Why ECOWAS court has ordered Ghana to pay $75,000

The ECOWAS Court of Justice has ruled against the Government of Ghana, ordering it to pay $75,000 in compensation to 30 individuals affiliated with the Homeland Study Group Foundation (HSGF) for violations of their fundamental rights stemming from prolonged and unlawful detention.

The judgment was delivered on Friday at the Osborne Foreshore Court in Ikoyi, Lagos, under case number ECW/CCJ/APP/12/24. The three-member panel—Justice Ricardo Gonçalves (presiding), Justice Sengu M. Koroma, and Justice Dupe Atoki—found that the Ghanaian authorities detained the applicants for extended periods, some for over a year, without bringing them before a court or affording them due process.

Each applicant is to receive $2,500, payable in Ghanaian cedis equivalent, as compensation for the violation of their right to liberty.

Citing both Ghana’s 1992 Constitution (Article 14(3)) and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Article 6), the Court concluded that the detentions were in direct conflict with legal obligations that require arrested persons to be presented before a court within 48 hours.

“The applicants were detained for prolonged periods, in some instances exceeding a year, without being arraigned before a competent court. This amounts to a serious violation of their right to personal liberty,” stated Justice Gonçalves.

The case dates back to May 8, 2019, when the 30 individuals were arrested under Ghana’s Prohibited Organisations Decree of 1976, a law targeting groups considered a threat to national security. The applicants alleged that their detention was politically driven and lacked legal merit.

While the Court upheld its jurisdiction to hear the matter, it dismissed the Homeland Study Group Foundation as a legal party in the case, citing its failure to submit registration documents establishing legal personality. “Without proof of registration, the Foundation cannot be recognised as a legal entity before this Court,” the judgment read.

Despite that, the individual applicants were granted relief. The Court rejected Ghana’s defense that the detentions were justified on national security grounds, ruling that security concerns do not override legal due process.

“Even in matters of national security, the law must be respected. Detention without charge or trial for such prolonged periods is indefensible,” the panel ruled.

However, the Court declined to entertain the applicants’ claims to the right of self-determination, asserting that neither the Foundation nor its individual members had the authority or legal standing to assert such claims on behalf of a broader population.

Beyond financial compensation, the Court issued a directive to the Government of Ghana to either initiate prosecution against the applicants within two weeks or release them unconditionally. All other reliefs sought by the applicants were denied, and each party was instructed to bear their own legal costs.

The full judgment will be released officially upon signature by the presiding justices.

This decision comes a day after the same Court ordered Nigeria to release Moses Abiodun, a businessman who had been in prolonged pre-trial detention since 2008, highlighting growing regional scrutiny on unlawful detentions.