The Gambia’s horrific human rights records is once again on the spotlight as Nogoi Njie who was arrested with a group of youth activists in April explains how she was brutally tortured while in detention. The degrading physical treatment came in the form of stripping her naked and hanging her from a ceiling wall head down while a group of men in hoods and gloves continuously beat her for over ten hours.
Below is her affidavit which was filed in court:
By Ludovica Iaccino
An audio clip containing controversial remarks reportedly made by Gambia’s deputy ambassador to the United Nations has emerged. It is believed that Samsudeen Sarr was recorded while saying he would open fire on people, presumably referring to protesters rocking Gambia’s capital, Banjul.
“If I were there, and I was in charge, I would open fire on anybody,” the diplomat, who lives in New York, was alleged to have said. The clip surfaced on 9 May, hours after activists and the opposition claimed security forces attacked people who had gathered outside the High Court in Banjul, as opposition leader Ousainou Darboe appeared for a court ruling.
Why advertise with us
Sarr has not made any comments regarding the remarks attributed to him, while the Gambian embassy in London has not replied to a request for their reaction to the audio clip. IBTimes UK understands the identity of the person believed to have recorded Sarr has not been disclosed for security reasons.
“The United Nations should immediately discipline and if possible revoke Mr Sarr’s status as Gambian diplomat to the UN because of his irresponsible statement against peaceful and unarmed protesters. Such remarks can only fuel further tensions and thereby jeopardise the safety and security of protesters,” Gambian journalist and activist Sainey MK Marenah told IBTimes UK. “Such comments have no place in our political discourse and Sarr’s actions again demonstrate his lack of respect for his office.”
Jeffrey Smith, an international human rights consultant who has worked with Gambian activists, believes Sarr’s alleged remarks were not surprising. He told IBTimes UK: “These odious, though not entirely surprising remarks, now give the international community valuable insight into the mindset of Gambia’s top government officials. That one of Gambia’s top diplomats has openly endorsed the killing of peaceful protesters should, once and for all, dispel of any remaining notion that the Jammeh regime is capable of governing in a responsible or humane manner.”
April protests
Darboe, head of the United Democratic Party (UDP), is standing trial, together with 19 other activists, in connection with a protest held earlier in April 2016. The defendants were denied bail after being charged with conspiracy to commit a felony and had previously been charged with assembling unlawfully, as well as rioting, inciting violence and interfering with vehicles. They all pleaded not guilty.
It is believed more than 50 youths and members of the opposition were arrested after taking to the streets, calling for electoral reforms and the resignation of Gambian President, Yahya Jammeh, who has been in power since 1994. Authorities deemed the protests illegal as demonstrators had failed to obtain permission from the police.
In the aftermath of the arrests, Sarr claimed the protests had been planned by dissidents based in the US and Western Europe, some of whom are allegedly linked to a failed coup d’etat in 2014, aimed at overthrowing Jammeh.
The official also alleged that dissidents were using “Western-based” radio stations to incite tribal fighting in the country, pitting people from the Mandingo (Darboe’stribe) against the Jolas, the ethnic group to which Jammeh belongs.
It is feared that UDP secretary, Solo Sandeng, died alongside two others while being held in detention. Human rights groups have so far confirmed only Sandeng’s death, which triggered further demonstrations culminating in Darboe’s arrest.
Few days ago, I woke up to the news that Omar Jabang, a First Class Magistrate at the Banjul Magistrate Court, was arrested and held at the Banjul Police Station. I could not believe it at first. Nonetheless, I had to confirm with sources close to him. That did not work out.
A day later, Foroyaa carried out the story and reported that the brilliant young magistrate who topped his graduating class in 2014 was indeed arrested and fired from the Judiciary. Was I surprised? Not really. Only that it came sooner than I expected.
Jabang is not the first young Gambian Magistrate to be fired by the judiciary. Of recent, Samsudeen Conteh who presided over my case against the state was also reportedly fired the day after he acquitted and discharged me of all trumped up charges. Before Samsudeen, it was Jacklin Nixon Hakim. I was in the same class with Jacklin at Gambia Methodist Academy. I was in the same batch with her and Samusudeen at the UTG in different programs. The sad thing is that these three are not the only locally trained magistrates that have been fired from their jobs or forced to resign. A handful of other young Magistrates some of whom have left the Gambia have been victims too. But what is the real issue here? Why is it that only young magistrates believed to be very level headed are the ones attracting the wrath of the State? Is it due to their training from the University or that they are failing the expectation of the state, which is to always rule in favor of them in high profile criminal cases?
I personally knew Omar Jabang as a student at University of The Gambia. We never had any one-to-one discussion, neither were we close. However, as an active member of the University community, I got to hear stories about individuals and what they were doing within the University community. I know for certain that Jabang was an active participant in student politics and that he was very brilliant and level-headed. Unfortunately, we did not connect at some point, but I have heard and seen some of his work.
For Samsudeen, we came to the University at the same time. If I had continued with my Law program, we would have been in the same class and would have gotten to know each other better perhaps. I had most of my high school friends in his class. We have also played football together on opposing teams. Yes, my department Social Sciences wins every time we played the “lawyers”.
Like Omar Jabang, Samsudeen was also an A student. Indeed very brilliant. I remember at one point we had a very heated debate on the Law Faculty Facebook page. I was always on that page engaging the law students. The reason being, the students from other departments had this sort of stereotype against them. We felt that they thought highly of themselves and behaved as if they knew everything about the law, but couldn’t debate outside the law. So, my job was to challenge them normatively. Many times you ask some of them simple questions and all they could do was to quote a section of The Gambian constitution as if that was the only thing they were good at. I got irritated most of the time. Of course there were extremely brilliant individuals that did not need the constitution to make a normative argument. These were the people I connected with mostly. My very Boss Satang Nabaneh and Musu Bakoto Sawo were part of that group. Baboucarr Drammeh and Patrick Gomez as well as many other young intellectuals were too. Interestingly, when I was arraigned before the Magistrate court, I was prosecuted by Drammeh and Samsudeen was the Magistrate. It was an all UTG affair.
At first, I disliked Samsudeen. I thought he had some personal vendetta against me especially when he denied me and my colleagues bail on our first day of appearing before him. Although I was popular at UTG, I knew some people that didn’t like me. They thought I was very close to the Vice Chancellor Prof. Kah and that I was his “personal spy”, especially when I decided to resign as Secretary General of the Student Union to pick up a job with UTG in pursuit of my intellectual dream. In student politics people make up stuff. It was all part of the game. I knew I was adored by many, but few that I didn’t share the same political beliefs with didn’t like me. So, they decided to take the personal route.
