to becoming law. The bill further criminalized LGBTI people and introduced prison sentences for anyone expressing support or “sympathy” towards LGBTI people. LGBTI rights activists expressed concerns over their safety should the bill be passed. In the same month, the Supreme Court dismissed a legal challenge to block parliament from passing the bill. DEATH PENALTY On 25 July, the parliament voted to remove the death penalty from the 1960 Criminal and Other Offences Act and the 1962 Armed Forces Act.1 The president assented to the amendments the following month, making them law. In December, however, he revoked the changes, citing procedural issues. The constitution also continued to provide for the death penalty for high treason. FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND ASSEMBLY Four years after the murder of Ghanaian investigative journalist Ahmed Divela, the investigation was ongoing, and no one had been brought to justice. In April, a coalition of media associations asked for a repeal of Section 76 of the Electronic Communications Act and Section 208 of the Criminal and Other Offences Act, arguing that these laws had been “weaponized” to arrest several journalists and restrict the right to freedom of expression. Reporters Without Borders ranked Ghana 62nd among the 180 countries surveyed in its 2023 World Press Freedom Index, down two places from 2022. In September, the police filed an injunction to prevent a planned protest over the high cost of living taking place, from 21 to 23 September, outside the presidential palace in the capital, Accra. The police arrested at least 49 protesters for unlawful assembly when the protest went ahead on 21 September, releasing them on bail the same day. EXCESSIVE USE OF FORCE On 7 March, in Ashaiman, the military used excessive force, including beating and kicking people, while investigating the murder of one of their colleagues. During the operation, Ghana Armed Forces detained 184 people. The deputy defence minister apologized that innocent people were caught up in the operation. Parliament’s Committee on Defence and the Interior stated that it had conducted investigations but, at the end of the year, no report had been published. RIGHT TO HEALTH In February, the Ghana Health Service revealed that 27 pregnant women in Bawku municipality had died between 2021 and 2022 due to their inability to access medical services. While some were unable to get to the hospital in time, others died due to staff shortages. In April, Ghana became the first country to approve a malaria vaccine developed by Oxford University. RIGHT TO A HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT Environmental activists warned that the government’s plan to import liquefied natural gas under a 17-year agreement would lead to more use of carbon and delay the transition to cleaner energy. Environmental activists, clothes traders and fishermen denounced the pollution created by used textiles coming into the country from abroad. Fast fashion clothes donated from overseas continued to find their way to second-hand markets such as Kantamanto in Accra, with huge volumes then being discarded as waste due to poor quality and ending up on the beaches of Accra and in the Odaw river, the Korle Lagoon or the sea. 1. “Ghana: Landmark vote to remove death penalty from laws is a major step forward”, 25 July GREECE Hellenic Republic 182 The State of the World’s Human Rights