Poverty preventing people of Asante Akim South from pursing justice

Most people in Asante Akim South District are unable to take advantage of free services of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), and pursue justice due to poverty.

Some victims of human right violations for instance cannot afford transport fare to the district capital to report such cases to CHRAJ and other appropriate institutions.

Mr. Isaac Kwame Acheampong, the District Director of CHRAJ, who disclosed this in an interview with GNA at Juaso-Ashanti, expressed worry that the rights of the vulnerable, especially women and children were violated with impunity and culprits were unpunished.

He said the District Directorate of CHRAJ recorded 69 human rights violations last year out of which 56 were either settled or referred to other State agencies with 13 pending.

Mr. Acheampong said 12 cases concerning children, made up of one defilement case and 11 child maintenance and custody cases, were reported to the Commission.

He said the lack of adequate transport, logistics and funds for public education, mainly in the rural areas, militated against the operations of CHRAJ and called for urgent steps to solve the problems.

Mr. Acheampong stressed that that the dispensation of justice in the district was becoming the preserve of a few people because most residents, including those in the hinterland could not seek redress to human rights abuses.