Even today, some of them think I am a “hypocrite” because I am expressing my disagreement with the government. I have all the right to hate the government for what they have subjected me to. But no, I do not hate them. I just disagree with some of their policies and programs. The reason why I also express myself is because Norway provided me with that space – this is what lacking in Gambia: space to engage openly and constructively. The absence of such a space never limited me in anyway. You may ask my colleagues and students. My opponents could not understand and they will never understand, because they only see me as Sait Matty and do not know me on a personal level. They have never been in any of my classes and they just don’t have any idea whatsoever of who I am. These people should expect no explanation from me.
I thought Samsudeen was one of them. But I also remember that Samsudeen was not very active in student politics so he might have no idea what was going on. I thought to myself that it might have been our heated debate. However, our second appearance in court a week before our scheduled appearance made it clear. He slapped me with a bail bond of Five million Dalasis over a misdemeanor case. I was told that usually an ID card would suffice. Not in my case. I was even asked to tender my passport. I missed so many important meetings including the 8th Pan African Congress in Ghana. I was so angry, yet I laughed in spite of myself when Mrs. Ida Drammeh asked whether we have murdered someone or something else. It was that moment that I realized the case was beyond him and that there was someone above him forcing him to make those decisions. My case was political like many other cases. Still now, I do not really understand why I was arraigned. But one thing that I learned at St Therese’s was that the “TRUTH SHALL SET YOU FREE”. The biblical inscription on those yellow books kept me going. Of course with the trust and support from family and friends and some people that did not even know me, I eventually got acquitted and discharged by Samsudeen.
All the time while in court, I noticed a different Samusdeen. I saw a merciful magistrate. One that shows pity and was very lenient with the accused brought before him. I witnessed three judgments, which made me really proud of him. He freed an individual that was arrested in April 2014 and was supposed to serve a one year jail term. He drew back the sentence and ordered the young man to be released at the end of April, which was just a week away. Another case was of one of my cellmates. A very funny Fula man from Senegal who was arrested for marijuana trafficking. Most of my cellmates, mostly young people, were arrested on marijuana-related charges. I heard stories of young people that were sentenced to prison for five years because of less than a kilogram of marijuana. This guy was caught with a whole bag and Samsudeen fined him instead of sentencing him. Another young man, who showed regret of what he did by sobbing in court was freed and warned never to do whatever he did again. I felt so happy and admired Samsudeen for taking those decisions. I spent two weeks at mile two. I know what is in there.
Like Samsudeen, Omar Jabang is been known for upholding the law and also showing mercy to those brought before him. I have seen some of his rulings as reported on the local papers. I am always happy when a judge uses other methods instead of prison for a crime that is not capital. So many youth are rotting in jail for lesser crimes and the bigger criminals are walking on the streets. This breaks my heart. People like Jabang must be encourage and not arrested.
So, all I am trying to say is this:
The University of The Gambia with all its shortcomings has produced brilliant students that are engaged in every sector in our country -private and public. Students are challenged to put Gambia before anything else, those that see the need to work for the motherland despite all the challenges. Yes, the university has also produced some that do not have any idea why they went to UTG in the first place. Some of them see only themselves and their personal growth. My dean Prof. Gomez will call them “students at the University and not Students of the University”.
The caliber of these young magistrates, determined to uphold justice; doing the right thing; aware of their tense environment, shows to a large extent, that the University has done its part. To a greater extent it shows that these magistrates are not part of the latter group I mentioned above but the former. They have decided to put their lives on the line to serve justice, the ordinary Gambian and humanity. Who could have thought that I would be acquitted and discharged by a magistrate that gave me a Five Million Dalasis bail bond? Or who would have thought that Yusupha Saidy, Sainey Marennah and Musa Sherriff were going to be acquitted and discharged from the trumped up charges levied against them by the state? Whoever thought that the state will lose any high profile case in the court? The fact of the matter is, these young Gambian magistrates know the law and they are bound to uphold the law without fear or favour; affection or ill. They are hellbent on upholding the constitution of the supreme law of the land. With all the efforts and fairness they put before their work, they are threatened, fired, arrested and detained. Violating the same constitution that these young intellectuals are trained to defend. The only one doing the Gambia wrong is the State. It is Jammeh’s APRC government.
If the real reason why Jammeh’s government established the University was to train homegrown problem solvers for the advancement of the country, then the daily attack on these lawyers and many other young intellectuals most cease. Academic freedom within the university is highly undermined. Since my arrest, lecturers are afraid to conduct any kind of research even though they are paid to teach and research. We all know that for any country to prosper, building and maintaining a strong knowledge economy is vital. The sad part of our story is that instead of the state supporting the work of the university with more funds and a conducive environment, they are busy arresting staff and products of the same institution they hope will change things. It is sad. It is sickening.
The future of Gambia is clear. It is the UTG. Not all but most people that are in position and will take position in the future will be UTG trained. What is our responsibility then? What is it that we owe to the Gambia? These are questions we must continue to ask ourselves daily. While asking the questions, we must also remember our environment. We as graduates are everywhere. In the military, police, state house, banks, as civil servants, teachers, international organization, farms, hospitals etc. We are everywhere and everything that this country needs. We must realize our numbers and continue to do well. Things are hard right now, environment is decaying, but we are the hope of our people. We must continue to change ourselves and only through that can we effectively change our society. Let us not be part of the competition and the personal infightings within government. Let us consciously and subconsciously always defend what is right in public when we can, but most importantly in private. We have read many books, heard many stories, seen a lot of injustices and dreamt of better things. Let us remember that greatness can only be achieved through collective actions when we all play our individual parts.
I remember in 2009, when we started the Nationwide Study Tours led by my mentor and friend Dr. Saja Taal. His idea for the next generation of Gambians was for us to know our country and put it before anything else. How do we know our country, the poverty, the diversity and all the challenges if we constantly explain it from the perspective of the people in the urban areas? How can we also fight poverty and bridge the inequality that exists between the urban and the rural? The experience was indeed life changing. We decided to form UTG Students Service Learning with the motto “Basse before Babylon”. After that first year we continued to take students up country, organize summer camps and work for and with the community. Dr. Taal always said to us “I can take you to the door but I can’t force you to knock.” myself and most of the other students close to him adopted this philosophy. We started doing things for ourselves seeing Gambia as our door to knock at. As students of UTG let us remember Dr. Taal and his teachings and continue to serve our nation with pride. Let us see the suffering of one of ours as our own pain. Wherever one is, let Gambia always come first.
