Democracy Hub Drags Ghana to ECOWAS Court Over Secret U.S. Transfer Deal

Story by Fada Amakye

Human rights group Democracy Hub LBG has filed a case at the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice against Ghana. The group says Ghana helped the United States receive, detain, and send on West African nationals under a secret agreement.

The case was filed by lawyers from Merton & Everett LLP, the Global Strategic Litigation Council, and Cornell Law School’s Transnational Disputes Clinic.

The suit is for 27 people. Many of them had already won protection in U.S. immigration courts because they faced danger if sent back to their home countries.

The group is asking the Court to:
1. Declare that Ghana broke regional and international human rights law.
2. Stop the U.S.-Ghana arrangement immediately.
3. Ban any more transfers or onward removals under it.
4. Make the full agreement public.
5. Pay compensation to the victims and promise it will not happen again.

Democracy Hub also wants the Court to make clear that no ECOWAS country should take part in any deal that hands people over to another country if they risk torture, illegal detention, or being denied a lawyer or a fair hearing.

The case claims Ghana took in people who needed protection, detained them without a legal reason or access to a lawyer, and did not let them seek asylum in Ghana. It also says Ghana sent them on to other countries despite knowing they could face persecution or torture.

What the lawyers say
Merton & Everett LLP said it is committed to “human rights, refugee protection, and the rule of law in Ghana and across ECOWAS.”

For more information, contact:
– *Oliver Barker-Vormawor*, Merton & Everett LLP: secretariat@mertoneverett.com
– *Ian Kysel*, Cornell Law School: imk48@cornell.edu
– *Global Strategic Litigation Council*: laura@global-council.org