It's An Offence To Withold Info On Human Traficking

By Stephen Kwabena Effah
Saturday, 04 November 2006 (Page 3)

ARE you aware that failure to disclose information about human trafficking in the country constitutes an offence punishable by law?

Well, the Human Trafficking Act (694) of 2005 says so: A person with human trafficking information who fails to report to the police is liable to a fine of ¢30 million or a jail-term of not less than a year or both.

Mrs Estelle Appiah, Director at the Attorney-General’s Department, revealed this at a two-day capacity workshop on the Act in Accra on Thursday.

She said anyone found guilty of human trafficking or serving as an intermediary, could face imprisonment for a term of not less than five years.

She, therefore, advised people with information on human traffickers to report to either the police, Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice, or a reputable civil society organisation.

The workshop, which was organised by the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs for religious bodies in the country, was to sensitise them on the provisions of the Human Trafficking Act.

It also sought to empower them to identify issues of trafficking within their communities so as to assist the ministry in its effort to prevent the practice in the country.

A Supreme Court Judge, Justice Sophia O. A. Adinyira, said that although every modern constitution has fundamental human rights and freedoms enshrined in it as declared by the UN Conventions, yet those freedoms, personal liberty and human dignity of people continued to be abused.

She asked religious leaders, to develop strategies of cooperation with others who seek support, protect and give refuge to those who suffer human rights abuses as an effort to prevent their occurrence in their communities.

Hajia Alima Mahama, Minister of Women and Children’s Affaris, said an estimated 400 Ghanaian children were suspected to have been trafficked into Guinea and Gabon.

"It is estimated that out of 6.36 million children aged between five and 17 in the sub-Saharan Africa, 2.47 million are engaged in economic activities," she said, adding that in Ghana, over 1,000 of them are involved in dangerous labour in fishing communities and in the sub-region.