Like many others I know Omar Jabang was arrested for upholding Justice. He is detained against his own consent. I cannot come down to free him, but I can say that the State is threatening the future of our country. We must continue to condemn these abhorrent behaviors individually and collectively. As a Gambian I demand from my government the unconditional release of Omar Jabang and all other prisoners of conscience including Lawyer Darboe and all his party members.
Aluta Continua
P.S. Before publication we received news that Jabang was unconditionally released and reinstated. We hope this will be the end of arbitrary arrest and detention.
Sait Matty Jaw
On April 14, 2016, a small group of Gambians led by Solo Sandeng of the opposition United Democratic Party (UDP) decided to stage a protest march to demand electoral reforms before the country’s upcoming elections. They were quickly rounded up, beaten and arrested by the security forces, primarily members of the Police Intervention Unit. On April 16, after getting reports that those arrested had been severely tortured and at least one killed in detention, the executive of the UDP, led by party leader Ousainou Darbo, led another peaceful march to demand to see their detained colleagues. Again, they were quickly arrested and sent to jail.
The aftermath of the events has been very “interesting” to say the least. The uproar online has been tremendous but that’s nothing new. More surprising and significant is the public display of defiance by Gambians on the ground, living in The Gambia, both online and in the streets. Many Gambians seem to have finally had enough and have been emboldened to speak out publicly to express their frustrations. Of course it’s not everyone…yet. Most of the “elites” and are still “cautious” but it’s undeniable that a corner has been turned for the dawn of a new era. That’s not the subject of this piece. This one is a discussion with the keepers of the peace that Gambians hold so dear – the members of our security forces, entrusted with the responsibility of maintaining peace and protecting us all.
Gambians, myself included, have always been extremely proud of the peace and stability we’ve enjoyed. It’s one of the first things we will tell any foreign persons, next to the fact that we are “The Smiling Coast”, with the friendliest people on earth. We therefore jealously guard this “peace” and will sacrifice a lot to preserve it. We greet each other in the Arabic/Islamic salutation of “Asalaamu Alaikum” or “Peace Be Unto You”, and our most frequent and cherished prayers have peace as their centerpieces. Day and night, in our churches or mosques, we pray for peace. While this is an admirable quality, I’m not so sure we always truly examine the nature of this peace or who/what the real threats to it are. I feel that this failure to closely examine may have left us somewhat lacking in true peace, left us vulnerable to be victimized and left us at risk of being used to endanger the same perceived peace we so desperately wish to preserve.
With this understanding of our psyche, Gambian President Jammeh has been a master at exploiting this sentiment to his advantage in suppressing Gambians to tighten his grip on the country he has ruled for the past two decades. “Belai Wolai Talai, i will not compromise the peace and security of this country”, you often hear him say in his not-so-veiled threats to dissenting voices. Not only is it a ploy to instill fear, a huge part of it is to win the support/sympathy of many a Gambian who just want to preserve the peace.
What kind of peace are we living in?
When we claim we enjoy all this peace, what exactly is it that we speak of? Are we truly enjoying peace? Is it real or just perceived? Is it a myth? An illusion maybe? By what yardstick are we measuring this peace? How peaceful is it when Ebrima Chief Manneh and many others can just disappear into thin air and nobody in the country dares ask questions? How peaceful is it when Deyda Hydara can be gunned down and murdered in broad daylight and no questions asked? How peaceful is it when Gambians have properties they spent years working hard to build are forced to stand by and watch them bulldozed simply because one man wants the property it’s erected on? How peaceful is it when a Solo Bojang is arrested and detained after the courts acquitted and discharged him? How peaceful is it if our young men and women are fleeing in droves to risk their lives crossing deserts and oceans in the deadly illegal migration to Europe. How much peace are we enjoying when nobody in the country dares utter a certain name even in private conversations unless it’s to sing his praises? Do you think Solo Sandeng’s children are enjoying “peace”? Do we truly believe there is peace or is it just peace for me until my immediate family takes a turn at the gallows?
Now, i realize some people may argue that this (very relative) “peace” is all they know and would rather keep (or endure) it at all costs. Who am i to tell them they can and should hope for better? Maybe i should show some respect and focus on preserving this “peace” because it’s what the people want?
Who or what really threatens our peace?
In explaining to a 10-year old what government is, i was recently reminded that the whole point of having an organized society is to ensure peace and stability. Because everyone can’t be making and following their own rules, we create governments and build systems and institutions to enforce agreed-upon guidelines to prevent, minimize and resolve conflicts and disagreements. Along with all their branches and departments, we create a legislative to make the laws, a judiciary to evaluate and interpret the laws and an executive to enforce the laws. Without them, we are no better than animals in the jungle living by the “laws of nature” – survival of the fittest at it’s basest.
We don’t hear of coup d’etats in developed nations because they have strong institutions and laws to prevent them. When nations have term limits for the presidency, even those who are angriest at the government do not see a need to resort to violence. Instead of uncertainty and staring into a never-ending abyss of a doom and gloomy future, they see a light at the end of the tunnel – encouraging enough for them to hang on. Instead of taking a machete to attack someone who steals from us, we sue them and have the matter settled in court because we have confidence in the system and believe justice will be done.
Therefore, the biggest threat to our peace is anyone, or anything, that removes, weakens or undermines these systems and institutions. Such individuals or groups are a much bigger threat to our peace because they undermine the foundations upon which peace is built. In context, a “common criminal”, like someone breaking the law by holding a protest without a permit, is like a kid stabbing at a building with a knife. Yes, he may eventually succeed in causing damage if left unchecked, but it’s nothing compared to the termites eating away at the wooden foundations and pillars upon which the building rests. After arresting and assaulting Solo Sandeng and group on April 14, and Lawyer Darboe and group on April 16, both for simply gathering in groups, there were much bigger groups gathered on their court dates, yet there was no violence because the security forces acted professionally and allowed the people to express themselves. The protesters had no guns, knives or stones. They did not throw a punch or a kick. Their most dangerous weapons were whistles, their voices and their banners. The maturity they displayed proved they were not out to harm anyone or to destroy any property. Their behavior has been consistent throughout. They marched, chanted and went home in peace. What more evidence do we need to show that they are not the threats to the peace we so cherish?
