Editorial News of Monday, 9 July 2001

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Gov't must act fast - Obed Asamoah

The former Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Dr Obed Asamoah, has called on the government to act quickly in establishing the framework for the Reconciliation Commission it is talking about, reports the Ghanaian Voice.

This, according to the legal luminary, would forestall a situation where people are tried and found guilty in the media, Dr Asamoah said.

The former Minister, who is also the Chairman of the Re- organisation Committee of the National Democratic Congress, was responding to questions put to him on Joy FM's Super Morning Show last week.

Dr. Asamoah stated that some people were of the feeling that opening old wounds would not help the nation, but agreed that recent developments indicated a general feeling that some of the old wounds could be opened. His worry, and the worry of other people, was what period it would cover so that it did not feel like one particular group was being targeted.

If this was made clear, he believed that any case could be reopened. He agreed that people who have suffered human rights abuses have every right to reparation, but added that this could be done without necessarily establishing a commission as being suggested.