Ghana has been described as a nation with significant human rights violations in a report published on the US Department of State website.

According to the 2022 report, most of the prominent issues included reports of torture or cruel inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment by the government or on behalf of the government, arbitrary arrest or detention, and arbitrary or unlawful killings, including extrajudicial killings.

The other areas were: serious restrictions on free expression and media, including violence and threats of violence against journalists, and unjustified arrests or prosecutions of journalists.

Furthermore, Ghana was cited for other violations of human rights, such as crimes involving violence or threats of violence targeting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or intersex persons, laws criminalizing consensual same-sex sexual conduct between adults (although not fully enforced), lack of investigation into and accountability for gender-based violence, which included domestic or intimate partner violence, and crimes involving violence or threats of violence targeting persons with disabilities.

Subsequently, substantial interference with the freedom of peaceful assembly and serious government corruption were cited as further examples.

Although it was acknowledged in the report that government embarked on some steps to address corruption and human rights abuses by officials, whether in the security forces or elsewhere in the government, it stressed that impunity remained a problem.

Click here for the full report