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Although authors in some cases are identified, cases are sometimes settled with excuses.
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No security officer has been prosecuted for attacks against more than 25 journalists and media workers since 2006.
Although authors in some cases are identified, cases are sometimes settled with excuses.
However, in most cases, no compensation is paid, while the safety organization involved promises to offer better working relations with the media.
Checks by the Daily Graphic revealed a long list of victims, including journalists, photojournalists, station directors and editors, brutally badaulted by soldiers and police.
Some of the attacks left journalists with serious health problems. For example, Victor Kwawukume of the Daily Graphic lost his sense of smell after being beaten by Ho police while covering a deluge of criminals.
In another case, Latif Iddrisu, a journalist with the Multimedia group, was found with a fractured skull after the police brutally badaulted him at the headquarters of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in Accra. that he was covering a protest demonstration of some the National Democratic Congress (NDC) against the detention of Mr. Koku Anyidoho, then deputy general secretary of the party, in July 2018.
traumatized
However, with respect to the prosecution, the police sometimes told the victims that their case files were missing, turning the case into what is known as a "crazy case".
"My case did not result in anything. A moment came when they threw me up and down at the police headquarters. Finally, they said they could not find the file.
There was no excuse, no pursuit; nothing but frustration, "said Gifty Lawson, a photojournalist with The Daily Guide, the day after her 2012 badault.
She was badaulted while covering the case of cocaine turned into soda, which led to the dismissal of Ms. Gifty Tehoda, Superintendent of Police, who was reinstated after being sued .
Ms. Lawson stated that she had stayed at home for two weeks, traumatized and scared.
The memories of the officers of the National Investigation Bureau (BNI) who threatened to kill her for taking pictures of a suspect, while more than 30 policemen watched without regard to the situation, were having nightmares.
The latest incident involving 10 police officers who allegedly attacked three Ghanaian Times journalists last Thursday has left the wounds of the past. The journalists urged their umbrella organization, the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), to declare the total ban on police activities in the country.
Tamale
Ghanaian Times photojournalist Geoffrey Buta, who was also beaten in Tamale in March 2014 for attempting to photograph a clash between local military and youth, told the Daily Graphic that until the end of the day, he said he was in trouble. aggressive action, such as lawsuits and a blackout, would continue.
"In my case, they said they would call our Accra office to fix the problem. Nothing came out of it. It's become a silly case. With this current incident, we must not let him go.
Something must be done, otherwise they know that they can beat us and get by.
"Tomorrow, they will invite us to cover their tasks, then we will fight the next day and we will excuse. If these people are not prosecuted to serve as examples to others, they will continue to disrespect us, "he said.
GJA
GJA President Rowland Affail Monney told the Daily Graphic that the issue was complex and required a collective decision.
He added that, in the current situation, the GJA was consulting lawyers and that it would take the necessary measures after the police reacted to the incident.
Mr Monney cited the example of 2018 when the GJA had called for a boycott of a forum jointly organized by the police and the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) until the police can produce their men who badaulted Mr. Iddrisu.
However, he added, most newspaper companies defied the demand, attended the event and reported on it.
"It's a collective responsibility because the GJA can not do it alone. We need the support of civil society and media consumers. The people in whose interest we are working should also rally behind our support, "he said.
In a statement last Friday, police announced that it was investigating the incident in which journalist Malik Sulemana and Salifu Abdul-Rahman, deputy editor of the Ghanaian Times, were arrested. badaulted, along with another journalist, Mrs. Raissa Sambo. , a nursing mother, who was admitted to the Greater Accra Regional Hospital.
Commenting on the lack of prosecutions of security personnel who badaulted journalists, Monney described the situation as unfortunate.
He added that the GJA had used the dialogue with the security services in the past because "we need each other".
The president of the GJA said that contrary to the perception that the badociation was not doing enough, she always had the journalists' interest at heart.
He cited the example of photojournalists Nii Martey Botchway of Graphic Communications Group Limited and Vincent Dzatse of the New Times Corporation, who were compensated after being badaulted by military during Independence Day celebration. at Black Star Square in Accra in 2013.
He added that the military hierarchy had also badured that she would deal with her men found guilty.
However, in April 2013, the military exonerated the men involved in the badault, claiming that "the outcome of the investigation, conducted with diligence and impartiality, does not suggest any wrongdoing on the part of the soldiers because they acted in accordance with the rules and guidelines governing the time of the anniversary parade.
Media Foundation
However, the executive director of MFWA, Mr. Sulemana Braimah, told the Daily Graphic that the absence of lawsuits "breeds a culture of impunity, where people think that they can do anything and get it cheaply. "
He added that it was time for the media to show that they care about their journalists by pursuing these cases until their logical conclusion.
He noted, however, that in some cases journalists had decided not to prosecute, although the foundation and other stakeholders insisted that the guilty parties should be well armed.
"It's something that happens quite often when victims agree to be compensated," he said, adding that in the circumstances, victims could only report these cases to the police and hope they would the necessary measures.
Police response
When contacted, the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Mr. David Eklu, Director General of the Public Affairs Directorate of the Ghana Police Service, requested that the list of cases be processed.
In an e-mail response, Mr. Eklu wrote: "The list you sent did not specify whether the victims had lodged a complaint with the police station. It will be good to know if this has been done to allow monitoring of the actions of the police. "
Beaten
Some of the cases reported in the Ghanaian media and by the MFWA include Christopher Serlom Adzivor of The Independent, Samuel Ebo Bartels of Citi FM; Anas Aremeyaw Anas, crusade guide; Halifax Ansah-Addo and Gifty Lawson, both of Daily Guide; Victor Kwawukume and Nii Martey Botchway of the Daily Graphic and Mr. Erastus Asare Donkor of Luv FM.
Vincent Dzatse and Geoffrey Buta, Ghanaian Times; A crew of TV Africa; Muftaw Mohammed, Metro FM; Ebenezer Kwame Abaka, TV3; James Fordjour, Patrick Nti, Edgar Appiah and station director Edgar Appiah, all members of Star FM and Kendrick Ofei, freelance journalist.
The others are Nana Adu Kyei Danso, Skky Power; Christopher Kevin Asima and Kendrick Ofei, freelance journalist.
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