Secretary General Ban Ki-moon
United Nations
405 E 42nd Street
New York, NY 10017
United States
Cc. Yahya Jammeh
President of The Republic of The Gambia
℅ Permanent Representative of The Gambia to the UN
336 E 45th St.
New York, NY 10017
April 19, 2016
Dear Sir,
“If I were there, and I was in charge, I WOULD F*CKING OPEN FIRE ON THEM” – Gambian diplomat tells citizen about unarmed peaceful protesters.
These are the words of Samsudeen Sarr, Deputy Permanent Representative, Permanent Mission of The Gambia to The United Nations on April 18, 2016, speaking on the arrest, torture and killing of unarmed peaceful protesters in The Gambia.
On April 14, 2016 a group of Gambian political activists decided to stage a peaceful protest march to demand electoral reforms. As anyone who is aware of the modus operandi of the 21-year regime of Yahya Jammeh would know, they were met by security officials dressed in full riot gear with batons, tear gas and guns. “Thankfully”, they only used their boots, batons and tear gas this time. The unarmed peaceful protesters were only beaten, kicked and arrested. Oh, it’s terrible alright. I only use “thankfully” because the last time unarmed students decided to stage a peaceful march to protest the rape of one of their peers, and the murder of another, both by uniformed security officials, they were met with live ammunition, killing and maiming tens of Gambians in what was, until then, the darkest day in Gambian history. That was on April 10 and 11, 2000. What came out of it? Well, the government later passed The Indemnity Act of 2001, indemnifying all the criminals involved in this act of brutality and passed the Public Order Act, a law that requires people to obtain a permit from the police to stage a peaceful protest. So yes, I say “thankfully” because these security officials had all the encouragement and licence from the APRC government to murder again.
Two days later, reports emerged that the arrested protesters had been severely tortured and their leader, Solo Sandeng, National Organizing Secretary of the opposition party, UDP, had been killed while in detention and two other female protesters were each in a coma. The party leader, Ousainou Darboe, along with his senior executive, led a peaceful march demanding to see Mr. Sandeng “dead or alive”. Again, in typical fashion, they were quickly and forcefully rounded up, again with batons, boots and tear gas, and sent to jail.
As a Gambian citizen living in the USA, I decided on the morning of April 18, 2016, to visit the Gambian Mission to the United Nations in New York, to demand answers from my representatives. I met Mr. Sam Sarr (no relation to the author), Deputy Permanent Representative, Permanent Mission of The Gambia to The UN. I identified myself as a Gambian, showed him my Gambian ID card and stated that I was there as a citizen seeking answers from my representatives. On that premise, I am of the belief that Mr. Sarr’s statements are representative of the Gambia Government’s position on the matter. The fact that Mr. Sarr also told me that his secretary had informed him that I had a recording device leads me to further believe that he wants to be quoted and that the government would stand by his statements. In a discussion that lasted over 2 hrs, at no point did the Gambia Government, through this diplomatic representative, express any regret over what had taken place. Instead, he was adamant that “anyone taking such action (of a peaceful demonstration) should have been ready to lose his life”. Mr. Sarr was also very clear and unapologetic when he told me “If I was there, and in charge, I would f*ucking open fire at anyone (demonstrating peacefully)!!!”, after admitting that he had not seen even a single footage, and had no indication that any of the protesters was armed or was seen throwing so much as a punch or a stone, even in self defence.
For a government whose leader has publicly threatened to behead homosexuals, claimed he can cure several diseases including HIV and more recently declared The Gambia an “Islamic State” without any referendum or consultation with the citizens, I am not surprised that the Gambia government would appoint such an insensitive and callous individual to be its second highest-ranking diplomat at the UN. I cannot, however, for the life of me, reconcile how the United Nations, an organization millions around the world look to for any hopes of justice and human dignity, or at least diplomacy to foster such, can have such an individual continue business as usual while uttering such statements that go against everything the UN stands for.
Addressing the same incidents in The Gambia, on April 17, 2016, a day before my discussion with Sam Sarr, a press release http://www.un.org/press/en/2016/sgsm17678.doc.htm issued on your behalf stated, “The Secretary-General is deeply concerned about the apparent use of excessive force and the arrest and detention of peaceful demonstrators on 14 April 2016. He calls on the authorities to immediately and unconditionally release all those arrested, including UDP leader Ousainou Darboe, and uphold the rights of the Gambian people to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.”
The UN Human Rights Commission expects nations to be guided by “Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials”. This Document, adopted by the Eighth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, Havana, Cuba, 27 August to 7 September 1990 states that,
4. Law enforcement officials, in carrying out their duty, shall, as far as possible, apply non-violent means before resorting to the use of force and firearms. They may use force and firearms only if other means remain ineffective or without any promise of achieving the intended result.
7. Governments shall ensure that arbitrary or abusive use of force and firearms by law enforcement officials is punished as a criminal offence under their law.
8. Exceptional circumstances such as internal political instability or any other public emergency may not be invoked to justify any departure from these basic principles.
Sir, for a nation to not only flout these binding agreements, but to have their senior diplomats openly contradict the organization’s principles and challenge the Secretary General’s very objective statements, is disturbing. What would be even more disturbing is the thought that the organization has no standards for members who serve in top positions. Would it be too much to expect senior diplomats at the UN to have at least some basic sense of decency, a moral compass or belief in basic respect for principles of human dignity? What is the point of the UN and all the meetings, resolutions, principles and other agreements if the senior diplomats cannot be held to any standards? For the dictatorial regime of Yaya Jammeh in The Gambia, I would not be surprised if this letter helps Mr. Sarr get rewarded with a promotion for his “bold” threats to shoot unarmed civilians. But having such individuals at the UN is like appointing vampires as the custodians of a hospital blood bank.
Meanwhile, at the time of writing this piece, April 19, 2016, 11:59pm, all the protestors arrested on April 14 and April 16 are still in detention. The state media of The Gambia is yet to acknowledge the protests or the arrest, detention and torture of the protesters! So much for the statements by the UN Secretary General.
Sincerely,
Sana Sarr
Cc. General Assembly of the UN
℅ President Mogens Lykketoft
United Nations General Assembly
405 E 42nd Street
New York, NY 10017
Cc. Department of Political Affairs
United Nations
405 E 42nd Street
New York, NY 10017
Cc. Ousman Tangara
Permanent Representative of The Gambia to the UN
336 E 45th St.
New York, NY 10017
Cc. Sam Sarr
Deputy Permanent Representative of The Gambia to the UN
336 E 45th St.
New York, NY 10017
Cc. The Attorney General and Minister of Justice
Republic of The Gambia
℅ Permanent Representative of The Gambia to the UN
336 E 45th St.
New York, NY 10017
Cc: Amnesty International USA Headquarters
5 Penn Plaza, 16th Floor
New York, NY 10001
Yahya Jammeh
President of The Republic of The Gambia
State House
Banjul, The Gambia
Cc: Mama Fatima Singhateh
The Attorney General and Minister of Justice
Attorney General’s Chambers
Ministry of Justice
Marina Parade
Banjul, The Gambia
By Sana Sarr