How about our security forces? The ones trained and paid to maintain peace? On day 1 of these events, they attacked, assaulted and arrested Solo Sandeng and group. On day 2, they attacked, assaulted and arrested Lawyer Darboe and group. There was trouble on both days. On 3 separate court days after that, they came, assaulted and arrested nobody. There was no trouble. On May 9, they reverted back to the brutality by attacking the protesters and many ended up at the hospital and some in prison. As in any scientific experiment, we hold all other variables constant, change just one, and observe what happens. Is it then still a mystery who and what is the real threat to the peace and stability?
The system that fails to provide structures and opportunities for the people to rise out of poverty through honest hard work is a threat to peace. “Baye su jaahley maateh” (A goat will bite if cornered) – Olof Njie
The system that has no term limits, leaves one individual or group to be in power for over 20 years is a threat to peace. Again, Olof Njie – “Poosanteh si maraaj laa em” (You can only shove a person as far as the wall)
The system that rules with brutality and force to suppress dissenting voices is a threat to peace. The ones who gave the order to shoot unarmed students in April 2000 are a threat to peace.The ones who ordered, executed, supported or failed to investigate the murder of Solo Sandeng, alleged rape of unarmed female protesters and arrest, torture and illegal detention of unarmed peaceful protesters are a threat to our peace. Martin Luther King said “riots are the language of the unheard”.
To those who continue to claim the protesters, or their supporters living abroad, are the threats to our peace, i refer you to the words of Judge Judy – “Don’t pee on my leg and tell me it’s raining”
Sana Sarr
5/10/2016
For the country’s deputy ambassador at the United Nations to want to ‘FIRE AT THE PROTESTERS IF I WERE IN CHARGE’ shows how hateful Sam Sarr is, and the type of a lowlife Jammeh recruits to work for him. The people he so wanted to slaughter are our parents, brothers and sisters. But I’m sad that Sam is type that lowers the remaining tattered reputation of a body like the UN. They have to up their standards cos Sam wouldn’t have gotten access pass to that building even as a visitor had they vetted him. He deserves no respect, and will be addressed as such today.
In the very short years that I’ve lived, I’ve heard and read about many maniacs and satanic humans but very few sit lower in the peat of filth than Yaya Jammeh. That was what I thought until I came across the cronies who do not only endorse him but help market his merchandise of hate and evil. Of those people Sam Sarr is the decayed faeces of them all.
I mean from the onset, one could watch and see through the manipulative and shameless frame of this coward who has zero conscience and character devoid of any respect and better upbringing. This man should commit suicide at a family dinner to wash, cleanse himself of the filth and shame he muddied his family with.
Spare me the cliché that we sell of a person hailing from a great respectable family in the country when they fucked up. Sometimes, the apple does fall far from the tree. When I read Sam’s tales of what he’d endured in the hands of Jammeh and the military junta, and how Jammeh never had the interest of the Gambia at heart, with his unloved and unpleasant upbringing made him a heartless murderer when he was EBOU COLLEY, I sensed a lot of hurt and bitterness in his cries though I was sure that most of what he’d said about Jammeh were true. I was still cautious. Then came the reconciliation bullshit when he came on the radio to recant all what was said in his book and more, turned his rusty dagger on the folks trying to rid our country of the animal and wasted sperm holding us hostage. Sarr was not hiding the plot to run back to the master like a dog despite all the horrible torment he’d gone through. Even after Yaya referred to him on TV as a liar and failure. But what do you expect of a man who has no integrity or shame, who’d been a scam and mental fucktard, breastfed by the demon’s concubine?
Sam was in Mile II when the AFPRC arrested him, faked mental illness, shitting on himself in the cell and rubbing his own waste on his body just so when Edward Singhateh and co. came for their nightly tour of the prisons to torture them he’d be spared. He’s a coward, a fraud and disturbed amphibian who can never live a decent life on his own. He thrives on grounds of hate and deception. So for him to want to kill for Yaya Jammeh isn’t a surprise, except that this idiot who shot himself to avoid been deployed for peacekeeping, one who survived abortion and should have been strangulated by his mother at birth or drown in his birth water.
How could you blame the guy who taped the conversation when you did not deny saying what was recorded? How could you have wished people be killed for protesting the murderous president and his ways but want to turn around to lecture us about what you’d learned or not? You must have realized that your old and useless ass is about to catch the wrath of the world, and having your unprincipled, disloyal master dump you to have you back into an unproductive life until you die a pauper! What else must Sam had said to others if he could be comfortable enough to speak in such a manner to someone walking into his office to register displeasure with the regime and its heavy-handedness? Gambians are not stupid. If you have no respect for the parents who gave birth to you filth, we do respect ours and cannot watch you or Jammeh have them humiliated and disrespected for wanting the best for our country. These are our fathers, mothers, wives, brothers, sisters, sons and daughters. They’re Gambians! Our people that are paying you to fucking serve and not fucking murder!
To want to call these protesters ‘sponsored thugs’ is to want to appease the maniac that you share the same cloth with. And to distract from your hateful thought and wish of mass murder. You and your ilk disgust me. I hate your type. Not for your political association but the disingenuous, selfishness and unconscionable extent to which you’d defend Jammeh in the face of the killings and oppression. And these victims and their families are your friends, neighbors and sometimes your relatives. What has become of us? I hope, pray that Yaya invites Sam to Banjul to have him subjected to the same painful fate as those extrajudicially missing like Daba Marena, Ebou Lowe, Almamo Manneh, Tabara Samb, Chief Manneh and Mr Sandeng. This man is not worth much. SO KILL YOURSELF, SAM!
Pata PJ
The United Democratic Party is deeply concerned about the overzealous response of Gambia’s security forces to court goers who have peacefully converged at the High Court in Banjul to demand the unconditional release of UDP leader and his co accused.
The crowds were then assaulted by members of the security forces including the discharge of firearms causing numerous injuries. The UDP is assessing the situation to determine whether there are any fatalities.
The Gambian people will remain steadfast in their fight for freedom, justice and democracy using all the lawful means available to them. The shedding of innocent blood will not deter our March to freedom and we serve notice that it is the inherent right of every citizen to defend themselves from the excesses of a tyranny that poses an existential threat to our nation and its people.
