Govt sued over ex-Gitmo detainees
The legality of the government's decision to accept into the country two former alleged terror suspects detained by the United States (US) at the Guantanamo Bay is being challenged by two citizens.
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Margaret Banful and Henry Nana Boakye have dragged the Attorney-General and the Interior Minister to the Supreme Court for a declaration that the continued stay of Mahmud Umar Bin Atef and
Muhammed Salih Al-Dhuby in Ghana is unlawful.
They also want an order directed at the Interior Minister to immediately return the two detainees to the government of the US.
Bin Atef and Al-Dhuby were brought to Ghana on January 6, 2016 following an agreement reached between the governments of Ghana and the US.
Their presence has sparked public outrage. A section of Ghanaians and other groups have called for their removal from Ghana, but government officials have explained that they are “low risk” former detainees.
Reliefs
The two applicants are praying the Supreme Court to declare that the continued stay of the two detainees is unlawful.
They are also seeking “a declaration that on a true and proper interpretation of Article 75 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana, the President of the Republic of Ghana, by agreeing to the transfer of
Mahmud Umar Muhammad Bin Atef and Khalid Muhammad Salih Al-Dhuby (both former detainees of Guantanamo Bay) to the Republic of Ghana, required ratification by an Act of Parliament or a resolution of Parliament supported by the votes of more than one-half of all members of Parliament”.
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According to the applicants, the President acted unconstitutionally in his failure to obtain the requisite ratification by an Act of Parliament or a resolution of Parliament when he agreed with the government of the US to transfer the two former detainees to Ghana.
They claimed that the reception accorded the two by the President was in excess of his powers under the Constitution and hence unconstitutional.
The applicants, therefore, prayed the court to hold that upon a true and proper interpretation of Article 58(2) of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana, the President was under an obligation to execute and maintain the Anti-terrorism Act of 2008 (Act 762) and the Immigration Act of 2000 (Act 573), both being laws passed under the 1992 Constitution of Ghana.
According to the applicants, “On a true and proper interpretation of Chapter 5 of the 1992 Constitution, the President, by holding Atef and Al-Dhuby under restricted conditions without a valid order of a court of competent jurisdiction, is breaching their fundamental human rights and thus acting in a manner that is unconstitutional”.