ACCRA, May 7 (AFP) - Ghana's President John Kufour has inaugurated a
South African-style reconciliation commission set up to look into rights
abuses under former president Jerry Rawlings, and urged its panel not to
seek vengeance.
Speaking at Monday's inauguration for the nine-member National
Reconciliation Commission (NRC) Kufuor said rights abuses committed by
the Armed Froces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) and the Provisional National
Defence Council (PNDC) had led to a bitterness among Ghanaians that
needed to be assuaged.
Rawlings first seized power in June 1979 and in September of the same
year handed power to an elected civilian government. He staged a second
coup on December 31, 1981. He led Ghana at the head of the AFRC and
PNDC respectively after both those coups.
The two military regimes are accused of having tortured, tried and executed
their opponents.
Rawlings' supporters have accused Kufuor's government of launching a
witchhunt against officials from the previous administration.
The NRC has one year to conduct its enquiries and compile its report. That
period can be extended for six months.
Kufuor said the government is determined to build a new nation based on
rule of law and respect for human rights.
The chairman of the commission, Justice Amua-Sekyi said "no one can
deny that as a nation we have made mistakes in the past. However, it takes
courage to admit this."
In a goodwill message to the Commission, South Africa's Desmond Tutu,
praised Ghana for its refusal to take the "easy road and grapple with the past
in order to create a better future."
This, he said, "demonstrates the courage and insight of Ghanaians in
recognising that the past will come back to haunt them if they do not address
it."
South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), which closed
its doors at the end of last year after six years of work, was empowered to
grant amnesties to those on both sides of that country's liberation struggle
whose acts, including murder, were clearly political, and who demonstrated
repentance after making a full confession.
Tutu said it would have been tempting for a country like Ghana to sweep
old issues under the carpet, embrace its prosperity and move on.
But Tutu added: "The record shall stand not only as a warning not to repeat
the abuses of the past but also as an encouragement to show that evil can
be overcome and good will prevail."
He said to some of those who have been guilty of violations, the
Commission will offer the chance to admit their guilt and seek reconcilation
with their compatriots.
"By inaugurating its commission today Ghana reaffirms its commitment to
international law and reinforces in leadership in international affairs. This
should come as no surprise in a country which has produced the Secretary
Generals of both United Nations and Ecowas," Tutu said.
Mohamed Ibn Chambas was in February named head of the Economic
Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and Kofi Annan has been
head of the United Nations since 1997.
He then likened reconciliation to one of Ghana's key export crops, cocoa.
"What makes cocoa so compelling is its intriguing bitter-sweet flavour and
its contribution to Ghana's prosperity.
"As with cocoa so too with reconciliation: the process of unearthing a
legacy of abuse and discovering the fate of victims is always bitter-sweet,"
Tutu said.
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