Ghana - Environmental Issues and Human Rights

Ever since the election of President John Evans Atta Mills in 2009 and the succession of his vice president, John Dramani Mahama in 2012 after Mills' death, Amnesty International had worked with the country of Ghana in order to become better aware of the general condition of human rights in the country and how to improve these rights.

Over 1,000 people were forcibly evicted from their homes in the capital, Accra. Thousands more remained at risk of forced eviction. Violence continued against people suspected of same-sex relationships, who still had little or no legal protection. There were no executions. The death penalty was still on the statute books, despite the government having accepted recommendations to abolish it. The criminal justice system remained slow.

Women's and LGBTQ rights are also not on level with more advanced cultures.

Violence against women and girls remained rife, with nearly 10,000 cases reported to the Ghana police Domestic Violence Support Unit in 2012. Violence against women was thought to be under-reported, and not adequately addressed by the authorities. 

Sexual activity between consenting adults of the same sex remained a crime under Ghana's Criminal Code. Violence against people suspected of same-sex relationships continued. In March 2012, young people in Accra's James Town community disrupted a planned wedding ceremony between two women, and assaulted them and their guests. The women were later arrested and detained at the James Town Police station for "engaging in illegal practice." They were released after their relatives intervened.
The CRC's final report recommended that the country's Supreme Court should rule on whether Ghana should legalize same-sex acts. The government "took note" of the recommendation.

The high courts have had a lot of controversy, as there already were allegations of widespread bribery amongst the highest justices. Since the report first came out, the (London) Guardian writes that seven high court justices have been suspended since the report first came out in September. The "beyond reproach" court still ultimately caused prisons to be widely overcrowded.

Meanwhile, environmental issues plague the country as well. The World Wildlife Fund reports that the country has had an over dependence in the wood cutting industry for far too long, lowering the diversity in forests at an alarming rate. Logging is also a very important industry to the country, but not all companies have been using legal techniques to log.

The practice of clearing, cultivating, and then letting land die fallow is widespread and is the major source of livelihood for the rural population. The situation is accelerated by human population exploding and immigration in the region leading to high pressure on remaining forests and protected areas.

 Large and small-scale mining for minerals, particularly in montane areas, also pose major threats to the forests. Furthermore, loggers, miners and other migrant populations further stress the forest resources through hunting of wild animals, particularly antelope and primates.

These organizations having power over Ghana is an example of eurocentrism, as these organizations are typically led by western countries, an obvious example of eurocentrism. This relates to the readings by Farish Noor as these countries may have too much power.

The term eurocentrism denotes the emerging perception within the European cultural, historical experience within the European cultural, historical experience of European identity as good and all other forms as less good or less advanced.

 However, while not all European countries are  superior in culture and history (as this is obvious), it is still would be important to see more equality amongst representation in world politics, especially when these countries are often dealing with more issues as these countries have lower GDP's and populations.