For the first time since the court case started, we have seen a combined group of police and the army deployed in the streets blocking all roads leading to the court.
The army that has no training in crowd control, has been principally overzealous splitting court goers into smaller groups while barricading others making it difficult for the crowd to move around. This situation has led to angry scenes causing some fracas.
The Gambia government is deliberately embarking on a course of orchestrated violence against unarmed protesters exercising their right to movement and assembly and would bear full responsibility for the consequences of their illegal actions.
Some arrests have already been made and some women were also assaulted. The UDP has documented a series of serious injuries from assault by the security forces. This provocative actions of the security forces is unacceptable.
The UDP wishes to alert the international community particularly member countries of ECOWAS of this escalating situation. The UDP will hold the Gambia government responsible for any causality.
We absolutely condemn the unprovoked violence directed at unarmed civilians who gathered to show solidarity at the court hearing of lawyer Ousainou Darboe and his colleagues in Banjul today May 9th 2016. The government deployed army, police, paramilitary, NIA and Immigration personnel to obstruct the movement of people to and from the venue of the hearings.
Let all Gambians of conscience stand together and fight for a country that is not predatory, oppressive and violent toward the citizenry that constitute it.
Below is a press statement from the UDP claiming that there are possible attempts to poison its leadership in prison:
We have established that The Gambia government through the interior minister Ousman Sonko has embarked on quest to acquire poison through illicit sources in Eastern Europe.
The regime of Yahya JAMMEH has over the years employed various methodologies to carry out extra judicial killings and other atrocities ranging from outright execution with firearms, extensive torture leading to fatality and administration rudimentary poisoning from sources like acids from lead batteries.
For the first time, the government is attempting to source industrial toxins and add to its arsenal of terror.
We are serving notice that the government of The Gambia will bear full responsibility for all detainees under its custody who continue to be denied access by family members and medical care despite suffering injuries inflicted by agents of the state. Detainees are also denied food from family making the state the sole provider of everything they consume.
Consequently, the Gambian people will not tolerate any attempt to bring harm to the heroes illegally held in prison. We demand their full and unconditional release, a full accounting of all arrested personnel, and comprehensive reform.
To our compatriots in the fight for freedom, we urge you to redouble your efforts to see this seminal battle through.
Let us remain united in purpose, focused on our common objectives and get the job done together. A free and democratic Gambia is within grasp. Let us March on.
Thank you!
UDP
The Executive Committee of United Democratic Party (UDP) wishes to inform the general public and the International Community, of its total condemnation on the high handedness of peaceful marches on Thursday 14th and Saturday16th April 2016 at West field and Kairaba Avenue respectively by the state security officials. The party further condemns the subsequent arrest, detention and torture of some of the party officials, members and other peaceful marchers.
On the 14th April 2016, a group of concerned Gambians demanding genuine electoral reform to open up the country to conducting credible, free and fair elections, were arrested and whisked away to an unknown destination by the officials of the Gambia’s Police Intervention Unit. They were reportedly subjected to severe torture. As a result, one of them Ebrima Solo Sandeng, the UDP National Organizing Secretary was reported to have died from the torture inflicted on him.
News of Ebrima Solo Sandeng’s death was as shocking as it was unbearable, compelling the leadership of the UDP to a peaceful march demanding that the authorities release him dead or alive, as well as the unconditional release of all the other detainees. On Saturday April 16th 2016 the executive of the United Democratic Party were also arrested and have been in enforced state detention since.
On Wednesday 20th April 2016 after more than 72 hours in detention, eighteen people were brought before a judge and charged with varying trumped up offences including conspiracy to riot and conducting a march without a permit etc. However seven of those arrested are yet to be produced in court; In essence, they still remain unaccounted for. They include: Ebrima Solo Sandeng, Nogoie Njie, Fatoumata Jawara, Fatou Camara, Modou Ngum, Kafu Bayo and Ebrima Jabang.
For those arrested on 16th April 2016 which include the UDP Leader Lawyer Ousainou Darboe and his executive, Nineteen (19) remain in custody while thirteen (13) have been released on bail. On Thursday 28th April 2016, the state produced one more person before the court who was also jointly charged alongside the UDP leader and his executive.
The Gambia government continues to flout the high court orders for the detainees to be allowed family visits, food from the families, access to lawyers and other rights and privilege under the prison rule to change of clothes. The UDP condemns in strongest possible terms the inhumane manner in which the detainees are being treated.
The UDP still remains deeply concern about the whereabouts of one of its supporters, Dembo S. Darboe (Touray Darboe). He is from Kafuta village Kombo East and was picked up by plain cloth security officers onSaturdayevening 16th April 2016 in the same village on his way from the mosque. His whereabouts are still not known.
The United Democratic Party noted with great concern, the actions and conduct of security forces for not only preventing and denying its members and other concern citizens from exercising their constitutional rights, but has gone to the extent of inflicting brutal and inhumane treatments on them.
The UDP expresses her total condemnation of the apparent bias of the security forces for breaking up its peaceful march while allowing the militants and members of the ruling APRC Party to conduct series of pro-government demonstrations in the past.
The UDP recognizes the concerns of the International Community and is grateful to the solidarity from civil society groups, Gambians and friends of The Gambia at home and abroad in this difficult moment.
The UDP will continue to remain steadfast in demanding for freedom, justice, rule of law and democracy in The Gambia. We continue to stand firm in the collective efforts to liberate our beloved country from the clutches of this tyrannical regime.
We salute the uncompromised support and solidarity of the party’s militants, youths and women in particular.
The UDP unreservedly demand:
1. That our party Leader and Secretary General Lawyer Ousainou Darboe and all other political detainees be immediately and unconditionally released;
2. That the torture and reported death of Ebrima Solo Sandeng be fully investigated and the culprits are brought to book;
3. That the severe torture of other detainees be also fully investigated and the culprits brought to book;
4. That the security force put a total stop to the excessive use of force in denying and preventing the citizens from exercising their constitutional rights to peaceful demonstration;
5. That the security of our party officials and members be guaranteed.
Mariam B. Secka
Deputy Secretary General and Deputy Party Leader
By Lamin Gano
Mubarak ruled Egypt for 30 years until 2011 when Egyptians got fed up with him and forced him out of office in a popular uprising. In June 2012, Muhammad Morsi was sworn into office as Egypt’s first democratically elected president. Barely one year in office, Egyptians were back in Tahrir Square demonstrating against Morsi. As the voices of Egyptian disunity got unbearably loud combined with a downturn of the economy, social cohesion and national security, the military intervened, kicked out Morsi and in came General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi as President of Egypt.
