ECOWAS Court declares Ghana’s detention of nine separatists unlawful, orders compensation

The ECOWAS Court of Justice has declared Ghana’s prolonged detention of nine separatists as unlawful.

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Describing the detention as arbitrary, the court ordered the government of Ghana in its judgment on Friday to pay $2,500 each to the nine individuals, who are members of separatist organisation Homeland Study Group Foundation (HSGF), as compensation for the violation of their rights.

The case, filed in 2021, was brought by the HSGF and 30 individuals who identified themselves as ECOWAS citizens.

In suit number ECW/CCJ/APP/12/24, the applicants challenged their arrest and detention under Ghana’s 1976 Prohibited Organisations Decree.

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The Ghanaian government arrested the applicants during a crackdown on the group on 8 May 2019.

The HSGF is a Ghanaian separatist organisation advocating for the independence of a territory they refer to as “Western Togoland,” which encompasses parts of Ghana’s Volta and Oti Regions.

In the suit, the applicants alleged that Ghanaian authorities unlawfully arrested, detained, and prosecuted them after the group declared independence from Ghana.

In its judgment delivered in Lagos on Friday, the court declared that while the applicants’ arrests had legal grounds, their prolonged detention without being brought promptly before a court constituted a violation of their fundamental rights.

The three-member panel of justices led by Ricardo Gonçalves held that some of the detainees were held for up to a year without trial.

The West African court called this a direct violation of both Ghanaian legal standards and international human rights law, particularly Article 6 of the African Charter.

As compensation, the court awarded $2,500 each to nine applicants, with the funds to be paid in either US dollars or the equivalent local currency.

The court, however, dismissed the remaining 21 applicants’ claims relating to arbitrary detention due to insufficient evidence.

The ECOWAS Court also struck out the Homeland Study Group Foundation as a party in the case on the grounds that the organisation was not a legal entity.

It stated that without a registered legal status, HSGF was not competent to bring claims before it.

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Furthermore, the court refused to consider arguments about the 1956 UN-organised vote that joined British Togoland with the Gold Coast, or to support the group’s claim for independence.

It said those matters were outside its power, as the court is only allowed to deal with human rights issues under ECOWAS rules.

The court also dismissed the challenge to Ghana’s 1976 Prohibited Organisations Decree, stating that the applicants failed to point out specific parts of the law that violated international human rights standards.