 |
| Interior Minister Ambrose Dery |
AHTU sources indicated that The Human Trafficking Act, 2005 (Act 694) which was amended in 2009 “to align its definition of human trafficking with the 2000 UN TIP Protocol” makes provision for “Duty to inform” under section 6 of the Act. This provision was made to enable anyone with information about human trafficking to inform the police, which is mandatory.
In addition to providing information to the police, a person with such information “may” also inform the Commission of Human Rights and Administrative Justice, Department of Social Welfare, the Legal Aid Board, or a reputable Civil Society Organisation.
The duty to inform also prescribes a penalty for failing to report information on human trafficking. “A person who fails to inform the police commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine of not less than two hundred and fifty penalty units or a term of imprisonment not less than twelve months or both”, according to subsection 6 of the Human Trafficking Act.
This focus on enlisting the support of the public to provide information on human trafficking and public education comes as Ghana continues to take steps to avoid being downgraded further by the United States. The 2016 Trafficking in Persons Report by the US Department of State noted that despite the effort the government is showing in combating human trafficking, it failed to demonstrate its willingness in fighting it. “The government did not demonstrate overall increasing anti-trafficking efforts compared to the previous reporting period; therefore, Ghana is placed on Tier 2 Watch List”, the report stated.
A further downgrade from a Tier 2 Watch List to a Tier 3 Watch List will not only cast a slur on efforts by Ghana to combat human trafficking, it will also have financial and economic consequences as some International Agencies and donors, including the US could withdraw grants and support and services, with severe consequences for Ghana’s developmental agenda.
Indeed, the potential loss of funds and the issue of combating human trafficking in Ghana became front and centre when the Minister-designate for the Interior, Hon. Ambrose Dery disclosed that Ghana risks losing $650m following a US department of State report that rated Ghana to a Tier 2 category watch list for the second time running over human trafficking.
He revealed this when he took his turn at the on-going ministerial vetting at the Parliament Conference Room in Accra recently, noting that the ministry would respond to the US State Department report as soon as he begins work.
The “duty to inform” requires an informed citizenry that participates in keeping an eye on human trafficking issues and knows whom to report information about human trafficking occurrences. To this end, a partnership with the police service and all reliable agencies in fighting human trafficking is needed. Such partnership could be vertical and horizontal and would include citizens reporting not only to the police and the listed institutions, but also to other bodies and persons including teachers, nurses, chiefs, and opinion leaders in the villages and communities, it was learnt.
Investigations conducted by this reporter showed, for instance, that in villages where there are no police posts, no officers of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) or the legal aid board, persons with information on trafficking have to report human trafficking information to teachers or any person who is capable of forwarding the case to the district for prompt action to be taken.
However, people in 10 villages visited in the Volta Region had no information about reporting human trafficking information to nurses, teachers, opinion leaders, chiefs, among others. This challenge is also an opportunity for the AHTU and other agencies with the mandate to combat human trafficking to embark on public education to enlist the support of the public and provide information to citizen in the rural and peri-urban areas about whom to report trafficking information to.
In addition to public education, prosecution of perpetrators of human trafficking is key to combating trafficking in persons and it was an area that the US Department of State 2016 Trafficking in Persons Report highlighted, noting government’s inability to prosecute offenders of human trafficking. The report stated that “while the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit (AHTU) of the Ghana Police Service (GPS) reported 238 investigations and referred 21 individuals for prosecution for trafficking-related crimes, the government reported no convictions in 2015.
However, information gathered from the AHTU has it that some persons were convicted, with AHTU sources emphasizing that just as in any criminal case where the prosecution must establish beyond every reasonable doubt that an offence was committed for an accused person to be convicted, the court may determine otherwise depending on not just the facts, but more important the position of the law.
Independent investigations also established that there could be various challenges inhibiting prosecution of persons in this regard. As an example, there are at times when a victim’s parent is induced with money from the accused and other times the families involved write to the law court stating their intent to discontinue the case among other reasons.
