Young Peoples and Human Rights Ghana

Evangelist Jailed 20yrs Posted on May 27, 2011 Evangelist Kwabena Adomako A 25-year-old evangelist in the Ashanti Regional capital, Kumasi, has been sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment in hard labour for forcibly having sexual intercourse with a nine-year-old girl in a school. Kwabena Adomako, a self-styled preacher of the gospel who preaches on repentance at open spaces in the business district of the city, defiled the minor (name withheld) in the public place at about 7:30 pm on May 10, 2011. A Kumasi Circuit Court presided over by D.P.W. Amedior jailed Adomako, a native of Apitiso, a community near Obuasi in the Ashanti region, after pleading guilty to a charge of defilement. The sentence, according to the court, was to serve as a deterrent to other men in society who thoughtlessly raped and defiled girls. Prosecuting, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Doris Amewu said the victim lived with her mother at Asafo in Kumasi whilst the convict lived at Amakom. Adomako is a member

Acting Commissioner of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) Anna Bossman has resigned. She was said to have tendered in her resignation letter to the presidency yesterday. Ms. Bossman confirmed her retirement to the media and said her decision to quit CHRAJ was to enable her to pursue “other interests”. She said it was the “right time” for her to move on and the “right thing” to do. “I wanted to do other things…At a certain age you decide to move on…I will work at other places, do human rights work,” she told Citi Fm. Speculations are rife that Ms Bossman quit the commission because of her inability to secure confirmation as the substantive boss of CHRAJ after acting in that capacity for a couple of times. After Justice Emile Short’s resignation last year December, it was widely speculated that Ms. Bossman would take over as Commissioner of CHRAJ but sources say a High Court judge has been appointed as the new commissioner and that might have triggered Ms.

New Toolkit on HIV and Human Rights Advocacy for Men Who Have Sex with Men   Dear all,   The Global Forum on MSM & HIV (MSMGF) is pleased to announce the official launch of the new Speaking Out Advocacy Toolkit , a training-of-trainers designed to support grassroots activists in the development and implementation of rights-based advocacy projects.  Focusing specifically on men who have sex with men (MSM) and HIV, the toolkit addresses key issues for this population, including stigma and discrimination, service provision for MSM, fund raising for MSM projects, working in hostile environments, and United Nations Human Rights mechanisms.    First piloted with 23 activists from 14 different countries at the International AIDS Conference in July 2010, the toolkit emphasizes a participatory approach.  Aiming to foster engaged, dynamic discussions between trainers and participants, the toolkit includes a large number of exercises, enhanced by detailed activity descriptions and handouts.

Authorities at the Takoradi Polytechnic in the Western Region have dismissed a female lecturer who allegedly attempted to coerce some female students of the school into lesbianism. The beleaguered lecturer Sheeba Quartey is alleged to have threatened to fail the students in on-going examinations, if they refused to acquiesce to her lascivious demands. Joy News’ Western Regional correspondent Kweku Owusu Peprah said Madam Quartey has denied the allegation and has threatened to seek legal redress to overturn the dismissal. According to Owusu Peprah, one of the students who she (Quartey) has allegedly been making sexual advances at reported the issue to her parents living abroad. A plan was hatched, and a conversation in which the lecturer made to the lady was recorded and presented to the school authorities as evidence. The school’s disciplinary committee, convinced by the gathered evidence, decided to sack Sheeba Quartey on Tuesday. Isaac Essel/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana

TAC and partners tell SA government to provide leadership on HIV/AIDS ahead of crucial UN High Level meeting The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF), World AIDS Campaign (WAC), the AIDS and Rights Alliance for Southern Africa (ARASA), and SECTION27 last week issued a joint letter to the South African government, including President Jacob Zuma, calling on the country to provide critical leadership in ensuring increased access to HIV services ahead of a crucial United Nations High Level meeting on HIV/AIDS.   Next month's UN meeting in New York (June 8-10) will pave the way for the next decade of the international HIV/AIDS response. The meeting comes at a time when the world has seen both unprecedented scientific gains proving the benefits of anti-retroviral therapy (ART) and mounting threats to HIV programmes through persistent funding cuts.   UN Member States are already shying away from committing to treatment targets des

The former head of the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Dr. Justice Emile Short has warned that Ghanaians cannot be complacent with the prevailing peaceful political atmosphere as the country can be plunged into political turmoil if care is not taken. Dr. Emile Short who went on compulsory retirement in December last year said the lessons learnt whiles serving on the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in Arusha, Tanzania on the Rwandan genocide proves that any country which fails to manage its political differences properly can easily face such political unrest - as witnessed by Rwanda - despite the level of tranquility in the country. Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show with Bernard Nassara Saibu, Dr. Emile Short said “we cannot be complacent. Conflict can erupt without any notice whatsoever. These were people who were living side by side in peace – Hutus and Tutsi – and yet within a flash the genocide started and within a matter of three mon

Aundaray Guess Program Manager, Gay Men of African Descent   http://blogs.poz.com/aundarayguess/2011/05/the_cost_of_having_h.html   I recently had a conversation with a young man who was recently diagnosed as having HIV. For his privacy I'll call him John. He lived here in Brooklyn and was 22 years of age. Upon hearing him having the disease and being able to relate to him as I had it at a young age, my main concern was his state of being and how he was handling the news.   To my surprise he was nonchalant about it. In fact what he told me next shook me more than knowing he was infected. He told me that he didn't mind having the virus because just like his friends he could now get benefits from the city.   In his mind he saw having HIV as an advantage and a easy access to housing, medical care, transportation and other benefits that other agencies provide for those living with HIV. It was like he had hit the jackpot.   I had heard about this new trend but there ha