A/HRC/31/57/Add.2
V. Conclusions and recommendations
76.
The Special Rapporteur welcomes commitment and determination displayed by
the Government to reform aspects of the criminal justice system and to improve
prison conditions with a view to enhancing the fundamental human rights of its
citizens. The development of initiatives such as the “Justice for All” programme,
Project Efiase, the Ghana Sentencing Guidelines, is welcome, and their
implementation should be vigorously pursued. The Government must also make a
concerted effort to follow-through on its various commitments with regards to the
legal and institutional framework to combat and prevent torture and other illtreatment by, inter alia, ratifying the OPCAT and establishing an NPM, introducing
the offence of torture in national criminal legislation; strengthening legal safeguards
against torture and other ill-treatment; implementing measures designed to improve
judicial management and case disposition; and undertaking the comprehensive
reforms contemplated by the GPS’s strategic plan with regards to conditions of
detention and the delivery of services in prisons. The Special Rapporteur remains
particularly concerned about allegations of the use of torture and other ill-treatment
during arrest, and interrogation, and police custody, and calls on the Government to
ensure that complaint procedures and mechanisms are adequate and lead to
accountability. The Special Rapporteur welcomes the establishment of the Mental
Health Authority Board and its efforts to improve mental healthcare practices in both
the formal and informal sectors, in the face of severe challenges, and urges the
Government to support these efforts through adequate funding, resourcing, and
capacity-building. He observes that some practices in private prayer camps, such as
shackling and forced fasting, amount to torture and other ill-treatment, and reminds
the Government of its fundamental obligation to absolutely prohibit and eradicate
these practices, in line with international human rights obligations.
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