A/HRC/31/57/Add.2 I. Introduction 1. The Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment or punishment, Juan E. Méndez, undertook a follow-up visit to the Republic of Ghana from 3 to 7 October 2015, at the invitation of the Government, with the support of the Anti-Torture Initiative of the American University Washington College of Law’s Center for Human Rights & Humanitarian Law. 2. The purpose of the visit was to evaluate the progress made by the Government with respect to the implementation of recommendations from his 2014 report (A/HRC/25/60/Add.1) on his November 2013 visit to the Republic of Ghana. 3. The Special Rapporteur is grateful to the Government for the invitation to conduct follow-up, and emphasizes that it constitutes a good practice and an example for other States to follow. 4. During the four-day follow-up visit, the Special Rapporteur met with the Minister of Interior, the Chairman of the Prison Service Council, the Director-General of the Ghana Prisons Service (GPS), the Minister of Justice and Attorney General, high-level officials from the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Chairman of the Mental Health Authority Board, and Director of the Accra Psychiatric Hospital. The Special Rapporteur regrets that representatives from the Police Services, including the Inspector General of Police or the Director of the Police Services, were not available for meetings. The Special Rapporteur visited the medium-security prison at Nsawam (Nsawam), the maximum-security prison at Ankaful (Ankaful), the Accra Psychiatric Hospital, and the Edumfa Heavenly Ministries prayer camp (Edumfa). 5. The Special Rapporteur thanks the Government for its willingness to engage in discussions at a high level and in a spirit of cooperation and constructive dialogue. He acknowledges the authorities’ good will in providing unfettered access to places of detention in line with the terms of reference for fact-finding missions by Special Rapporteurs. The Special Rapporteur expresses disappointment and concern over attempts by employees of the privately-run Edumfa prayer camp to restrict access and to lead him away from certain parts of the camp. 6. The Special Rapporteur also met with representatives of United Nations agencies, the diplomatic corps and local NGOs, and convened a half-day Roundtable event with civil society. He thanks civil society representatives for their participation in this event and for their valuable assistance in monitoring and assessing the implementation of his recommendations. 7. Ghana remains at a critical stage in its development, both economically and in terms of living up to its international human rights obligations by advancing the fundamental human rights and dignity of its citizens. The Special Rapporteur welcomes the determination and commitment demonstrated by authorities at the highest level to reform aspects of the criminal justice system with a sense of urgency and to take measures to improve the situation of prisoners, despite the ongoing resource limitations. The extreme levels of overcrowding and dreadfully substandard conditions of detention observed in Ghana constitute cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment or punishment, while the absence of an effective criminal justice system remains a core challenge. Nevertheless, the Special Rapporteur is hopeful that by capitalizing on the current political will and on the momentum generated by incipient reforms since his last visit, the State will be on its way to delivering on aspirations to implement a more humane approach to law enforcement, criminal justice, and corrections and to protect and fulfill the human rights of its most vulnerable constituents. 3