Deputy Commissioner for the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Madam Mercy Larbi, has advised Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) to comply with principles in the implementation and protection of rights and freedoms of all persons.
These principles when ignored, she explained, can lead to the violation of the human rights of the vulnerable including women and children which may in turn, consequently result in arbitrary arrests of people by security agencies.
Speaking at a two-day workshop aimed at fostering collaboration between national human right institutions (NHRIs) and CSOs in Africa, Madam Mercy stressed on the need for a legal framework to be instituted so to ensure the protection of human rights defenders while putting in place the needed measures that would enhance collaboration between the NHRIs and CSOs.
The workshop, organized by the Gender Centre for Empowering Development (GenCED), a non-governmental organisation that seeks to empower women and youth for sustainable development in Ghana and beyond, was aimed at establishing the needed foundations for collaboration between human rights organizations and agencies as well as stakeholders.
This was also to ensure that the NHRIs and CSOs have a coordinated agenda on the protection and promotion of human rights in Africa, including the protection of human rights defenders and activists.
In her remarks, the Executive Director for the Gender Centre for Empowering Development (GenCED), Esther Tawiah, iterated the need for the protection of human rights defenders especially women.
She intimated that her outfit would take it up to help human rights advocates and defenders, with support from other stakeholders, whether they are Ghanaians or not.
The Executive Director of the Network for African National Human Rights institutions (NANHRI), Gilbert Sebihogo, bemoaned the shortcomings of institutions and other security agencies in the protection of human rights on the continent and called on the relevant agencies to partner with them in the fight against human rights abuse.