Like the Egyptians, majority of Gambians have had enough of their president who has been in power for 22 years and working forward to be reelected at the end of this year for another five year term in office. In fact some people are so fed up with Jammeh and have so little or no faith in the electoral process that they are calling for the removal of Jammeh by means other than elections. Anything from an Arab spring/Burkinabe type of uprising, or a military coup, or even the impossible intervention of the Senegalese military to kick Jammeh out is preferable to going to elections. If this group of people had access to the Angel of Death himself (aka Malaikal Maut), I am sure they would have pleaded with him to pay Jammeh an untimely visit.
The political situation of the Gambia is indeed precarious and it is easy to figure out why a lot of people have lost faith in the ballot box as a means to a peaceful and positive change. For instance we are six months away from the presidential elections and the political field is still highly contaminated and heavily skewed in favour of Jammeh. And with exactly one month left for the deadline for electoral reforms, there is absulutely no chance on earth that Yahya Jammeh will succumb to electoral reforms as it tantamount to committing political suicide. And to insulate himself even further, Jammeh is dividing and frustrating the idea of an alliance of political parties by using such tricks as the current ongoing scam trial of the UDP leadership. This is mainly due to his well-founded fear that an alliance will not only nullify the intent and purpose of his bad electoral laws but that would clearly lead to his downfall in the December polls.
In spite of all this seeming complicated and myriad tapestry off gloom and confusion, it is important to keep cool heads in order to see through the smoke and focus on the ball/goalpost. In this regards, an important question that I would like to ask my readers is that if Jammeh should suddenly and unceremonious leave power (let’s say through an uprising and before the presidential elections in December), what do you people think is most likely to happen to the office of the president? Is it not possible that The Gambia will follow the example of Egypt leading to the military to take over the leadership of the country?
My opinion is that there is a a strong possibility for that to happen. The reason for my position is that if our opposition leaders cannot agree on a coalition flag-bearer in the face of so much adversity from Jammeh and so much pressure from the Gambian people, then they will not agree on an interim leader in the unlikely situation that Jammeh leaves power unceremoniously. Like the Egyptians, our divergent voices of disunity will be so unbearably loud and our opposition leaders/parties will turn against each other and fight so badly that the military will be forced to intervene and take over the leadership of the country.
As one of those Gambians who also maintain that Jammeh has indeed overstayed in power and must leave office, and also as an advocate of peace and security and a firm believer in the power of the ballot box, I believe that the unity of our opposition leaders by forming an alliance and rallying their support and loyalty behind one and only one coalition flag-bearer will serve two purpose. The first advantage is that there will be only one candidate to run against Jammeh in the very likely event that all this ends up in the polls and secondly in the unlike event that Jammeh disappears in thin smoke, there will be already an identified interim leader to hold the reins of power as The Gambia goes through its series of much needed reforms to prepare it for a viable transition to a democracy.
By now a flag-bearer should have been long identified and all parties should have been out on the ground in full force in galvanizing support and votes for that candidate. And must important of all, such a coalition should have long come up with a sound electoral campaign approach or policy on how to engage with the security sector as well as the government civil service in order to win their support in the December polls. In my opinion, the development of a sound security sector governance strategy should be one of the most important priorities of any leader who is aspiring to take over from Jammeh. Without winning the hearts, minds and confidence of our gallant and patriotic men and women in uniform, the Gambia could be in a long political merry-go-round process!!!!
Long live the Republic of The Gambia, long live our peace, security and harmonious co-existence.
Author Gano
Posted on April 30, 2016
By Sait Matty Jaw
I bet most of you think that this is a Manifesto. Well, it is not. But when critically discussed, we might be able to come up with one that highlights the agenda for a “New Gambia.” For now, let me share some lessons learned from the Students at Risk Conference in Oslo.
Last weekend, I attended one of the most refreshing workshops on Non-violent action thanks to the Norwegian Centre for the Internationalization of Education (SIU) and Students and Academics International Help Fund (SAIH). I must admit that the time was too short, but the lessons learned within the six or so hours of interaction can change a society for good. While seated and as the workshop lead from the Centre for Applied Non-Violent Action and Strategies (CANVAS) took us through the principles of non-violent actions, all I could think of was our very own struggle in The Gambia: the things we did right and those we either did not know or took for granted. I took away so many valuable lessons that the New Gambia movement can learn from. The purpose of this blog is to share some those ideas and hope that with clear reflection we will be able to continue our journey to not only liberate Gambia from autocratic rule, but to also inspire every Gambian to help Gambia adopt democratic principles for our own advancement. The interesting part about all I am about to raise is for us to discuss and debate amongst ourselves. As such one could either agree or disagree. But we must also pay attention to the very principles of the game.
In my study of People’s Democratic Organization for Independence and Socialism (PDOIS) I used Gene Sharp’s theory of power to help me understand the approaches and strategies of PDOIS. In case you do not know who Gene Sharp is, he is the world’s leading writer on non-violent actions (Google him). Sharp uses power to distinguish between rulers and subjects and on the withdrawal of consent as the key to effecting political change. That is, the power base of the ruler is constructed on the approval of subjects. The minute the subjects withdraw this consent, the ruler loses their support as well as the legitimacy to rule. My interest at that time was to see how PDOIS, a political party and a non-violent group was mobilizing the masses to withdraw the support base of Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara. We all know that it did not work due to many factors both structural and otherwise. Today, we have many groups (civil society, political parties, and movements) and individuals in The Gambia and in the diaspora working to effect political change in the country with the slogan “Jammeh Must Go.” However, the question with all that is going on, the misinformation, the blame game etc., I would like to ask whether we are trying to withdraw the support base of Jammeh or alienating the masses and forcing them to reject our movement?
I must admit that I am a very active participant in the New Gambia movement. I also strongly believe that Jammeh Must Go. He has done his part over the past 22 years. We appreciate all the projects he has to his name including my favorite: The University of The Gambia. Nonetheless, this does not guarantee him the right to continuously flaunt the laws of our land, abuse the rights of dissenting citizens and even those that support him. His actions and ways are not the ways of our country and people. He has divided us against each other, instilled fear in the minds of every Gambian, and forced many to leave the country in exile; there’s also less employment opportunities for our youth and above all, his attempt to turn the Gambia into an Islamic State. This, for me, is the last straw.
