The ECOWAS Court of Justice has ordered the Ghanaian government to pay $75,000 in damages to 30 individuals unlawfully detained without trial, in violation of both national and international laws. The ruling was delivered Friday at the Osborne Foreshore Court in Lagos, Nigeria, where the Court found that the applicants – members of the Homeland Study Group Foundation (HSGF) – were held for extended periods, some for over a year, without being formally charged.
Presiding Judge Ricardo Gonçalves, along with Justices Sengu M. Koroma and Dupe Atoki, ruled that the prolonged detentions breached Ghana’s constitutional provisions and Article 6 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. The Court ordered that each detainee be compensated with $2,500 in Ghanaian Cedis, criticising Ghana’s reliance on national security concerns to justify detentions that lacked due process.
The individuals were arrested on May 8, 2019, under the 1976 Prohibited Organisations Decree, which targets groups deemed threats to national security. The applicants, however, argued that their detention was politically motivated and legally unfounded. While the Court accepted jurisdiction over the case, it ruled that the HSGF itself lacked legal standing, as it failed to provide proof of formal registration.
In a strong rebuke, the Court dismissed Ghana’s national security defence, affirming that no justification permits detaining individuals for over a year without trial. It also rejected the applicants’ claim to self-determination, stating they had no legal mandate to assert such a right on behalf of a wider population.
The Court instructed the Ghanaian government to either prosecute the detainees within two weeks or release them unconditionally. All additional reliefs were denied, and both parties were directed to bear their own legal costs. The full written judgement will be released after official endorsement by the judges.
