P. O. Box 493 Legon 028 501 3191

selormetica@yahoo.com

June 20, 2008

The Commissioner,

Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice.

Dear Commissioner,

Concerns Regarding Operations Of Embassies In Ghana

I would like to express my sincere delight about the good works you and your commission are doing. I ask the good Lord to bless you with all the needed resources so as to continue doing it. However, I would like to draw your attention to some occurrences in our dear country. In recent times, I have noticed how some embassies in the country are taking Ghanaians for granted, and as such must be called to order. People who visit these embassies for visa decisions are poorly attended to. They stand in front of these embassies with no seats and sheds whiles waiting to be attended to by the embassy officials.

In as much as, these people do not deserve this kind of treatment, it also does not conform to the provision made in article 5 of the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states that, “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”, with emphasis on the inhuman or degrading treatment.

Also it is enshrined in article 15 of the Constitution of the Republic of Ghana that: “(1) the dignity of all persons shall be inviolable,

(2) no person shall, whether or not he is arrested, restricted or retained, be subjected to –

(a) torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; b) any other condition that detracts or is likely to detract from his dignity and worth as a human being.”

Therefore one can infer from our constitution that even a person who is alleged to have committed an offence does not deserve such inhumane treatments, then how much more people who are in their free minds go to these embassies to secure visas.

For instance, the daily scenery outside the Spanish embassy is a real eye sore. People who go there for interviews or to secure visas could be seen standing outside the embassy premises for long hours without seats and sheds. These persons be they Ghanaians or not deserve better treatment. In addition to it being dehumanizing, is also dangerous; since it exposes them to on-coming vehicles which can accidently veer off the road resulting in either the lost of lives or severe injures.

For this reason, I believe these embassies should be made to provide decent and comfortable services which include seats and sheds within their premises for Ghanaians and people of any decent who go there.

My second concern is the refusal of embassies operating in the country to refund part of visa application fees to applicants they have refused visas. Embassies should be advised to refund, if not all, then part of the visa application fees to applicants they have refused visas. I trust that your commission is in the right capacity to investigate, and address these issues.

Attached are photographs of Ghanaians standing in front of the Spanish embassy waiting to be attended to.

I am looking forward for a prompt response to these concerns.

Thank you.

Yours sincerely,

Selorm Agbele (Human Rights Advocate)

Cc: Ministry of Foreign Affairs All Media Houses Embassies in Ghana