The administration of President John Kufuor has begun paying reparations to about 2,000 Ghanaians who suffered human rights abuses under former governments.
Individual payments, which began on Monday, range from about US $217 to US $3,300 depending on the extent of abuse or violation, according to the attorney general's office.
The US $1.5 million in payments were recommended by the National Reconciliation Commission (NRC), which was formed five years ago to address human rights violations committed under various governments since Ghana gained independence from Britain in 1957.
Most abuses, such as arbitrary imprisonment, confiscation of property, disappearances, executions and torture happened under military rule when Ghana had a reputation as one of the most coup-prone countries in West Africa.
"The payments are by no means payment for human rights violations because money, like any other form of compensation, can never restore victims to the status quo ante," said Attorney General and Justice Minister Joe Ghartey.
"Besides, it is impossible to quantify in money's worth, losses, as well as the physical, emotional, mental and psychological agony that victims and families have been through," he said.
The commission's hearings focused heavily on Jerry Rawlings and his Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC). Rawlings seized power in 1979, turned over control of Ghana to a civilian leader and then took over again in 1981 with the Provisional National Defense Council (PNDC). Under Rawlings, two former military leaders were tried and executed.
Rawlings won presidential elections in 1992 and 1996. Kufuor was elected in the two subsequent presidential elections, presiding over a country whose new image is one of relative economic prosperity and stability in West Africa.
The government has published claimant forms in national newspapers as well as the names of the first 250 people who are to receive reparations to help facilitate the payment process, which is scheduled to end in December.
A survey conducted by the Centre for Democratic Governance (CDD), a local think-tank dedicated to the promotion of good governance and democracy, revealed that some victims expected higher payments.
"Victims are indexing their compensations to be equal to whatever they lost at current banking rates. So naturally, the highest payment of 30 million cedis ($3,300) does not in any way make up financially for a man who lost three cars, 2.5 million cedis and was jailed eight years in 1983," said Daniel Armah-Attoh, CDD's research programme officer.
However, according to Armah-Attoh, education and sensitisation are needed to address inflated expectations.
"We have to let people know that we are not paying 100 percent for all the abuses and suffering that victims of human rights abuses went through. That is absolutely crucial," he said.
"Certainly, for the victims it has been a long and difficult wait. But now they can lay claim to something tangible that is symbolic of the fact that the state now recognises the pain and suffering that they endured in the past," Armah-Attoh said.
The judgment against ormer Salvadoran Minister of Defense Carlos Eugenio Vides Casanova for the torture of three civilians in El Salvador during the 1980s is now final, and he has been forced to relinquish over $300,000 of his own funds to the victims. What follows is the press release of the Center for Justice and Accountability which represented the plaintiffs.
For Immediate Release
July 10, 2006
Contact: Matt Eisenbrandt
Phone: (415) 544-0444 x 304
meisenbrandt@cja.org
JUDGMENT FINAL AGAINST GENERALS RESPONSIBLE FOR TORTURE IN EL SALVADOR
OVER $300,000 SUCCESSFULLY RECOVERED FROM FORMER MINISTER OF DEFENSE FOUND LIABLE FOR TORTURE OF THREE SALVADORANS
San Francisco, CA: With the judgment against him now final, former Salvadoran Minister of Defense Carlos Eugenio Vides Casanova has been forced to relinquish over $300,000 of his own funds for his responsibility in the torture of three civilians in El Salvador during the 1980s. While the amount actually collected is only a small fraction of the damages to which the plaintiffs are entitled, this represents one of the first human rights cases in U.S. history in which victims have recovered money from those found responsible for abuses.
In May 1999, the San Francisco-based Center for Justice & Accountability (CJA) filed a lawsuit against Vides Casanova and another former Minister of Defense, General Jose Guillermo Garcia, under two federal laws, the Alien Tort Statute (ATS) and the Torture Victim Protection Act (TVPA). In 2002, after a four week trial, a West Palm Beach jury found the generals responsible for the torture of Juan Romagoza, Neris Gonzalez and Carlos Mauricio, and ordered them to pay significant damages.
The generals filed lengthy appeals. On January 6, 2006, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in Atlanta upheld the verdict against them. The deadline to file an appeal of that decision to the United States Supreme Court has now passed.
Following the verdict in 2002, CJA froze over $300,000 in accounts held by General Vides Casanova. CJA has also presented the court with allegations that Vides Casanova committed fraud by transferring other funds to his relatives after the filing of the case to keep them out of the reach of the victims.
The plaintiffs have stated that, after some of the case expenses are covered, they generously plan to donate most of the money collected from the defendants to support human rights, health, environmental and education projects. They plan to set aside the remainder for treatment related to their torture and to assist family members in need.
Plaintiff Neris Gonzalez said, “Although we are happy that the generals have been punished and made to pay for their crimes, this case was never about money. It was about justice. We had the unique opportunity to show the world, on behalf of all the people of El Salvador, that Generals Garcia and Vides Casanova were responsible for the brutality that we endured. Now the courts of the United States have confirmed that they cannot escape accountability.”
The suit, known as Romagoza v. Garcia, is one of the only cases in which a jury in a fully contested trial has found perpetrators liable for human rights abuses under the law of command responsibility. This principle holds military commanders responsible for abuses committed by subordinates under their control when the commanders knew or should have known that abuses were taking place and failed to take all reasonable measures to prevent the abuses or punish the perpetrators.
CJA’s Litigation Director, Matt Eisenbrandt, stated, “This victory is a landmark for human rights litigation and for El Salvador. The jury’s verdict in 2002 gave confidence to the Salvadoran community, and sent a signal that they do not have to accept the impunity that exists in their country. Without the Romagoza case, we could have never filed other cases – including one involving the assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero – that have forced officials to confront the lack of accountability in El Salvador.”
CJA, a non-profit human rights organization that works to bring perpetrators of human rights violations to justice, was joined as co-counsel by Peter Stern of the Morrison & Foerster law firm, James K. Green, Professor Carolyn Patty Blum, Professor Beth van Schaack and Susan Shawn Roberts. Florida attorneys Dave Gorman and John Thornton have provided assistance in the collection phase of the case.
For more information, please visit CJA’s website at www.cja.org. A copy of the Eleventh Circuit’s ruling is available at http://www.cja.org/ca ses/Romagoza_Docs/Romagoza11thCirFinalOpinion.pdf