Journalists admonished to promote human rights

The Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) has noted with great concern how economic, social and cultural rights lag behind civil and political rights in the country.

The commission has therefore called on Ghanaians to do a lot more in defending the rights of persons especially the vulnerable groups in society.

In order to bridge such gap, the commission last week held a round table discussion with editors and senior reporters in Kumasi on how the two bodies could effectively and efficiently coordinate to highlight issues on human and cultural rights.

Mr. Samuel Bosompem, a legal Officer at the Commission in his remarks observed that even though there is an existing cordial relation between CHRAJ and the Media, much was still needed to be done to revive cooperation and collaboration between the two bodies to deepen democracy and establish peace in the country.

According to Mr. Bosompem human rights education, training and public information was vital for the promotion and achievement of stable and harmonious relations among countries while it also fostered mutual understanding, tolerance and peace among communities, however acknowledging the critical role of the media in achieving that.

He noted that the Commission and the society still had a long way to go in protecting and promoting the rights of all persons, adding “We therefore take this annual roundtable between the Commission and the media seriously. It gives us the opportunity to explore ways of working together to better promote and protect fundamental freedoms and rights of people”.

He hinted that Ghana’s National Human Rights Institution (NHRI) is still rated as one of the best performing in Africa, adding quickly that, CHRAJ could not get such recognition without the support of the media.

He noted that with an estimated 166 FM Radio Stations strewn across the country and 100 district offices of the CHRAJ, and also television and newspapers springing out daily, there is no reason why our collective efforts cannot cause an explosion of democracy and human rights education to entrench a culture of human rights in the country.

Mr. Bosompem encouraged the media to be innovative in covering human rights stories effectively in order to enlist the support of Ghanaians in protecting human rights and respecting human dignity.

The Vice President, Finance and Administration of the African University College of Communication, Ato Amoaning-Annan, noted that many media reports on human rights abuses lack ‘human rights focus’ hence making listeners or readers lose the real meaning of the story.

He entreated journalists to go beyond the basics, understand the purpose, and also know what tools to use in human right stories.

The Ashanti regional Director of CHRAJ, Alima Nuhu, earlier in her welcome address said the downtrend of human rights stories in the media of late does not mean there are no more abuses in the country.

The round table discussion between the commission and the media, she noted, was therefore to enhance collaboration between the two and thus effective reportage on Human Rights issues in the country.