CHRAJ gets bail for 15-year-old boy who spent a year in prison

General News of Saturday, July 27, 2019

Source: citinewsroom.com

2019-07-27

The Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) released on bail a 15-year-old boy who has been held in custody for about a year.

The suspect, 15-year-old Issah Yakubu, was arrested by Gambaga police in August 2018 for allegedly driving a gang to steal a motorcycle.

He denied having knowledge of the crime and yet he was transferred to Tamale Central Prisons where he was remanded without trial.

Under the Juvenile Justice Act, which governs domestic law in Ghana, juveniles should be detained on remand. And if there is no house arrest as is the case in northern Ghana, the juvenile delinquent should be sent back to his parents' custody and taken to court at every call of the case.

Issah Yakubu was, however, remanded in custody.

He remembers the experience of his accusers and the police at the time of his arrest.

"I was with my friends at a music concert and people stormed the place; was holding me and wondering where their bike was, and I told them I did not know anything about a motorcycle, "said the suspect.

He continued, "And they pulled a knife at me and kept beating me. Finally, they took me to the police and she also used electric shocks and fooled me with their stick to force me to confess. "

This reflects the bad nature of the administration of juvenile justice in Ghana.

There are often reports of some of the cruel means used by security officers to extract information from suspected criminals.

Issah Yakubu's experience is only one of many juvenile offenders where the police would use cruel methods to convince suspects to confess to crimes.

Unfortunately, the rights of the young person were flagrantly violated as he was wrongfully detained on remand for almost a year without bail until the the man and the administrative justice intervene to obtain a release on bail.

Ghana's juvenile justice system indicates that a juvenile's trial should not exceed six months after arrest. It is also stated that they are expected to be offered a deposit within 48 hours.

"I slept in the same prison room with other convicts, some were even older than my father. The food was terrible. Sometimes the taste is bad, "added the suspect.

Today, he returns home with his mother after spending nearly a year with adults in the same prison, although this is contrary to the Young Offenders Act.

According to the suspect, the police prosecutor stated in the Nalerigu District Court that had held his trial that he had acknowledged the offense that had led him to be held in pre-trial detention and probably forgotten in the central prisons of Tamale.

"I did not say anything to suggest that I confessed to the offense. The way they used the electric shock on me even baffled me. The prosecutor has just written on the record things that I did not even know.

Sources at the Tamale Court of First Instance told Citi News that his accusers and his witnesses often did not appear in court on each appeal of his case. Stephen Azantilo, North Regional Director of the Human Rights and Administrative Justice Commission of CHRAJ, who served as the suspect's lawyer, said the process leading to his pre-trial detention was wrong.

"In the first place, it is a minor, it is not supposed to be placed in pre-trial detention in adult prisons. this is the position of the Commission, "said the attorney to Tamale's court presiding judge, Judge Twumasi Appiah, who then released the suspect on bail on Wednesday, July 25, 2019.

"In fact, you are not supposed to keep a minor in detention for more than six months. it should not be. If this is the case, you must release the minor, that is what the law says, "continued Azantilo's attorney.

The mother of the suspect, Damata Amadu, who made sure of her son's safety, said that she sold just about everything she had, including her three cows and shea nuts, to justice be done for his son. She says that all her efforts have been in vain until CHRAJ is involved.

"I could not eat because nobody was there to cultivate for me. Now that he has been released; he will come to help keep the cattle. "

Issah Yakubu is scheduled to appear in court on August 8, 2019, now that he has been released on bail. But it remains to be seen until this case goes, as its accusers no longer pursue the case.