DEMOCRACY AND POLITICAL GOVERNANCE right to life, the right to liberty and security of the person, the right to human dignity, the right to equality and freedom from discrimination, the rights of accused, arrested and detained persons, the right to free speech and expression, the rights of political participation, the rights of free association and assembly, the rights to access to information, and religious and cultural freedom. These rights are not absolute, however, and conditions for deviating from them, usually for reasons of State, are also stipulated in the Constitution. There was little evidence of direct human rights violations over the five-year period of 1999 to 2004. Economic, social and cultural rights 45. Other constitutional provisions also promote the economic, social and cultural rights of Ghanaians. Among these are: (a) the right to security and privacy of personal property (although this right is constrained by problems related to compulsory acquisition by the State); (b) the right to education, including such elements as free and compulsory basic education, the general availability of and access to secondary education, and accessibility to higher education on the basis of capacity; (c) the right to health, concretely manifested by the introduction of the National Health Insurance Scheme in 2003, enabling Ghanaians to obtain free basic health at the point of delivery; (d) the right to employment and the Labour Act of 2003; and (e) the right to basic utilities. 46. Survey data in the CSAR indicates that a majority of the elite and household respondents are satisfied with the steps taken to protect civil and political rights in Ghana. There are concerns that economic rights are virtually non-existent. ii. Findings of the CRM Civil and political rights 47. Stakeholders generally believe that the protection of human rights is possibly Ghana's most spectacular success since the return to democratic rule in 1992. It is a welcome and refreshing departure from the situation during the prolonged periods of military rule when violations of human rights, especially by the State and its agencies were common. Concrete steps in the form of institutions and agencies have been taken, and policies and programmes have been put in place to promote and protect constitutional provisions for civil and political rights, such as freedoms of expression, 27

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