It appears government may allow the continuous stay of the two Guantanamo Bay detainees after noting that they have been well behaved, as it is taking “prompt” steps to deal with the Supreme Court’s orders concerning the continued stay of the two.
This follows the declaration as unconstitutional, the agreement which has Ghana hosting two Guantanamo Bay detainees.
The apex court, as part of a judgement, ordered that the government must within the next three months send the agreement to Parliament for ratification or have the two detainees sent back to the United States.
Following the order, the Information Ministry has released a statement indicating that it is working to “address the consequential orders” in the judgment.
It also assured that the two detainees continued to be under the “supervision of the security agencies” and have been “comporting themselves well during their stay in Ghana.”
“In the meantime, government is calling for calm amongst the populace on this matter,” the statement added.
The two detainees, Mahmud Umar Muhammad Bin Atef and Khalid Muhammad Salih Al-Dhuby were under detention in US custody for 14 years after being linked with terrorist group Al-Qaeda.
They were brought to Ghana in January 2016, and will live here for a period, after which they are expected to be sent to, and reintegrated into, their home countries.
Two Ghanaian citizens, Margaret Bamful and Henry Nana Boakye, sued the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, together with the Minister of Interior, accusing then-President John Mahama of illegally bringing in the two former Guantanamo Bay detainees, without recourse to the laws of the land.
The plaintiffs were seeking, among other reliefs, a declaration that the President of the Republic of Ghana acted unconstitutionally, per Article 75 of the 1992 Constitution, by agreeing to the transfer of the two detainees.
The Judgment in the matter noted that the Mahama Administration needed the approval of Parliament before entering into any international agreement like the case of these two detainees.
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(Via: CitiFM Online Ghana)
