Rights probe to summon Rawlings

Mr Rawlings is mentioned in documents relating to the killings

A commission investigating human rights violations in Ghana is to summon former president Jerry Rawlings to testify.

A summons will be issued when he returns from abroad, related to the killings of three judges and an army officer in 1982, under military rule.

The commission will also summon his security chief Kojo Tsikata. The panel has heard more than 1,300 testimonies.

One account was of a man forced by soldiers to sit on burning charcoal and eat rotting flesh dug up at a cemetery.

"There are documents before us which mention Mr Rawlings and Kojo Tsikata as being possibly connected to or involved in those killings," said National Reconciliation Commission secretary Ken Attafuah.

The commission, which has been in operation for a year, was set up to investigate abuses by five military administrations, including those of Mr Rawlings who led coups in 1979 and 1981.

Mr Rawlings' supporters claim the panel hearings constitute a politically motivated witch-hunt.

The BBC's Kwaku Sakyi-Addo in Accra say the commission has the powers of a high court, so those summoned could be charged with contempt of court if they fail to testify.

The panel, which was based on South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, has six months still to go.