A notice to commence a human rights suit against three military personnel who were said to have allegedly assaulted a 16-year old boy, in Accra, has been served at the Attorney General (AG) Department and the Ministry of Justice (MoJ).
Signed by Francis Xavier Sosu, the lawyer for the victim and copied The Ghanaian Times yesterday, the notice is requesting the AG and the MoJ, to intervene in the matter or the personnel would be made to face the full rigours of the law within 21 days.
It described the action meted out to the victim, Christopher Barmah alias Christopher Kombian Piffa, on April last year as torturous, cruel and dehumanising which is contrary to Article 15 of the 1992 Constitution and Provisions of the United Nations (UN) Convention, against torture, cruelity and other dehumanising treatments.
The notice also said the alleged action was against Article 55 of the chapter of the UN, to promote universal respect for, observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms and also an infringement of Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights both of which provided that no one shall be subjected to torture, cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment or punishment.
It explained that on April 14, Kombian was alleged to have stolen a mobile phone by the three military personnel who thoroughly searched him and found no such phone with him adding, “On that same day the victim who usually run errands for the assailants was invited into the barracks and when he arrived, the military men insisted that he had stolen the phone and started assaulting him.
According to eyewitnesses, Kombian was handcuffed and hanged on a mango tree with his legs suspending and they started assaulting him until he became unconscious.
When the victim was unconscious, they melted a rubber onto his skin in an attempt to revive him. Later, when the personnel sensed danger they rushed the victim to God Cares Community Hospital and the doctor at post, Dr. Opoku reported that the victim was brought to the hospital with assault on the whole body, puffy face and breathing difficulty.
Clinical examination also showed that the patient had multiple assaultS and kept vomiting and acknowledging that the victim’s condition was terrifying, the doctor referred him to the 37 Military Hospital for CT Scan of the head.
The victim was later referred to the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital for post-traumatic stress disorder observation and treatment,” it said.
The notice said based on the circumstance, a former petition was submitted to the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) which commissioned an investigation into the matter and nearly a year now there had been no report issued on the situation.
It said the suit was therefore being recommended and will be filed after the 21 days for compensation for the breaches after the set date expired.