Accra, Aug.13, – Panellists at a roundtable discussion today called for a national debate on the awareness and enforcement of human rights laws. They argued that there is widespread ignorance and rampant abuse of human rights which can undermine the country’s flegdling democratic and constitutional culture. The roundtable discussion was organized by the African Human Rights Heritage (AHRH), a non governmental organization, to outdoor its programme dubbed ”Police and Prison Project ”. The project seeks, among others, to educate the public on available support confidence building machinery, humanitarian law and human rights principles. It was attended by members of the Ghana Legal Aid Board, Prison Service, Human Rights activists and Journalists. AHRH hopes to establish structures by the turn of the century throughout the country to provide, educate and give legal support for the down trodden. A scrutiny of the prison service showed congestion and poor feeding among the numerous problems that impede the smooth reformation of the inmates. Mr Baffour Anning, International Chairman of AHRH, said the negative societal attitude towards ex-convicts seriously affects their outlook towards society with some of them becoming jail birds. He appealed to the government to revise its employment policy which bars ex-convicts from getting jobs within the public domain.
