Private Legal Practitioner and one of the lawyers for arrested Ashaiaman residents, Oliver Barker-Vormarwor has slammed the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) for their silence on the Ashaiaman brutalities.
This comes on the back of soldiers brutalizing residents of Ashaiman as they hit innocent civilians with sticks and other weapons over the death of their colleague.
The 22-year-old soldier with the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) band in Sunyani in the Bono Region was killed at Taifa, a suburb of Ashaiman.
He was stabbed severally by unknown attackers Saturday dawn.
Soldiers believed to have come to Michel and Burma Camp stormed Taifa where the incident happened and started brutalizing residents.
However, lawyers of Ashaiman arrested persons during the military operation have complained they are unable to have access to their clients in custody.
Commenting on the development on Starr Today with Lantam Papanko, Mr. Barker-Vormarwor stated that the Ghana Bar Association has been captured by political actors describing the situation as a real shame.
“The Ghana Bar Association, I think the earlier we forget that that is an institution that exists in this country the better for all of us, then we don’t treat it with an expectation at all. I do not remember the last time they spoke for once willingly on any issue that affects general human rights in this country.
“The only time they have had course to speak is when Francis Xavier Sussou has criticized the judiciary. Obviously they walk in, in order to come and defend the BAR against these lawyers. But the last time they made themselves a critical voice to move accountability, I haven’t seen it yet,” Mr. Barker-Vormarwor stated.
He continued: “Sometime, last year when FixTheCountry issued a statement condemning the Ghana Bar Association, immediately and hurriedly they came to issue a statement finally condemning what happened in Takyiman South. It is clear to me that this is an institution that on its own initiative has no interest in being part of a conversation that advances the rule of law.”
Meanwhile, the slain soldier, Imoro Sherrif has been buried by the Ghana Armed Forces (GFA) in Accra Thursday March 9, 2023.
Source: starrfm.com.gh
