Ghana: Whether the government targeted soldiers considered close to the opposition before the 2004 presidential elections; if so, whether these soldiers were arrested, detained, court-martialled or transferred elsewhere (2003)
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Publication Date | 3 February 2011 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | GHA103678.FE |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Ghana: Whether the government targeted soldiers considered close to the opposition before the 2004 presidential elections; if so, whether these soldiers were arrested, detained, court-martialled or transferred elsewhere (2003), 3 February 2011, GHA103678.FE, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/4dd22b692.html [accessed 28 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Information about whether the government of Ghana targeted military personnel before the 2004 presidential elections was scarce among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.
Two sources consulted by the Research Directorate pointed out that the authors of a conspiracy to overthrow the government of President John Kufuor were arrested in November 2004 (AllAfrica.com 9 Nov. 2004; DH.be 7 Nov. 2004).
According to information provided by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and repeated in an 8 November 2004 article published by Afrik.com, the Ghanaian authorities announced the arrest of seven retired military personnel suspected of [translation] "'destabilization', 'sabotage' and promoting a coup" during the period before the December 2004 elections (Afrik.com 8 Nov. 2004). In a 7 November article from that same year, citing a source close to the presidency in Accra, the Belgian journal La Dernière heure (DH.be) indicated that some military reservists had been arrested before an [translation] "attempted coup to overthrow Ghanaian President John Kufuor." According to AllAfrica.com, no charges had been laid at that point against the suspects, and the authorities had provided no details about this matter (9 Nov. 2004).
No information about whether the military personnel arrested were close to the opposition or were court-martialled or transferred elsewhere could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of sources consulted in researching this Information Request.
References
Afrik.com. 8 November 2004. "Des comploteurs' arrêtés au Ghana."
AllAfrica.com. 9 November 2004. "Ghana : la police interroge des comploteurs', un mois avant les élections générales."
La Dernière heure (DH.be). 7 November 2004. "Ghana : arrestation de militaires comploteurs."
Additional Sources Consulted
Oral sources: Attempts to contact the representatives at a United Nations Information Centre (UNIC), the Commission africaine des promoteurs de la santé et des droits de l'homme (CAPSDH) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) were unsuccessful.
Internet sites, including: Africa Governance, Monitoring and Advocacy Project (AfriMAP); Agence France-Presse (AFP); Amnesty International (AI); Education International (EI); Fédération internationale des ligues des droits de l'homme (FIDH); Freedom House; Ghana Armed Forces (GAF); Ghana Center for Democratic Developpement (CDD); The Heritage Foundation; Human Rights Watch; International Crisis Group; Migration Policy Institute (MPI); PANApress (PANA); Radio France internationale (RFI); Reporters sans frontières (RSF); United Nations Development Program (UNDP); United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR); United Nations - Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN); United States - Department of State.
