‘Women Stripped Naked In Military Brutalities’ is a worrying front page-headlined story in yesterday’s edition of this newspaper.
It brought back memories of the dark days of the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) junta during which overzealous soldiers stripped women naked and flogged them.
Those who engaged in the brutalities of the times ended up miserably; important lessons for young soldiers who did not witness the so-called revolution.
The military hierarchy must be disturbed that in this day and age such brutality would be exacted by some soldiers deployed for such an important assignment of stopping illegal mining activities across gold-bearing areas of the country.
Discipline is one of the hallmarks of Ghanaian soldiers, a pedigree acknowledged by the United Nations Peacekeeping managers. It is regrettable and painful when therefore a section of the military out of overzealousness go overboard in the enforcement missions they have been assigned in galamsey endemic areas and do what they have been alleged to have committed.
Adiewoso in the Tarkwa Nsuaem Municipality in the Western Region is the place where the soldiers allegedly stripped women naked and lashed them on their buttocks.
We have taken notice of a reaction from the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) about the alleged atrocities meted out upon teachers in the said municipality.
With graphic presentation of telltale marks of lashes on some victims made public and a woman who claimed to have been stripped naked and whipped bare-buttocks, there is enough grounds to investigate the alleged unacceptable conduct.
While we acknowledge the challenges involved in enforcing the law on issues bordering on illegal mining activities, we nonetheless oppose the irresponsible approach to the assignment by men and women in uniform.
Soldiers, especially officers, are gentlemen who are expected to have control over the men under them; that is not beyond their capabilities to do. It is for this reason that we demand of platoon commanders deployed for galamsey operations to be mindful about the rights of individuals or even suspects as they enforce the law.
In our national demand for the protection of the environment, we should not abuse the dignity of the people who own the resources we seek to protect for generations unborn.
What profit shall we get when in the course of enforcement we trample upon the dignity of the human beings who constitute the communities making up the country?
How do we expect to gather important intelligence about illegal mining activities when we do not court the friendship of members of the communities where the illegality is endemic?
We appear to have descended regrettably to the lower notches of the decency ladder, especially since this is not the first time in recent times that brutalities by men in uniform have been recorded.
We would not be forced back to the PNDC days of indecency when many persons were simply abducted from their homes and murdered or never seen again.
We are not being ruled by a junta but by a government elected to do so.
So much work went into restoring the confidence of the people in the military as decent civilians in uniform following the nasty days of the PNDC. The National Reconciliation Commission was one great stride under the Kufuor administration intended to heal the wounds created by military brutalities by the PNDC junta. We demand an immediate enquiry to establish the truth or otherwise of the alleged brutalities and the appropriate remedial actions announced.