In a landmark ruling Friday, the ECOWAS Court of Justice ordered Ghana to pay \$75,000 in damages to 30 members of the Homeland Study Group Foundation (HSGF) who were held without trial for over a year.
Delivering judgment in Lagos (ECW/CCJ/APP/12/24), Justice Ricardo Gonçalves and his two‑judge panel found that Ghanaian authorities violated Article 14(3) of Ghana’s Constitution and Article 6 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights by detaining the activists for extended periods without prompt court appearances.
Each applicant is to receive \$2,500 (converted into cedis), the Court ruled, and Ghana must either prosecute the detainees within two weeks or release them unconditionally.
The panel rejected national‑security justifications, stressing that even under emergency laws, due‑process safeguards apply.
While striking out the HSGF itself for lacking legal personality, the Court upheld individual claims, admonishing Ghana for using the 1976 Prohibited Organisations Decree to detain political opponents arbitrarily.
The decision reinforces ECOWAS’s role in upholding human rights and the rule of law across member states.
