By chatnewstv.com
BANJUL, Gambia — The government of Ghana has failed to comply with a landmark regional court order to release a secret investigation report concerning the enforced disappearance and killing of over 60 West African migrants nearly two decades ago, human rights advocates said Tuesday.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Court of Justice ruled 18 months ago that Ghana must release all documentation related to the 2005 massacre, which occurred during the regime of former Gambian dictator Yahya Jammeh. The deadline for the release expired over a year ago.
The 2009 joint UN/ECOWAS investigation report, along with a videotape and a photograph, are believed to contain critical details regarding the fate of the victims, including more than 40 Ghanaian nationals.
“This failure denies the Mensah family their right to truth, dignity, and closure, and prolongs their suffering,” said Sirra Ndow, Gambia Country Director for the African Network against Extrajudicial Killings and Enforced Disappearances (ANEKED). “Furthermore, ignoring an ECOWAS Court judgment weakens regional justice and sends a dangerous message that court orders can be treated as optional.”
The legal battle was initiated in 2020 by Isaac Mensah, whose father, Peter Mensah, disappeared in July 2005. Peter Mensah was among a group of migrants from Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone, and Togo who were intercepted by Gambian security forces while attempting to reach Europe.
According to human rights groups, the migrants were abducted and killed by the “Junglers,” a death squad allegedly under the direct command of Jammeh.
In its July 2024 judgment, the ECOWAS Court found that Ghana violated the right to information. The court stated that releasing the documents would “enhance transparency” and “shed light on how the Government of Ghana handled the resulting issues.”
Isaac Mensah, who was 13 at the time of his father’s disappearance, has spent years seeking answers. Despite the court’s four-month deadline for the government to hand over the materials, the Ghanaian administration has remained silent.
“Families are still desperate for justice,” the victim-led organization ANEKED said in a statement. “No one has yet been held accountable in The Gambia for the enforced disappearance of the West African migrants over 20 years ago.”
The Ghanaian government has not issued a formal response to the latest allegations of non-compliance.
The African Network against Extrajudicial Killings and Enforced Disappearances is a victim-led organization campaigning for justice for atrocities committed during Yahya Jammeh’s 22-year rule in The Gambia.
