Land Guards, State Subordination and Human Rights in Ghana
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ISSN 1806-6445 17 international journal on human rights DEVELOPMENT AND HUMAN RIGHTS César Rodríguez Garavito, Juana Kweitel and Laura Trajber Waisbich Development and Human Rights: v. 9 • n. 17 • Dec. 2012 Some Ideas on How to Restart the Debate Biannual Irene Biglino, Christophe Golay and Ivona Truscan English Edition The Contribution of the UN Special Procedures to the Human Rights and Development Dialogue Luis Carlos Buob Concha The Right to Water: Understanding its Economic, Social and Cultural Components as Development Factors for Indigenous Communities Andrea Schettini Toward a New Paradigm of Human Rights Protection for Indigenous Peoples: A Critical Analysis of the Parameters Established by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights Serges Alain Djoyou Kamga and Siyambonga Heleba Can Economic Growth Translate into Access to Rights? Challenges Faced by Institutions in South Africa in Ensuring that Growth Leads to Better Living Standards Interview with Sheldon Leader Transnational Corporations and Human Rights Aline Albuquerque and Dabney Evans Right to Health in Brazil: A Study of the Treaty-Reporting System Linda Darkwa and Philip Attuquayefi o Killing to Protect? Land Guards, State Subordination and Human Rights in Ghana Cristina Rădoi The Ineffective Response of International Organisations Concerning the Militarization of Women’s Lives Carla Dantas Right of Petition by Individuals within the Global Human Rights Protection System EDITORIAL BOARD ADVISORY BOARD Christof Heyns University of Pretoria (South Africa) Alejandro M. Garro Columbia University (United States) Emilio García Méndez University of Buenos Aires (Argentina) Bernardo Sorj Federal University of Rio de Janeiro / Edelstein Fifi Benaboud North-South Centre of the Council of Europe Center (Brazil) (Portugal) Bertrand Badie Sciences-Po (France) Fiona Macaulay Bradford University (United Kingdom) Flávia Piovesan Pontifical Catholic University of Cosmas Gitta UNDP (United States) São Paulo (Brazil) Daniel Mato CONICET / National University of Tres de Febrero J. Paul Martin Columbia University (United States) (Argentina) Kwame Karikari University of Ghana (Ghana) Daniela Ikawa International Network on Economic, Social and Mustapha Kamel Al-Sayyid Cairo University (Egypt) Cultural Rights / Columbia University (United States) Roberto Garretón Former-UN Officer of the High Ellen Chapnick Columbia University (United States) Commissioner for Human Rights (Chile) Ernesto Garzon Valdes University of Mainz (Germany) Upendra Baxi University of Warwick (United Kingdom) Fateh Azzam Arab Human Rights Fund (Lebanon) EDITORS Pedro Paulo Poppovic Guy Haarscher Université Libre de Bruxelles (Belgium) Oscar Vilhena Vieira Jeremy Sarkin University of the Western Cape (South Africa) EXECUTIVE BOARD João Batista Costa Saraiva Regional Jurisdiction for Children Maria Brant - Executive Editor and Adolescents of Santo Ângelo/RS (Brazil) Albertina de Oliveira Costa Flávia Annenberg José Reinaldo de Lima Lopes University of São Paulo (Brazil) Glenda Mezarobba Juan Amaya Castro University for Peace (Costa Rica)/VU Hélio Batista Barboza University Amsterdam (Netherlands) Juana Kweitel Laura Waisbich Lucia Dammert Global Consortium on Security Transformation Lucia Nader (Chile) EDITING Luigi Ferrajoli University of Rome (Italy) Luz González Luiz Eduardo Wanderley Pontifical Catholic University of Francisca Evrard São Paulo (Brazil) EXTERNAL REVIEWERS Malak El-Chichini P Andrew Charman, Arilson Favareto, Beatriz Galli, Carolina oppovic Conectas Human Rights (Brazil) Fairstein, Christopher Mbazira, Eduardo Pannunzio, Eloisa Maria Filomena Gregori University of Campinas (Brazil) Machado, Fernanda Doz Costa, Fernando Dantas, Marcel Gomes, Julieta Lemaitre Ripoll, Maurício Santoro, Pablo Maria Hermínia Tavares de Almeida University of São Paulo Ceriani, José Rodrigo Rodriguez, Catherine Boone, Vinodh (Brazil) Jaichand, Vivian Calderoni Miguel Cillero University Diego Portales (Chile) REVISION OF TRANSLATIONS Mudar Kassis Birzeit University (Palestine) Carolina Fairstein (Spanish) Renato Barreto (Portuguese) Paul Chevigny New York University (United States) The Bernard and Audre Rapoport Philip Alston New York University (United States) Center for Human Rights and Justice, University of Texas, Austin (English) Roberto Cuéllar M. Inter-American Institute of Human Rights (Costa Rica) GRAPHIC DESIGN Oz Design Roger Raupp Rios Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil) ART EDITING Alex Furini Shepard Forman New York University (United States) Victor Abramovich University of Buenos Aires (UBA) CIRCULATION Luz González Victor Topanou National University of Benin (Benin) PRINTING Vinodh Jaichand Irish Centre for Human