A Legal Officer with the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Mr. Samuel Bosompem, says assertions that the Commission has "no teeth" or somewhat ineffectual do not reflect the yeoman's job the organization was doing to instill a culture of respect of human rights in the populace.
He said contrary to that assertion, the Commission had discharged its duties fairly well and in many cases was able to resolve to the satisfaction of feuding parties almost 80 per cent of cases that appeared before it.
He said in such a scenario, especially in the instance of 2006 where the Commission settled 11, 155 or 76 per cent of the 14,559 cases that were filed before it, no one could then claim that CHRAJ had "no teeth".
Rather, he said the statistics depict a competent organization, which was going about its job very well despite the many financial and administrative challenges that confront its effectiveness.
Speaking at a media sensitization workshop in Koforidua on Friday, Mr Bosompem therefore enlisted the support of civil society group organization and government to make more resources available to the CHRAJ to enable it to make access to justice more readily available to marginalized and vulnerable persons.
He said the very high compliance rate of cases determined by the Commission indicated the faith and interest Ghanaians had in the body, although heavy workload and unattractive conditions were still among its challenges.
In particular, he said, there was need for more collaboration between the CHRAJ and the media to deepen society's understanding of its role, as that would invariably help deepen the understanding of Ghanaians in the run-up to the general elections.
Mr. Bosompem urged the media to be on-guard and help safeguard the liberties and rights of people to ensure a progressive realization of the rights of the people regardless of their creed or colour.
He said the media was duty-bound to assist in the detection and reporting of the violation of rights and freedoms, instance of injustice, corruption, and abuse of power, as well as unfair treatment of any person by a public officer in the exercise of his official duties.
In a speech read on her behalf, Miss Anna Bossman, acting Commissioner of CHRAJ, stated that effective human rights education was crucial to the fate of democracy and as such, there was need for the media to assist in efforts to help build a society where respect for others was evident.
She said it was important for the media to recognize that poverty, ethnic strife, violence and apathy were anathema to the growth of democratic culture and their occurrence in Ghana represents an insidious challenge to freedom and the rule of law.
Mrs. Comfort Akosua Edu, Public Relations Officer of the Commissioner, entreated the media to realize that Ghana's reputation in the world was partly dependent on a strong and healthy democracy, the basis, which is an enduring legacy regarding the respect of rights