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A coalition of human rights lawyers file a lawsuit against Ghana at the ECOWAS Court of Justice, accusing the country of violating non-refoulement by accepting deportees from the U
Confirmed
Earlier this month, rights lawyers filed a case against Equatorial Guinea, another African country that signed a deal with the U.S., before Africa’s top human rights body, accusing the country of forcing deportees from the U.S. back to their home countries in violation of their rights.
The complaint, filed Monday at the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Court of Justice in Abuja, was brought on behalf of 27 of at least 60 deportees sent to Ghana since September under Washington’s “third-country” removal policy, which targets people US judges have ruled cannot be sent directly to their home countries.
The advocacy groups said the lawsuit aimed to force Ghana to disclose the terms of the deal with the Trump administration and block Ghana from accepting any future deportees under the arrangement. Ghana agreed to take in deportees, hold them and arrange their onward removal, despite most of them having received orders of protection by U.S. judges against being deported to their home countries, according to a statement by the coalition.
The complaint said the deportees told authorities they had been granted protections in the US, but most of them were removed within hours or days of their arrival in Ghana to the countries they had escaped. The complaint alleges Ghana is violating domestic and regional law by “facilitating removals to unsafe countries”, a statement from the advocacy groups said.
It’s the latest legal case targeting an African country over a deal it signed with the Trump administration to accept deportees who aren’t its own citizens. According to Tuesday’s statement, most of the 27 people were flown from Ghana to their home countries within hours or days of arriving, despite telling Ghanaian authorities about their U.S. protections.
In cases where Washington is barred from sending people to their home countries – after US judges found they would likely face torture or persecution, for example – it has sent deportees to “third countries”. Some described being shackled during the flight from the U.S. Once in Ghana, they said they were held under armed guard in military camps, hotels and airport holding cells, often in poor conditions.
Medical evaluations cited in the new lawsuit found signs of post-traumatic stress and severe depression in several of the 27 people involved. Njeri said the group was also seeking at least $100,000 in compensation for each deportee from Ghana, along with other reparations.
“No person should be returned to a place where they face persecution, torture or serious threats to their dignity and safety,” said Oliver Barker-Vormawor, senior partner at Ghanaian law firm Merton & Everett LLP.
What's confirmed
- The complaint said the deportees told authorities they had been granted protections in the US, but most of them were removed within hours or days of their arrival in Ghana to the countries they had escaped.
- According to Tuesday’s statement, most of the 27 people were flown from Ghana to their home countries within hours or days of arriving, despite telling Ghanaian authorities about their U.S. protections.
- Earlier this month, rights lawyers filed a case against Equatorial Guinea, another African country that signed a deal with the U.S., before Africa’s top human rights body, accusing the country of forcing deportees from t
- The complaint, filed Monday at the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Court of Justice in Abuja, was brought on behalf of 27 of at least 60 deportees sent to Ghana since September under Washington’s “thir
- The advocacy groups said the lawsuit aimed to force Ghana to disclose the terms of the deal with the Trump administration and block Ghana from accepting any future deportees under the arrangement.
- It’s the latest legal case targeting an African country over a deal it signed with the Trump administration to accept deportees who aren’t its own citizens.
What's still developing
- The complaint, filed Monday at the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Court of Justice in Abuja, was brought on behalf of 27 of at least 60 deportees sent to Ghana since September under Washington’s…
- In cases where Washington is barred from sending people to their home countries – after US judges found they would likely face torture or persecution, for example – it has sent deportees to “third countries”.
- “No person should be returned to a place where they face persecution, torture or serious threats to their dignity and safety,” said Oliver Barker-Vormawor, senior partner at Ghanaian law firm Merton & Everett LLP.
- The complaint alleges Ghana is violating domestic and regional law by “facilitating removals to unsafe countries”, a statement from the advocacy groups said.
- The advocacy groups said the lawsuit aimed to force Ghana to disclose the terms of the deal with the Trump administration and block Ghana from accepting any future deportees under the arrangement.
- Njeri said the group was also seeking at least $100,000 in compensation for each deportee from Ghana, along with other reparations.
- It’s the latest legal case targeting an African country over a deal it signed with the Trump administration to accept deportees who aren’t its own citizens.
- Ghana agreed to take in deportees, hold them and arrange their onward removal, despite most of them having received orders of protection by U.S. judges against being deported to their home countries, according to a…