“Exhume Bodies Of Murdered Ghanaians”  	

The United Nations (UN) and the Economic Community of West African
States (ECOWAS) Commission have recommended that the government of The
Gambia pay compensation and redress to Ghana for the killing and
disappearance of Ghanaians in The Gambia. They have also recommended
that The Gambian government should facilitate the exhumation and
return to Ghana of the bodies of the six deceased persons who were
found in the Tanji forest and who had been identified as Ghanaians for
fitting burials.

The international investigation panel of the UN and the ECOWAS
Commission that looked into the killing and disappearance of 40
Ghanaians in July 2005 said the compensation should be agreed upon by
both the governments of Ghana and The Gambia.  Alhaji Muhammad Mumuni,
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration made this known
when he returned home from Abuja, Nigeria, on May 14 where he attended
a meeting on the killings and disappearance of Ghanaians in the
Gambia.

According to Alhaji Mumuni, the report from the investigation panel
established that there was no ship waiting to transport the group to
Europe from the Gambian waters, as members of the group were made to
believe by the organisers of the trip.  He said the whole trip, by the
findings of the report, was a scam perpetrated on the unsuspecting
travellers by one Captain Taylor and Lamine Tunkara from the Gambia.
The report further found that the diaries and daily logs of both the
Banjul and the Bundum Police Stations confirmed the presence, period
of detention and subsequent release of two groups of individuals at
each of the respective facilities during the period.

The report found it incredible, especially with the cases of Mr John
Akorful and Mr Bright Antwi, who were detained in Kanifeng Police
station and were allegedly released, that the police would release two
persons who were alleged to be part of a larger group of West Africans
of which eight were found dead in Tanji forest in Gambia, less than 24
hours earlier, without ascertaining their whereabouts.  The minister
said whilst the findings also revealed that some “rogue elements”
within the security services of The Gambia were to blame for the
deaths and disappearances of the Ghanaians, it did find that the state
of Gambia and its leadership were not to blame in any way for the
unfortunate incident.

Alhaji Mumuni said the panel, however, concluded that the government
of the Gambia was responsible for the protection of the human rights
of all persons on its territory, and was therefore liable for the
incident, regardless of whether those violations were committed “de
jure or de facto.” He said the report recommended that the government
of The Gambia provided compensation and redress to be agreed on by
both the governments of Ghana and the Gambia.  He said it was also
recommended that both governments agreed to the establishment of a
mechanism, possibly a joint commission, to assist in determining the
total amount of compensation or any appropriate form of redress,
identify the individuals who should receive compensation and the
amount that should be paid to each individual, based on agreed
criteria.

The minister said the government of the Gambia was to facilitate the
exhumation and return to Ghana of the bodies of six of the deceased
persons who were found in Tanji forest and who have been identified as
Ghanaians for fitting burials.  He said the report upheld three of the
four demands that the government of Ghana had made to the government
of the Gambia before the matter could be closed. These were an
investigation to unravel the truth surrounding the deaths and
disappearance of about 44 Ghanaians in the Gambia, identification and
the punishment of the perpetrators, compensation for the dead and the
disappeared and exhumation and return of the bodies of the deceased
individuals to Ghana for fitting burials.

Alhaji Mumuni said even though Ghana welcomed the findings and
recommendations of the reports, questions were raised about certain
findings which required further probing. “For instance even though the
report said a scam was perpetrated by Lamine Tunkara and Captain
Taylor, it failed to describe the exact nature of the scam,” Alhaji
Mumuni said. He said the delegation also expressed concern that though
the report had identified Tunkara as a Gambian living in the Gambia,
he was not made available for interrogation by the panel.  Alhaji
Mumuni said considering the fact that it has been proved that Tunkara
had committed the crime, the Ghana delegation had expected that the
Gambia government would have made a recommendation for his prosecution
as well as the Captain.

He said concerns were raised about the failure of the panel to visit
the site where the deceased were buried considering the fact that the
Gambia side had contested that the deceased were Ghanaians and their
identity yet to be established, adding that “It feared the Gambia side
could show different burial sites which did have our national”.
Alhaji Mumuni said the delegation also found it curious that the
report did not contain any information on whether the West African
nationals who were involved in the incident had been investigated as
well as the outcome of the investigation. Alhaji Mumuni said the Ghana
delegation, however, accepted the report on grounds that it was
consistent with the principle of Justice, International Law and Human
Rights adding that consideration was also given to the need to bring
peace and satisfaction to the family of the deceased and the
disappeared as well as the need to restore the historical cordial
relations between the two countries.

The Foreign Minister said the Gambia rejected the recommendations on
the grounds that the Gambian authorities could not be responsible for
the protection of persons whose presence in the country it did not
know. He said the parties agreed to draft a communiqué which was to be
presented to their respective governments after which another meeting
would be convened for possible signature of the agreement. Other
members of the Ghana’s delegation included Mr Cletus Avoka, Minister
of the Interior and officials from both foreign and interior
ministries. The Gambia side was led by Dr Omar Aleiu Turay, an
official from the Interior Ministry. The meeting was co-chaired by Dr
Mohamed Ibn Chambas, President of Economic Community of West Africa
States (ECOWAS) Commission and Mr Haile Menkerios, the Assistant
Secretary of the United Nations Department of Political Affairs with
Mr Bagudu Hirsa, a Nigerian Minister of State at the Presidency, as an
observer.


Source: Daily Graphic with files from GNA

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