THE TRAGEDY OF SUICIDE DECRIMINALIZED IN GHANA

Attempted suicide has been approved by the parliament of Ghana, as no longer a criminal offence. This means that individuals who attempt to commit suicide (trying to take their own life) or are suicide survivors will now be regarded as needing mental health support rather than facing imprisonment under the law. It’s really a public health threat that must be taken seriously. The issue of suicide is long overdue to be seen as a severe mental or psycholoigical trauma and injury rather than subjecting the pepetrator to criminal procedures. Although so far,

Until March 28, 2023, attempted suicide was still considered a criminal offence under the criminal offence 2012 (Amendment Act 849), Section 57 (2).
In their 2022 research, Quarshie, E. N.-B and colleagues presented that about 1,993 individuals (representing 177 females and 1816 males) commit suicide annually across Ghana.

Many countries have decriminalised (attempted) suicide in the last 50 years, removing the fear of legal repercussions and making it comparatively easier for people experiencing suicidal crises to seek – professional – help. ( Quarshie, E. N.-B et al., 2022). So far, attempted suicide is still illegal in 20 countries (until March 28, where it was decriminalized in Ghana), with another 20 countries still considering it a crime under Sharia law. (Mishara & Weisstub, 2016; UnitedGMH, 2021; Quarshie, E. N.-B et al., 2022). Indeed, evidence shows that individuals found guilty of this law have been given hefty fines or jailed, in some cases (Adinkrah, 2012; Osafo et al., 2017). Paradoxically, the anti-suicide laws in England and Wales were repealed in 1961 (Neeleman, 1996). In Ghana, relying criminal investigation department of the Ghana police, crime statistics annual report in 2016 (to put issue in perspective for lack of recent data) 43 attempted suicides cases were recorded (GPS, CID annual report 2016). A total number of 21 persons charged with nonfatal suicidal behavior (Adinkra, 2013).

To illustrate some of the cases that suffer prosecution, in August 2005, for example, a circuit court in Ghana sentenced a 20-year-old male student to 24 months in prison for trying to commit suicide. The man, who was being held in a police cell awaiting a criminal trial on a charge of grand larceny at the time of the suicide attempt, attempted to cut off his penis with the sharp, serrated edge of a plastic material he discovered in his cell room. When he failed, he was arrested and charged with breaking Section 57 (2) of the criminal code, which forbade suicide attempts (“Student Jailed For Suicide Attempt,” 2005). In another case of law enforcement, a Ghanaian farmer tried but failed to kill himself in May 2011. According to law enforcement officials, his reason for the act was social rejection from his village community. He was found slashing his neck with a knife by a neighbor, who interfered, stopped the suicide, and reported him to law enforcement authorities. He was arrested and taken to a nearby hospital for treatment of his injuries. Following his recovery, he was tried in court, guilty of attempted suicide, and sentenced to three months in a prison facility. (Osei, 2011).

It is worth noting that Ghana is not the only nation that has criminalized suicide attempts until March 2023. So far, approximately 20 nations have criminalized attempted suicide. As a result, a recent examination of the penal codes of several nations and jurisdictions worldwide showed that attempted suicide, also known as “nonfatal suicidal behavior,” or failed suicide attempt, is considered a criminal offense. Bangladesh, Gambia, India, Kuwait, Nigeria, Pakistan, Rwanda, and Singapore are among these nations. Suicide attempts are also considered a crime in many Islamic nations. Most of these nations who has criminalized suicide attempts are known to be British (UK) colonies. Despite the fact that the United Kingdom (UK) repealed laws criminalizing and punishing attempted suicide in 1961, several of its former colonial regions still have legal codes that criminalize and punish nonfatal suicidal behavior, despite their political independence.

These continued criminalization, prosecution, and punishment of attempted suicide in some of the former British colonies raises a number of intriguing issues. So i asked the following questions for us to ponder on, as follows; For example, what is the social, moral, or legal justification for keeping anti-suicide legislation in place? How strictly are anti-suicide rules enforced? What are the most frequent judicial penalties for attempted suicide? What arguments are advanced to justify the drive to decriminalize anti-suicide laws? Is it true that legalizing attempted suicide reduces suicide fatalities and attempts? Will the decriminalization of attempted suicide result in a substantial increase in suicidal behavior in these societies?

Authors:

Dr. P. Edem Nukunu,
Nukunu is currently a Medical Practitioner and Psychotherapist. He is also a member of the Medical Journalists’ Association – Ghana and the World Federation of Science Journalists. Reach out for him via correspondent email: penukunu@st.ug.edu.gh /penukunu@medhealth.info  

References

Adinkrah, M. (2016). Anti-Suicide Laws in Nine African Countries: Criminalization, Prosecution and Penalization. African Journal of Criminology and Justice Studies: AJCJS, Vol.9, Issue 1 May 2016 ISSN 1554-3897 279.

Adinkrah, M. (2015). Suicide and mortuary beliefs and practices of the Akan of Ghana. Omega: Journal of Death and Dying. doi:10.1177/0030222815598427

Adinkrah M. (2013). Criminal prosecution of suicide attempt survivors in Ghana. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 57(12), 1477–1497. https://doi.org/10.1177/0306624X12456986.

Annual crime statistics 2016. Criminal Investigation Department, Ghana Police Service https://police.gov.gh/en/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/ANNUAL-REPORT-2016.pdf Retrived on March 29, 2023

Osafo J., Akotia C. S., Boakye K. E., Dickson E. (2018). Between moral infraction and existential crisis: Exploring physicians and nurses’ attitudes to suicide and the suicidal patient in Ghana. International journal of nursing studies, 85(1), 118–125. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2018.05.017.

Quarshie, E. N.-B., Oppong Asante, K., Andoh-Arthur, J., Akotia, C. S., & Osafo, J. (2022). To Keep the Law or to Repeal It: Views of Parliamentarians On the Call to Decriminalise Attempted Suicide in Ghana. OMEGA – Journal of Death and Dying, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/00302228211066683

https://www.wathi.org/anti-suicide-laws-in-nine-african-countries-criminalization-prosecution-and-penalization/   Retrived on 29/03/2023.