Mr. Amarkai Laryea Amarteifio, the first man to appear before the NRC

The government is however pleased with a job well done and last Friday, issued a White Paper on the report presented to the government by the NRC late last year.

The Attorney General and Minister of Justice Mr J. Ayikoi Otoo who presented the White Paper said, "The Commission was to help Ghana to chart a new path for achieving national healing, peace, stability and reconciliation."

The process, he said, "allows a people, making a transition from a violent past into a new dawn, to document past violations and abuses of human rights for redress" To this end, he said the government would ensure that mechanisms for providing redress for grievances are respected and effectively implemented, and the government would continue to ensure that the rights of all persons under the jurisdiction of Ghana are respected at all times.

The government, he said, is satisfied that only a human rights approach will yield sustainable development, and that "Ghana can make greater strides if all of us become true apostles and disciples of human rights and raise our collective voices loudly against their violation and abuse."

The NRC was inaugurated in May 2002 under the National Reconciliation Commission Act, 2002 (Act 611). The terms of reference of the Commission were "to seek and promote national reconciliation among the people of this country by recommending appropriate redress for persons who have suffered any injury, hurt, damage, grievance or who have in any other manner been adversely affected by violations and abuses of their human rights arising from activities or inactivity of public institutions and persons holding public office during periods of unconstitutional government and to provide for related matters".

The Government White Paper expressed satisfaction that the Commission has kept faith with the letter and spirit of the legislation that established it.

The Minister noted that the Commission had been careful to situate its work within the confines of Act 611. He said the Commission, in the conduct of its work, adopted a variety of instruments and strategies including in-camera hearings, press-briefings and receipt of memoranda and petitions.

He said the Commission travelled the length and breadth of the country so that it might be accessible and available to all who wished to take advantage of its establishment.

The Commission, Mr Ayikoi Otoo said, has shown a commendable commitment to the rules of fairness in all its dealings. He said the NRC in its report examined the history of Ghana to understand the environment, the factors and attitudes that may have promoted the abuses or violations of human rights in Ghana.

This history, Mr Ayikoi Otoo said, has been interpreted by the Commission in the light of the evidence before it, and that the government expresses no opinion on this interpretation but however, "recommends it to the people of Ghana as an additional insight into the chequered history of our beloved country."

The Commission recommended among others reliefs, the setting up of a Reparation and Rehabilitation Fund from which monetary compensation would be disbursed to some victims.

The reparations were proposed in monetary, material and symbolic forms, including the mounting of monuments in honour of victims and state broadcasts of apologies from the Head of State and leaders of institutions including the military to the victims of human right abuses during those regimes.

The sources of generating cash to support the fund, as recommended by the Commission, include government making provision in the national budget towards it, proceeds from the sale of the Commission's report and other memorabilia, and voluntary contributions from the general public including private organisations and individuals as well as perpetrators of the human rights abuses who may wish to contribute.

Mr Ayikoi Otoo said the government has accepted the recommendation wholeheartedly. He said urgent steps are being taken by the government to establish the Fund, to resource it and to provide the modalities for its effective deployment as an important healing tool for Ghana.

A summary of the Commission's findings reveals that although the abuses and violations of human rights were not confined to unconstitutional governments, majority of the violations occurred during those governments. It was revealed that the AFRC and the PNDC regimes recorded 84% of such abuses.

Though the military, police service and prison service were found to be the main perpetrators of the violations, the military were listed at the forefront. The majority of the victims were mainly men, representing 81% of the total figure.

Mr Ayikoi Otoo said the best way to prevent the misuse of forces as documented by the Commission is to ensure transparency, fairness and the highest level of professionalism in the recruitment, training and deployment of these forces.

The government, Mr Ayikoi Otoo said, accepts the general recommendations made by the Commission on the Ghana Armed Forces, the Police Service and the Prison Service and it accordingly directs the Councils of these institutions to study the recommendations carefully with a view to their implementation.

An important provision in the White Paper called for copies of the NRC Report to "be made available in all school libraries by the Ministry of Education. This should extend to private schools as well.

Appropriate parts, as determined by teachers and curriculum developers should be made required reading."

The importance of setting historical records straight in school textbooks recently led to strained relations between China and Japan because in China's view new school books in Japan glossed over Japanese atrocities in China when she was occupied by the Japanese.

The NRC Report would no doubt afford Ghanaian school children and indeed historians much catching up to do in their country's 48 years post independence history.