That being said, I think we need to revisit our approach so as to have an effective campaign that not only removes Jammeh but also changes the entire Gambian society. I have had this debate many times before. Jammeh is just part of our problem. One may argue that he is the greater part or the lesser part of it. I think he may sound and look rash, but he has great influence on us as a people. For a very long time, he directed the game and all we did as a people was to react. For change to come we must turn the tables around, we must control the narrative and attack with evidence so as to weaken his support base. We must also know this support base. It is not only the security forces. It is his personal economy and the many people promoting his agenda. Again, we must be able distinguish between civil servants and what we call the “Jammeh enablers.” For most of us, we consider anyone working for government as an enabler. I don’t think that should be the case. This whole struggle is about who controls information. What Jammeh wants to do like many other lunatics before him is to control the flow of information; under-serve the masses and keep them ignorant and disenfranchised. We have been helping him to some extent by sending out scary images–some of them seemingly propaganda material– that do not reflect what was on the ground around April 14th and 16th.
We have also weakened his power, yet we do not realize this. Solo’s march for electoral reform shocked the entire Gambian community. In one of my previous writings, I did warn that Gambians are no longer governed by fear. I gave an example of the standoff at Fass Njaga Choi as well as NRP’s defeat of the APRC government in the Saloum by election. What is happening now is just part of the entire game. Everything happening slowly but surely.
So, what do we do now to maintain this momentum? Firstly, as active participants in the New Gambia movement, we must realize that each individual or group have their personal and group agenda tied to the removal of Jammeh. My own agenda is to change Gambian society (democratize) and I believe my greatest obstacle like many of us is Jammeh. However, I believe we will not be able to achieve this if we continue to tell the people — that we expect to act through mass protest or election — what we want and reject especially where we do not understand their own personal agendas. I have quite often seen many people in the diaspora or even at home and on the same team calling each other hypocrites. The reason I believe is, we do not understand our personal interest in this whole movement. I strongly believe and it is evident that people only engage in most cases when issues affect them personally. It is true that unemployment is high; the human rights abuses are rife, but why are some people indifferent and why do others act? For the activists, we can argue it is their work and that even where they are not paid to push an agenda, the abuse of human rights makes it personal for them. But for the ordinary person to act, either a family member or close relative or friend must be affected. I must also say that in my own experience, I saw many people that I did not know on a personal level show concern about my safety. This, however, could be a limitation to what I am trying to put across.
Secondly, the general picture in The Gambia is a weak opposition and a strong incumbent party. For the longest, the contention has been between the weak opposition parties interested in political power and the ruling party that will do anything to stay in power. Now enters a third group mostly young people with no interest in political power. Dealing with such group especially when they are extremely organized is a huge challenge for any autocratic government. However, the danger with this group, especially when they realize their worth, is that they can threaten the survival of the state and society. Hence, they need to be controlled and by control, I mean there needs to be a form of leadership within them — people leading the actions. Power within such group must be horizontal and not hierarchical. The current challenge with our movement is that power is diffused randomly. No one knows who does what and when. It must be harnessed. When Ibrahim Ceesay, based on his activism, stood up, putting his life and that of his family on the line, we could detect a huge interest in the youth. With our situation, what the young people need is a face that will lead them. I have had this discussion with friends and the consensus was that if people are really concerned they will not wait for a face to lead, however, based on our context and history, our movement needs a face to champion the course.
In my last article, I argued that even if the opposition in The Gambia formed a coalition, they will be defeated by the ruling party. Yes, that was before all these events happened. It might be too early to conclude the outcome of the election later this year, but now more than ever, the movement must put pressure on the political parties to unite. I am sure the fate of UDP has also shown the party the need to stand up together to achieve their dream for political power. Even if we lose the election to Jammeh this year, I can guarantee that this will be his last term in office. I know some of you do not want to hear that, but it just might happen.
The third point or lesson that I have learned from the workshop and want to conclude with is the organizational bit. I briefly mentioned the leadership issue, I think the reason why the New Gambia movement — despite having people on the ground ready to get to the street and face the paramilitary — did not materialize, was due to lack of proper planning and organization. Everything was spontaneous. I learned that the worst enemy for a non-violent action is spontaneity. Our approach this time like always was reactionary. I think this should serve as a lesson for all of us involved. We must organize and strategize, understand deeply the need of our people on the ground and attract them to take action. We must not in any way also underestimate our opponent — Jammeh. His tactic is to not inform the people, whilst ours is to use information to bring him down. Hence, the information must be credible and should be channeled in a way that will make people act. I also do understand that there is a whole team on Jammeh’s side posting information to distract us from achieving our agenda. Their aim is to discredit our movement and render it untrustworthy. We must be careful before sharing anything. We must make sure the sources are credible. I can understand that at some point, the idea is to get people to act, but for a country with a history like ours, people do not react to things they have no idea about. We should take note of that.
Finally, what is our vision of tomorrow? What is it that we want to achieve from this engagement? What capacities do we have individually that can help us get to where we want to be? How do we harness all our efforts and channel it towards a strong movement that is responsive to the need of every Gambian; one that is respected and trusted by the international community? These among others are questions we need answers to. Our quest should not be to make Gambia ungovernable. We need the institutions no matter how ineffective they are in governing.
We must continue to engage in non-violent actions, not actions that may cause injury or lead to death. This was a valuable lesson that I learned. In non-violent or peaceful struggle, we need our numbers and every life counts. We will not move ahead if we lose our ranks. We must understand that we are dealing with a government that is willing and ready to shoot people to death. Hence, let us not give them that opportunity to kill and maim. It is true that non-violent actions are not usually violent free; however, we must always try as much as possible to avoid actions that might lead to death. As yet, I do not have answers to questions regarding the best actions that suit our context, but I hope in due course we will come up with various campaigns that will slowly weaken the power base of Jammeh and shift it to the people.
Aluta Continua
By Sheriff Kora
There is no tragedy greater than the citizens of a nation resigning their citizenship due to the lack of faith in their own abilities to change their political condition. This is the unfortunate reality in The Gambia — a country clutched in the hands an autocratic regime with less regard for human rights or the rule of law.