Rights, National Prol Editora Gráfica Ltda. University of Ireland (Ireland) SUR - International Journal On Human Rights is a biannual journal published in English, Portuguese and Spanish by Conectas Human Rights. It is available on the Internet at <http://www.surjournal.org> SUR is covered by the following abstracting and indexing services: IBSS (International Bibliography of the Social Sciences); ISN Zurich (International Relations and Security Network); DOAJ (Directory of Open Access Journals) and SSRN (Social Science Research Network). In addition, SUR is also available at the following commercial databases: EBSCO, HEINonline, ProQuest and Scopus. SUR has been rated A1 and B1, in Colombia and in Brazil (Qualis), respectively. SUR. Revista Internacional de Direitos Humanos / Sur – Rede Universitária de Direitos Humanos – v.1, n.1, jan.2004 – São Paulo, 2004 - . Semestral ISSN 1806-6445 Edições em Inglês, Português e Espanhol. 1. Direitos Humanos 2. ONU I. Rede Universitária de Direitos Humanos CONTENTS DEVELOPMENT AND HUMAN RIGHTS CÉSAR RODRÍGUEZ GARAVITO, JUANA KWEITEL AND 5 Development and Human Rights: LAURA TRAJBER WAISBICH Some Ideas on How to Restart the Debate CHRISTOPHE GOLAY, 15 IRENE BIGLINO AND IVONA TRUSCAN The Contribution of the UN Special Procedures to the Human Rights and Development Dialogue LUIS CARLOS BUOB CONCHA 39 The Right to Water: Understanding its Economic, Social and Cultural Components as Development Factors for Indigenous Communities ANDREA SCHETTINI 59 Toward a New Paradigm of Human Rights Protection for Indigenous Peoples: A Critical Analysis of the Parameters Established by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights SERGES ALAIN DJOYOU KAMGA 83 AND SIYAMBONGA HELEBA Can Economic Growth Translate into Access to Rights? Challenges Faced by Institutions in South Africa in Ensuring that Growth Leads to Better Living Standards CONECTAS HUMAN RIGHTS 107 Interview with Sheldon Leader Transnational Corporations and Human Rights ALINE ALBUQUERQUE 115 AND DABNEY EVANS Right to Health in Brazil: A Study of the Treaty-Reporting System LINDA DARKWA 141 AND PHILIP ATTUQUAYEFIO Killing to Protect? Land Guards, State Subordination and Human Rights in Ghana CRISTINA RĂDOI 163 The Ineffective Response of International Organisations Concerning the Militarization of Women’s Lives CARLA DANTAS 187 Right of Petition by Individuals within the Global Human Rights Protection System LINDA DARKWA Linda Darkwa holds a PhD in Political Science from the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, in Pisa, Italy. She is currently a Research Fellow at the Legon Centre for International Affairs and Diplomacy at the University of Ghana, Legon. Her research interests are in the areas of peace and security with a particular focus on the implications of global security paradigms on regional and local processes of governance, human rights, development, and security. Email: [email protected]; [email protected] PHILIP ATTUQUAYEFIO Philip Attuquayefio is a Research Fellow at the Legon Centre for International Affairs and Diplomacy (LECIAD), University of Ghana, Legon. He holds a PhD in Political Science and an MPhil in International Affairs. His research interests are in Human Security, and Peace and Conflict Management. Email: [email protected]; [email protected] ABSTRACT Since the return to constitutional rule, Ghana has intensifi ed eff orts to promote human rights. However there are several challenges with the promotion of property rights, especially with regard to land ownership. Th is challenge, borne out of the tensions between the modern and the traditional state, is exacerbated by the plural legal systems in place as well as the challenges of rapid urbanisation and a high unemployment rate, particularly in the Greater Accra region. Th e liberal market system promoted by Ghana’s return to constitutional rule led to increased investment in land and demands for greater security in land title. Th is led to eff orts aimed at land reform. Th ese notwithstanding, the inability of the state to enforce its rules and elicit compliance have meant that the land market remains a minefi eld. Th e consequence has been the emergence of private security service providers who employ illegal means of enforcement to protect land and landed property. Popularly known as land guards, these security providers are the nightmare of landowners in the Greater Accra region. Using primary and secondary sources, this paper examines the rationale behind the demand and supply of land guard services and the implications of such services on property rights in Ghana. We conclude that the weak law enforcement capabilities of the state and rampant corruption in the land management institutions facilitate confl icts in land markets and encourage people to resort to individual security mechanisms. We argue that as