reportA summary report form is completed by team

immediately after visit and contentdiscussed with the Officer In Charge beforeteam leaves the detention institution.Details include: information aboutcategories of persons in detention (e.g.convicts, remand prisoners etc.) andconditions of inspected institutions (e.g.feeding, accommodation, health andsanitation etc.) Not all issues, however, areincluded in the summary report.

Documentation

Reports provide documentation onvarious aspects of detention and is asource of useful information for allwho are committed to protecting therights of persons deprived of theirliberty in Ghana’s prisons and policecells.

Findings

The reports in past years haverevealed that a high level ofdeprivation of basic requirements andneeds of prisoners-Food andnutritional requirements, health andsanitation, ventilation, spacing,vocational training, library materials

Remand prisoners: The inability of courts to expeditetrial of those who have been remanded in prisoncustody.

During one of the visits, there were 88 inmates in aremand section…inmates were compelled to sleep ineach of the cells and suspects complained about nearsuffocation during the night. They were hardly able tolay their full length on the ground; consequently theyhad to sleep in sitting positions, propped up againstthe walls until daybreak.

Juveniles are usually detained in adult cells

Compliance withrecommendations?

Mild improvement over past years, substantialimprovement over recent years:

Increase in Feeding ration Access to Justice for all programme Evacuation of largest facility holding

remand prisoners Active involvement of governmental and

non-governmental organizations Greater Support from philanthropists Expansion of educational programmes

Dehumanizing cultural practicesand degrading treatment Historically and traditionally, the popular understanding of torture

and ill-treatment and also stemming from judicial interpretationsof article 1 of the UNCAT( Infliction of severe mental/physical painby consent or acquiescence of state authorities for the specificpurpose of gaining information, punishment or intimidation) hascontributed somehow to maintaining a biased image of the torturevictim: it is the male who pervades the political and public sphereand thus it is the male who is likely to be targeted by stateviolence and repression.

Such an image, however, neglects experiences of other victimsand survivors of torture and ill-treatment and the role of non-stateactors. Torture and ill-treatment are inflicted on a much broaderrange of people than is generally realized.

Strategies for eradicating degrading and ill-treatment thereforehave to reflect the understanding of the variety of contexts inwhich torture is inflicted.

Before I conclude, I wish to draw brief attention to acts of crueltymeted in a variety of socio-cultural contexts.

Witchcraft and torture?

In Ghana and other African countries,there is still a strong belief inwitchcraft. Those suspected of beingwitches (usually older women) areusually beaten or lynched andoccasionally banished to "witchcamps," which are small villagesprimarily populated by suspectedwitches.

These women are subjected to all forms of degradingtreatment, coupled with losing their homes and possessionsand the process of interrogation and confession ischaracterized by ill-treatment and cruelty.

What is more, entry into a witch camp is not guaranteed forthose accused of being witches. Before a woman can beadmitted, the fetish priest in charge of the witch camp mustconduct a ceremony to drive the evil out of the woman's soul.A chicken is slaughtered, and its blood is mixed with dirt andwater. The priest prays over the potion to summon ancestralgods, and the woman must drink the concoction.

Trokosi

Trokosi, a traditional practice found among some ethnicgroups in Ghana and Togo, is an especially severe abuseand a flagrant violation of children's and women's rights. Itis a system in which a young girl, usually under the age of10, is made a slave to a fetish shrine for offences allegedlycommitted by a member of the girl's family. In rareinstances, boys are offered.

The belief is that, if someone in that family has committeda crime, such as stealing, members of the family may beginto die in large numbers unless a young girl is given to thelocal fetish shrine to atone for the offense. The girl becomesthe property of the fetish priest, must work on the priest'sfarm, and perform other labours for him. Within such aclosed system, one can imagine the level of deprivationssuffered and the kinds of treatment that victims aresubjected to.

Other injurious practices thatpromote the perpetration ill-treatment include harmful widowhoodrights, forced marriages, femalegenital mutilation among others

The Ghanaian constitution and otherlegislation forbid banishment and otherdehumanizing cultural practices that violatefundamental human rights, and the crime ispunishable by at least three years in prison.But very few people have been charged, letalone sentenced for such practices - beliefand value systems questioned –even policeand judges fear being punished by the gods

The Commission’s work on dehumanizing cultural practices over the yearshave revealed that majority of victims are women and children

Until recently, women’s human rights organizations have concentrated onCEDAW as a singular important instrument for ensuring specificallywomen’s rights without drawing on the strengths of other human rightstools.

There has been the recognition over recent years of the need, toacknowledge women’s rights within the ambit of other human rights,integrating a gender perspective––“mainstreaming”––into the work of theUN human rights treaty-monitoring bodies, which involves mainstreamingthe gender perspective into the work of the various UN Special Rapporteurs,particularly the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture.

As we advance discussions on the implementation of Torture in the Africanregion, let us give attention integrating a gender perspective into the workof the UN human rights treaty monitoring bodies and special Rapporteurs-inthe case of the OPCAT-the international and National visiting mechanism

Integrating the gender perspective

While it is not clear from Article 1 of theUNCAT that torture can result from‘omission’, it is worth considering thatstates’ unwillingness to take allpossible measures to prevent crueland degrading treatment and toprotect victims (who are mostlywomen) from such acts may alsosuggest acquiescence or consent.

The Commission, in collaboration withother human rights NGOs and civilsociety organizations actively engagein the scrutiny of custodial sentencesfor minor offences, the overstay ofremand prisoners, mentally tortuousconditions of prisoners on death row,and generally, inhumane conditions inthe nations prisons and police cells.

Conclusion: Relationship between Monitoring andthe Promotional function

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