Ghana - Amnesty International

34GHANA: END IMPUNITY THROUGH UNIVERSAL JURISDICTIONNo Safe Haven Series No. 10CHART II. WAR CRIMES IN INTERNATIONAL ARMED CONFLICT IN THE THIRD GENEVACONVENTION AND PROTOCOL I THAT HAVE BEEN OMITTED FROM THE ROME STATUTECrime Treaty Signed Ratified/accededDefined innational law(citing anyrelevantprovision)Universaljurisdiction(citing anyrelevantprovision)forces in theknowledge that suchattack will causeexcessive loss of life,injury to civilians ordamage to civilianobjects1977 (ratified) sect. 1 (1) (e) 780), sect.1 (4)As Chart II demonstrates, Ghana has defined these war crimes in national law by expressly definingbreaches of Article 85, paragraphs 3 and 4, of Protocol I, as well as all other breaches of the GenevaConventions and their Protocols, as crimes in the Geneva Conventions Act. 116 In this respect, theGeneva Conventions Act is a marked improvement over most Commonwealth Geneva Conventionsacts, which are usually limited to defining only grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions (and,occasionally, of Protocol I) as crimes under national law over which national courts can exerciseuniversal jurisdiction. Ghana has also authorized its courts to exercise universal jurisdiction overthese crimes. 117Other treaties that may impose criminal responsibility. In addition to the Geneva Conventions andProtocol I, there are a number of international humanitarian law treaties applicable duringinternational armed conflict imposing obligations which, if violated, may possibly result in individualcriminal responsibility, either under the treaties or because the prohibitions are recognized as part ofcustomary international law. As Chart III indicates, Ghana has not defined violations of these treatiesas crimes under national law. For the crimes found in treaties signed or ratified by Ghana but whichare not yet defined in Ghanaian law and for which Ghanaian law has not expressly authorized theexercise of universal jurisdiction, it is possible that national courts may exercise universaljurisdiction based on the Courts Act catchall provision, though based on a lack of prior practice, it isunlikely that courts would exercise jurisdiction pursuant to this catchall alone (see Section 4.2above).116Geneva Conventions Act, 2009 (Act 780), sect. 1 (1) (e), (3) (incorporating by reference provisions of thesetreaties).117See Geneva Conventions Act, 2009 (Act 780), sect. 1 (4).Amnesty International November 2012 Index: AFR 28/004/2012