Three lawyers have sued the Attorney-General, Marietta Appiah-Oppong, for what they say are inhumane and degrading conditions at the country detention centres.
Martin Kpebu, Francis Ontoyin and Nana Akwasi Awuah want the Supreme Court to cause the government to explain its failure to separate toilet facilities at the prisons from the bedroom of the inmates, resulting in the use of a toilet by an inmate in the presence of other inmates.
The practices, the plaintiffs believe, “is cruel, inhumane and degrading and also detracts a prisoner/remandee’s dignity and worth, and therefore inconsistent with” the 1992 Constitution.
Poor conditions at the country’s prisons is an over-drummed problem. Many of Ghana’s prisons are overcrowded, making life unbearable for inmates.
A report released by the Human Rights Council of the United Nations (UN) in 2014 indicated that the human right conduct in Ghana’s prisons does not meet international standards.
A Joy News documentary this year also revealed that the poor conditions at prisons across the country are getting worse.
Read in full the reliefs sought by the plaintiffs below:
1. On a true and proper interpretation of article 15(1), (2) and clause (4) of article 35 of the Constitution, (1992) the government’s failure to separate toilet facilities in prisons from the bedroom resulting in the use of a toilet by an inmate in the presence of other inmates in Ghanaian prisons is cruel, inhumane and degrading and also detracts a prisoner/remandee’s dignity and worth, and therefore inconsistent with the said provisions;
2. On a true and proper interpretation of articles 15(1), (2) and 35(4) of Constitution, (1992) a remandee and a convicted prisoner are entitled to a minimum floor space of 3 square metres and 4 square metres respectively in order to maintain their dignity and worth as enshrined in clauses (1) and (2) of article 15 and clause (4) of article 35 of the constitution, 1992;
3. On a true and proper interpretation of article 15(1),(2) and clause (4) of article 35 of the constitution, 1992 the inadequate medical personnel, medical facilities and medicine for the treatment of sick prisoners in Ghanaian prisons is inconsistent with the said provisions;
4. A declaration that the Government of Ghana is in breach of articles 15(1), (2) and 35(4) of the Constitution, (1992) for not taking urgent steps to ensure separate bed for each prisoner, sufficient toilet facilities and good nutritional diet for prisoners and which failure also breaches international standards;
5. An order directed at the defendant to provide additional prisons or expand existing prison facilities in order to ease the congestion and overcrowding currently prevalent in the existing prisons in order to meet the requirement stated in relief (2) and that until additional prisons are constructed or expansion works are carried out in existing prisons, the defendant must ease the current congestion by transferring excess prisoners in existing prisons to temporary detention facilities;
6. An order directed at the defendant to provide sufficient beds, or other safe and clean sleeping facility for each person being held in any prison in Ghana and to renovate, paint, clean, and/or disinfect all dilapidated prisons and prison cells in Ghana and to keep all such prisons and prison cells in a safe, sanitary and habitable state at all times;
7. An order directed at the defendant to make accessible to each person being held in any Ghanaian prison sufficient hygienic toilet and bathroom facilities well demarcated from living areas and to provide a nutritionally balanced diet to each prisoner three times a day under a nutritional scheme monitored and periodically reviewed by a qualified nutritionist;
8. An order directed at the defendant to make clean and safe water available, at all times, to each person being held in any Ghanaian prison for purposes of drinking, bathing, cleaning and other sanitary purposes and to provide each prison in Ghana with an infirmary manned by a sufficient number of certified medical officers and adequately stocked with the necessary medical equipment and medicines for the treatment of sick prisoners;
9. An order directed at the defendant to submit to the Honourable Court, not later than three months from the date of final judgment, a plan of action detailing all the steps, strategies, and measurable targets by which the defendants undertake to obey and perform the orders contained in reliefs (5), (6), (7), and (8);
10. An order directed at the defendant to submit to the Honorable Court, two years from the date of final judgment and thereafter every six months until the expiry of the three-year plan of action, a report particularizing all the steps taken, and targets met in obeying the orders of the Honourable Court contained in reliefs (5), (6), (7), and (8);
11. Any other orders, directions or reliefs the Honourable Court considers just and proper to grant.
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