Minister petitions CHRAJ over human right abuse of Muslims

Source: citifmonline.com  - Western Regional Minister, Paul Evans Aidoo, has petitioned the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) to, as a matter of urgency, address human rights abuses of Muslims in the country.

This was revealed by the Western Regional leader of the Muslim Association, Alhassan Badu on Eyewitness News on Friday.

Muslims across the country say they are being discriminated against in schools, work and other public places.

They say that Muslim brothers in second cycle institutions are also forced to attend church service.

They, therefore, staged a demonstration on Friday to compel government to take measures to address the challenge....

Speaking on Eyewitness News, Alhassan Badu said the Regional Minister was very happy about demonstration, adding he [Minister] had called on the “CHRAJ and the Ministry of Health” to make sure that the issue is resolved.

He clarified that the demonstration was not to “sensitise the students to misbehave” but rather a “call on the President of Ghana to understand their plea and then make sure that the human right violation is stopped.”

“This fight is not being fought in Western Region alone. It is a nationwide fight and we are peacefully calling on all organisations to help us resolve this problem”.

Schools infringing on Muslims’ rights to be sanctioned

Meanwhile the Government has condemned the act of preventing Muslim women and girls from freely wearing their hijabs at work places and in school.

It follows news reports that Muslim women and girls are being forced to take off their hijabs, a traditional scarf worn by Muslim women to cover their hair and neck and sometimes their face, to work and in schools.

“We consider it not only as religious intolerance, but also a breach of the 1992 Constitution of the republic of Ghana, for Muslim students to be forced to take off their hijabs in schools,” a statement signed by the Minister of Communications, Dr. Edward Omane Boamah indicated.

The minister noted further that it is government’s position that Muslim women must be allowed, and not forced to take off their hijabs at work, to the extent that their wearing them do not pose a danger to themselves or to others on the job.