Ghana’s Supreme Court has ordered government to release the agreement between Ghana and the United States of America concerning the acceptance of two Guantanamo detainees into the country.
The order was given on Thursday July 28, 2016 after the judges heard the petition brought before it by Henry Nana Boakye and Margaret Bamful who sued the Attorney General and the Interior Minister and President Mahama for accepting two detainees without recourse to the laws of the land.
Government in all its communications after the arrival of the GITMO two into the country insisted that issues surrounding the acceptance of the two were high profile and bothered on national security. Based on this government said releasing such information was detrimental to the safety of the country.
But the court in giving its order stated quite categorically that ‘releasing the agreement would not in anyway affect the Ghana’s security.’ They however indicated that the agreement should be released to the lawyers of the two persons who brought the case before the court.
The two plaintiffs are amongst others seeking the court to declare “that on a true and proper interpretation of Article 75 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana, the President of the Republic of Ghana acted unconstitutionally by agreeing to the transfer of Mahmud Umar Muhammad Bin Atef and Khalid Muhammad Salih Al-Dhuby” who are the detainees.
In January of 2016, two former detainees of Guantanamo Bay in the Cuba, Mahmud Umar Muhammad Bin Atef and Khalid Muhammad Salih Al-Dhuby were brought into Ghana after serving fourteen years in the prison for having links with terror group, Alkaeeda.
The arrival of the two generated a huge uproar with some critics of the government saying due process was not followed.
By Martin Asiedu-Dartey|3news.com|Ghana
Twitter: @3newsgh
