US embassy cable - 04ACCRA2033

UNCLAS ACCRA 002033 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, PGOV, PREL, GH 
SUBJECT: GHANA NATIONAL RECONCILIATION COMMISSION SUBMITS 
FINAL REPORT 
 
1. (U) On October 12, the Ghana National Reconciliation 
Commission (NRC) submitted its final, five-volume report and 
recommendations to the GoG. The report follows 18 months of 
public hearings on alleged human rights abuses during the 
period of 1957-1993, which includes 20 years of rule by 
former President JJ Rawlings. Dr. Ken Attafuah, who was the 
NRC's  Chief Executive until he went on leave in June and who 
authored some chapters of the report, told PolOff on October 
12 that the GoG would review the report and then respond in a 
white paper. The GoG has given no date when the report will 
be released to the public. 
 
2. (U) Both domestic and international human rights 
organizations have lauded the report's completion and the 
work of the NRC. Both President John Kufuor and NRC Chairman, 
Mr. Justice K.E. Amua-Sekyi, reiterated the point that the 
work of the NRC was "not supposed to be persecutory or 
prosecuting", and that the recommendations focused squarely 
on reparations to the victims of human rights abuses. Mr. 
Amua-Sekyi stated that the report recommended reparations for 
3,000 (of a total 4,311) petitioners. President Kufuor noted 
that "the government will not go after them (the 
perpetrators) to exact justice, but will leave them to their 
conscience and faith", and that "destiny has its own way of 
exacting justice." President Kufuor expressed appreciation to 
various institutions, including USAID, for its assistance to 
the work of the NRC. 
 
3. (SBU) The major opposition party, the National Democratic 
Congress (NDC), has publicly criticized the NRC's proceedings 
as incomplete and argued that the timing of the release (less 
than two months before elections) is politically motivated. 
The Chairman of the ruling National Patriotic Party (NPP) 
told the Charg that he would try to convince the GoG  to 
hold its response until after the elections. He thought that 
there was not enough time between now and the elections to 
give full consideration to the report and that an earlier 
release would unnecessarily make the NRC report a campaign 
issue. 
LANIER