The ECOWAS Court of Justice ruled on July 12, 2024, that the Republic of Ghana violated Isaac Mensah’s right to information, ordering the state to provide him with the requested documents.
Justice Edward Amoako Asante, delivering the judgment, directed Ghana to release documents related to the investigations into the enforced disappearance of Isaac Mensah’s father. These documents include the 2009 UN/ECOWAS Investigation Report, the coroner’s report on bodies evacuated to Ghana, and the report on the disbursement of money paid by The Gambia to the affected families.
The Court dismissed other claims made by Isaac Mensah and the Registered Trustees of the African Network Against Extrajudicial Killings and Enforced Disappearances (ANEKED) against Ghana regarding the arrest, detention, and disappearance of West African migrants in The Gambia in July 2005.
In the application, suit number ECW/CCJ/APP/47/20, filed on November 18, 2020, the applicants alleged that Peter Mensah, Isaac’s father, was among the West African migrants traveling to Europe through The Gambia who were arrested by Gambian state security agents and subsequently killed or disappeared. They claimed Ghana failed to investigate thoroughly, provide an effective remedy, and grant access to information on Peter Mensah’s unlawful detention and disappearance, thus violating its human rights obligations under the African Charter and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
The applicants requested the Court to direct Ghana to conduct an effective investigation, provide copies of fact-finding reports, and pay $1,500,000 in compensation to Isaac Mensah.
Ghana challenged the Court’s jurisdiction, arguing the incident occurred in The Gambia and outside its jurisdiction. Ghana also questioned the admissibility of the application, stating the applicants did not establish their relationship to Peter Mensah, the primary victim.
The Court asserted its jurisdiction over Isaac Mensah’s claim regarding the violation of the right to information but declined jurisdiction over claims related to enforced disappearance, effective remedy, and the right to truth, as these incidents occurred outside Ghana’s territory. The Court also deemed Isaac Mensah’s application admissible but ruled he lacked the capacity to sue on behalf of 23 other individuals. The Court dismissed ANEKED from the suit due to insufficient evidence of a mandate to represent the applicants.
The Court found that Ghana, despite obtaining a waiver of confidentiality from The Gambia on the 2009 UN/ECOWAS Investigation Report, failed to release it to Isaac Mensah. This failure constituted a breach of his right to information under Article 9(1) of the African Charter and Article 19(2) of the ICCPR.
Ghana was ordered to release the requested documents to Isaac Mensah within four months of the judgment.
Also on the bench were Justice Gberi-Bè Ouattara and Justice Ricardo Claúdio Monteiro Gonçalves.