AHTU sources noted that there must be a balance in the criticism of work being done on anti-human trafficking, adding that the criticism must take into account successful rescues undertaken to liberate and reintegrate hundreds of children from various forms of human trafficking. “At the end of the day, smiles have been put onto the faces of victims and their families”, a source familiar with the rescue and rehabilitation of trafficked children noted.
The source urged the US Department of State not only to focus their attention on the prosecution aspect, but also focus on the rescuing effort. It again urged the State Department to also consider various efforts that Non-Governmental Organizations, including Challenging Heights, are playing to combat child trafficking.
A successful anti-human trafficking campaign also requires the availability and provision of funds. Reports gathered from the Department of Social Welfare and the Anti Human Trafficking Unit of the Ghana Police Service indicate that government’s funding of the major activities in supporting the department and unit respectively in combating human trafficking has been “woefully inadequate”.
The Department of Social Welfare states that it received only second and third quarter funding in 2016 and it was very difficult in managing their activities.
A source who didn’t want to be identified because of fear of being victimized by government said that “The government has been supporting us with fuel, personnel and several others, but support for victims has been inadequate. We are supposed to be supported by the Gender Ministry, but government has done less in supporting the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit in combating the crime.
Fighting against trafficking deals with money; if there is no money, it slows down our activities”.
The funding difficulties supports the claim by the US Department of State Report of 2016 Trafficking in Persons where it stated that “the failure to provide adequate and timely operating funds for law enforcement and protection agencies continued to hamper the government’s anti-trafficking efforts.
As a result, the government did not increase prosecution efforts or assistance to victims”.
Notwithstanding this, the department of Social Welfare expressed its disappointment in some section of the report. The report stated that “the shelter in Osu is the only government-run shelter where child victims of trafficking or other abuses may be placed; it provides short-term care and has a maximum capacity of 30 children. This shelter is co-located with a juvenile correctional facility with no structural barrier protecting the victims from criminal offenders, is in serious disrepair, and lacks security”.
The source at the department explained that some of the people in the shelter are not criminals, but are juvenile offenders whereas some are also missing and found children. A visit to the facility does not depict the shelter being “in serious disrepair, and lacks security”, although the shelter could be facing some challenges. It was also gathered that victims of human trafficking were no longer kept at the facility as the US Report stated, but are now being sheltered at the Don Bosco Home in Tema.
In assisting the AHTU to combat human trafficking, education cannot be overemphasised. The US report states that “Ghana is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking”. Ghana has proven to be a fertile ground due to its strategic location on the Sub-Saharan Region. There is the need to do more in terms of education, adequate mechanism needs to be put in place, and the public must be sensitized to know their responsibilities in combating human trafficking.
In addition to the public’s duty to inform authorities about human trafficking activities, members of the public also have power of arrest as the Human Trafficking Act makes provision for a private person to arrest traffic offenders without warrant. Section 13 of the Act states that:
(1) A private person may arrest a person without warrant if the person commits an act of trafficking in the presence of the private person.
(2) A private person may arrest a person without warrant where the private person has reasonable suspicion that the person has committed an offence of trafficking
(3) A private person who effects an arrest shall immediately handover the person to the police.
However, if anyone dreams of making fortunes from human trafficking just by reporting such cases to the police or the institutions and agencies involved, that dream would not be a reality. The law does not make provision for persons with information on trafficking to be rewarded. AHTU sources explained that this provision was not considered because some people could report just to retaliate; some also just want money, among other things.
This article was brought to you by the Africa Centre for International Law and Accountability (ACILA) and Panos Institute West Africa, two non-profit and nonpartisan organisations in Ghana and Senegal respectively, with support from the European Union.
https://www.modernghana.com/news/753650/public-support-and-public-education-are-key-to-combating-hum.html
No comments:
Post a Comment