July 2023 Update – NEW REMAND ATTEMPT ON FALSE CHARGES FOR IMPERSONATION

On Monday July 3rd 2023, after asking Noah Dameh to remove his face mask, the presiding judge said she would issue a bench warrant on the basis of impersonation. In other words, The presiding judge for Tema magistrate court where Noah is facing trial, Her lady Benedicta Antwi, The complainant, Bernard Korley, all the clerks, and the police claimed that the man before them was not the Noah Narh Dameh that had been called to court before, and that before them was a man pretending to be Noah Narh Dameh. The court did not allow Noah an opportunity to explain that he was, in fact, the Noah Narh Dameh that had presented himself in court before, so he forced his way to advocate for himself, explained he had been remanded two weeks ago by the same judge on the same court, and mentioned the names of his lawyers and the chamber. He was asked to sit, surrounded by police officers, while the police CID officer, inspector Derick Debrah was called from outskirt of the court to verify Noah's identity. After the CID’s arrival a few hours later, he confirmed that Noah was Noah Narh Dameh and the complainant, who had previously accused him of impersonation, agreed that he was who he claimed to be. Noah’s case was then adjourned to the 31st of July.

This is yet another example of the ridiculous extent to which Ghanaian justice officials will go to to harass community journalists and activists. Noah Narh Dameh’s harassment by Ghanaian justice officials has been going on for too long, caused enough pain and distress, cost enough time, effort, and money to Noah. We ask that you please sign this petition to help end the harassment, violence, and absurdity of this situation.

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MAIN STORY

Radio Ada and its members are under attack. Noah Dameh, Deputy Station Coordinator at Radio Ada, is being targeted by the local authorities of Ghana for calling out the violence being perpetrated against Dangme people in the Greater Accra Region. Noah Dameh was remanded by the Tema Circuit Court on March 30th, 2023. This on account of missing two appearances before court, both of which Mr. Dameh was not made aware of. Mr. Dameh and his surety have not been contacted by the police, whereas prior to December 2022 they had been in constant communication through text messaging and phone calls. any supposed attempts to communicate with Mr. Dameh seem disingenuous. In spite of knowing that Mr. Dameh works every day at the radio station (Radio Ada), the police never attempted to look for him there. Noah Dameh is presently behind bars and was not granted bail on account of the false claims that he was unwilling to appear before court when called upon by police. Amanor Dziagu and Serwa Waree, collaborators at the station, have also received violent threats; Amanor in particular was targeted during the January attack on the station. This is occurring in support of a major corporate development. The statement from Radio Ada reads as follows: 

“We call on the Ghanaian National Government to intervene, following the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We also call on the Ghana Police to quicken their steps at arresting the thugs who attacked Radio Ada in early January and to focus their attention on the threats to human rights as outlined in Articles 8(2)b and 16(1) of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and in Article 19 of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights.” (See statement here)

Radio Ada is a non-profit Community Radio Station of the Dangme people, in the Greater Accra region of Ghana. Its founding mission is “to promote the language, culture and traditions of the Dangme people and to make information more accessible to the people in their local language”. Since 1998, Radio Ada has supported the movement for the protection of artisanal salt mining of the Songor Lagoon in the face of corporate efforts to take over the lagoon. This has been a multifaceted movement going on since the 1980s, and in the most recent iteration, the Dangme people have been fighting against Electrochem Ghana, Ltd. and its majority owner, Daniel McKorley, for its acquisition of the entire lagoon as a concession. The threat they pose to the Dangme people is major, for it not only denies them access to their main livelihood, but it puts several of the lagoon’s contiguous communities at risk of displacement as well. 

In this context, Noah Dameh, Deputy Station Coordinator at Radio Ada, has been part of a team producing “Manor Munyu”, a radio show dedicated to educating the Indigenous peoples of Ada on the lease of their resource to Electrochem by Ghana’s Government, and the agreement to this lease by several members of Ada’s traditional council. For work like this, Amanor Dziagu and Serwa Waree are also constantly threatened. The Radio Station was attacked on January 13th, 2022, for the content of this show by a group of armed men who destroyed station equipment, beat station personnel while in the middle of broadcasting, as well as visitors to the station, and demanded to see Noah Dameh. When they couldn’t find him, the attackers left a threat for him, and the rest of the station: stop talking about the Songor, or they would be back and do worse. Amanor Dziagu was threatened the same way during the attack. The perpetrators of this attack remain unidentified, and unprosecuted by the Ghana police despite several reports by members of the public. Meanwhile, Noah is being prosecuted for calling out the violence being perpetrated in support of the Electrochem’ concession — a second attempt to silence him as a journalist. This is outrageous and unacceptable. 

On the 21st of July that year, Noah was granted a GHC 20,000 bail and told to report to the police bi-weekly, but his trial has been rescheduled multiple times, assigned to two different judges, and most recently, on the 28th of November, police arrested Noah at the court premises a few minutes after the judge Benedicta Antwi (Mrs.) dismissed the case, sent him to the Tema Harbour police station, and granted him bail after 3 hours. Later, his bail was cancelled and his duty to report to the police bi-weekly was dropped. Since then, Dameh and his surety were not contacted by the police.

On March 30th, 2023, Dameh was remanded by the Tema Circuit Court, without bail, on account of the false claims that he was unwilling to appear before court when called upon by police. You can read the full details of that development in the update below.

Dameh’s prosecution and the threats on Dziagu and Waree are violations of Article 16(1) of The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People, which charges authorities to protect the right of Indigenous peoples “to establish their own media in their own languages and to have access to all forms of non-Indigenous media without discrimination”. Additionally, Article 19 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights maintains the “right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media.” Furthermore, The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People, Article 8(2)(b) stipulates that “states shall provide effective mechanisms to prevent, and redress for any action which has the aim or effect of dispossessing Indigenous people of their lands, territories or resources.” Given the failure of the state to ensure the protection of the latter right, Radio Ada and its collaborators are at work to protect the Dangme people as a community. The least the state could do is protect them from being targeted for doing their work. 

Your signature will help protect the media rights of Noah Dameh, Sarwe Waree, Amanor Dziagu, and the rest of the people of Ada, as well as support them in their struggle to speak out against the violation of their livelihood rights as Indigenous people.