INNORIGHTS Ghana LGB, a human rights Non-Governmental Organisation has called for a renewed national commitment to protect journalists, advocates, teachers, judges, and all defenders of human dignity, as the nation marks the 1992 Constitution Day.
“Let the ethos of constitutionalism be well understood and appreciated by the youth of Ghana. For when human rights defenders are safe, democracy thrives; when they are silenced, the constitution itself stands imperiled”, they indicated.
They are therefore calling on the nation to develop and strengthen national structures for comprehensive human rights education and protection, as the country marks the 1992 Constitution Day.
Ghana’s Constitution Day is observed annually on January 7, marking the day the 1992 Constitution came into force, ushering in the Fourth Republic in 1993.
The NGO, which works to protect the human rights and dignity of children, said education ought to be targeted and intensified among security services, public officials, schools, communities, and the media.
That must anchor national development within the ambiance of international human rights law, including the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and relevant UN instruments.
They made the call in a statement issued and signed by Mr Peter Boateng, the Chief Executive Officer of the INNORIGHTS Ghana LGB and copied to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Sunyani.
The statement therefore called on the government, the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), the Judicial Service, the National Media Commission, and allied state institutions as well as NGOs to develop national structures in the supreme interest of the nation.
It said: “Human rights education isn’t a luxury, but a developmental imperative”, saying that: “A society that understands rights is more peaceful, more productive, and more resilient”.
Protecting those who defend rights is, therefore, an investment in national stability, democratic consolidation, and sustainable development.
The statement stressed that across the globe human rights defenders had persistently come under siege: from authoritarian governments, armed groups, and, paradoxically, from institutions mandated to protect them.
It explained that the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, alongside the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders (1998), recognized that the protection of “those who speak up for others is not optional but a legal, constitutional, and moral obligation of states”.
“At INNORIGHTS Ghana, we firmly posit that governments are indispensable partners in the promotion, protection, and education of human rights”, it stated.
The statement said: “Strong states, credible institutions, and professional security services are essential for safeguarding rights and maintaining social order”.
However, this vital mandate must be exercised strictly within the confines of the law, proportionality, accountability, and respect for civic space.
“When human rights defenders are criminalized, intimidated, or silenced for their advocacy, the ultimate casualty is not the activist alone, but democracy itself alongside accountability, justice, and public trust”.
It reminded Ghanaians that constitutional democracy isn’t sustained by legal texts alone, it’s sustained by people, and observed that since returning to democratic rule in 1993, the nation has been widely celebrated as a beacon of democracy in Africa.
“However, this enviable reputation is increasingly being repudiated by persistent threats of murder, arson, harassment, torture, and other forms of cruelty meted out to human rights defenders”, it worried.
The statement regretted that: “Journalists investigating corruption, lawyers defending unpopular causes, judges upholding the rule of law, teachers shaping critical minds, and other civic actors committed to human dignity have, in diverse ways, suffered intimidation, physical assault, and, in some tragic cases, brutal deaths without justice”.
It said: “Defending human rights defenders must therefore be understood not as hostility toward government, but as an affirmation of constitutionalism, the rule of law, and shared responsibility”.
The governments, national human rights institutions, security agencies, and civil society organizations must act collaboratively to reverse the troubling trajectory.
