Respect the rights of demonstrators
- Minister tells Police
GNA | Posted: Wednesday, November 02, 2005
Captain Nkrabea Effah-Dartey (rtd), Deputy Minister of Interior, has urged police personnel to respect the basic human rights of citizens, especially in rioting situations.
He said: "Police officers have delicate responsibilities in handling demonstrations. They should, therefore, be careful in discharging their duties, particularly in sporting activities and chieftaincy disputes".
He was speaking at a passing out parade for the second batch of 220 personnel of the Police Rapid Deployment Unit in Accra.
Capt. Effah-Dartey asked the citizenry, especially, demonstrators and rioters to also abide by the laws of the land in their exercise of the right of demonstration.
He said the belief of the government in democracy does not warrant the lawless of citizens, stressing "democracy is not a license for lawlessness. It dose not mean people should cause mayhem and disorder in the country".
Capt. Effah-Dartey asked the personnel, who would be deployed to Kumasi, to handle situations in the northern part of the country to be circumspect, as they confront any situation that might arise in the sector.
He thanked the French Government for sponsoring the four-week training programme, which fell under an agreement signed between France and Ghana in 2002.
Under the said agreement, the first batch of 120 personnel was last year trained and deployed to handle cases in the southern part of the country.
Experts brought from France trained the personnel in rapid dispersal of mob and demonstrators, protection of VIPs and crowd control during football matches and State events.
The Inspector General of Police, Mr Patrick Kwarteng Acheampong said the training was a welcomed opportunity that had afforded the police to manage crisis with little or no casualty. He added that it would equip the police to meet modern trends of policing.
He said personnel, who took part in the first training session and were deployed in demonstrations like the "Wahala" demonstrations performed so well that no serious casualty was recorded.
Mr Pierre Jaquemot, French Ambassador, said his country, which shared common values in human rights with Ghana decided to help Ghana with the training to ensure the maintenance of law and public order during demonstrations and civil unrests.
|