Whilst the greater part of the West Africa region is embracing the democratic ideals of freedom of expression, assembly, free and fair elections, and transparency, Gambians are confronted by a state of misrule and intolerance to any opposition and political dissent. Arbitrary arrests, torture and disappearances of political opponents have become the mainstay of the current regime. Fear of repression has left the country without any strong political action groups to exert any formidable democratic pressure on the government. Since, the democracy envy of the Arab Spring swept past The Gambia, Gambians have generally been left in a state of simmering frustration. The recent electoral reform laws, which, are poised to tilt the scales in favor of the ruling APRC party, have further heightened the political misery of the Gambians, and led to a boiling point between the APRC and the opposition UDP.
Despite the heavy criticisms levied in the past against the opposition parties for their passivity towards the excesses of the government, the bold actions of Lawyer Ousainou Darboe, and his executive members of the United Democratic Party on April 18, to march on the streets in a peaceful protest to demand justice for Solo Sandeng and his fellow arrested and tortured protesters, is not only an exemplary act of citizenship, but demands commendation from all genuine Gambians and true defenders of human rights. The key lesson in the events that transpired between April 16 and April 16 is that the strength and weakness of democracy resides in the people.
For a country to be liberated from dictatorship, citizens have to be willing to sacrifice some of their interest to guarantee the freedom and liberty of others. This has been the hallmark of all revolutionary leaders in history. Nelson Mandela gave up his liberty for his people, Kwame Nkrumah was jailed in his independence struggle for Ghana, Steve Biko was murdered fighting to end apartheid in South Africa, and most recently, Aun Sung Suu Kyi kept under house arrest for decades, emerged as the leader of the ruling party in Myanmar.
Ousainou Darboe left his house armed only with words of peace and his convictions that enough was enough, and there was no more time to watch illegal behaviors pass with impunity. As pictures of the armed security forces arresting Lawyer Darboe and his party members with miniature Gambian flags emerged, a huge contrast was drawn to remind every Gambian that true leaders should serve as missionaries and mercenaries to their people.
It is now up to the Gambians to decide whether they will choose a missionary leader or a mercenary. Solo Sandeng, Fatoumata Jawara and co paid the ultimate price sacrifice for guaranteeing our freedoms. It is very uplifting to see Gambians both at home and abroad reciprocate by rising to the occasion to put the government in check. Not only is this is an unprecedented act of bravery and citizenship, but a clear sign that nothing binds people more than a common enemy. The events of the past few days not only show the rage, disenchantment and the lack of fear in Gambians, but they also highlight the significant reformation going on in our beloved country. The masses are now aware of the hypocrisy and the lies that have sustained the system for all the past 22 years. The plain defiance and open condemnation of awakened Gambians who took to the streets of Kairaba Avenue or Independence Drive may not be able to predict the immediate or long-term impact of their political actions, but their boldness is evident that they know the prevailing system in their country is a farce, frustrating and utterly hopeless. Thus there is an urgent need for a political change.
Reformation is undoubtedly a pre-requisite and an antecedent to any successful political revolution or reform. Gambians should be proud and praised for reclaiming their sovereignty. However, despite the rising hopes of many Gambians for a regime change, it is important not to relent or draw into a comfort zone. One must not fall under the illusion for an instant and a dramatic political change. Social movements for political change require effective organization, discipline and a depth of persistence. By all measure of the current situation, the mounting forces clamoring for change are undoubtedly having the upper hand against the status quo. Gambians have garnered the attention and sympathy of the international community, and Gambians should forge ahead with their coalition building of essential partners, however, it will be a farfetched wish, and ignorance of the conventional norms of the international system to believe that the United States will deploy the 82nd Airborne Division on our behalf; or that Senegal will invade the country to free us.
We have to scratch our own itch. Nobody else will sweat our fever for us. In every new creation is also an inherent danger of destruction. To succeed, the masses have to adapt to the tactics and strategy of the regime. The current withdrawal of the security forces and the allowance of free expression of opinions should not be taken as a total victory. Whilst applaudable, we should be equally skeptical. Dictators are expedient creatures full of patience and tricks. This act of restraint could be a normalization strategy to create militancy fatigue and eventually blow steam out of the current situation back home. It’s wise to be optimistic yet weary. Adaptation and unpredictability is the lethal force to counter tyranny. What will determine the success of our current experiment is how effectively we manage the crisis at hand.
Political action comes from persistence and keeping the heat on. The events in Burkina Faso, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Egypt and Tunisia have shown that no political leader sits on a hot issue if you make it hot enough. It is a smart thing for all Gambians to remain peaceful, but we must also be steadfast and keep to our convictions. We must not let this crisis fizzle out as the current regime is hoping. God bless The Gambia, and long live peace and freedom.
Sheriff
This court case reveals something interesting about Yaya Jammeh’s character. He is stranger to most of what would generally be considered the Gambian virtues: humility, mercy, compassion and grace. It is very clear he is interfering with this court case by instructing Nigerian mercenary judges not to allow oral argument before the open court. They keep adjourning this court case to psychologically punish all UDP executives and innocent protesters to break them down, hurt Gambian pockets with constant back and forth to courts, pitch Gambians among each other. He sows bitterness, influences his followers to lose all sense of proportion and teaches them to answer with hate to their innocent brothers, sisters and parents.
Gambians are alien to these rebel virtues. Instead, his actions are marked by a long list of enemies he vows to sack, exile, crush, shred, destroy, jail and bury whomsoever he wants without proper rituals. He constantly manufactures an atmosphere of menace in which there is no room for compassion for his opponents, for anything but disgracing and counterattack of severe punishment. He exploits and exaggerates everything about him in such a hateful combative manner that is destined to further marginalize weak Gambians. This guy was on welfare from day one of his life; from food he eats, school fees, and generous Gambian hospitality. In return, everything he does is such with pagan brutalism, overzealous application of the letter of his draconian law in a way that violates the spirit of fairness and mercy.
According to the point newspaper, Hawa Sisay-Sabally made an application with regards to be given medical care and to also have food from their families which are being denied by prison officials. This instruction is clearly from dictator Jammeh. There is not a hint of compassion, gentleness and mercy. He constantly lays down an atmosphere of apocalyptic fear. This court case is tailored such a way that is guaranteed to bring out fear-driven reactions and this time, he can’t survive this by GOD’s grace. Everything he does is to deny the slightest acknowledgment of our common humanity, take the bully’s maximum relish in his power over the weak and innocent.
Like everyone, I am revolved by Yaya Jammeh treatments of Gambians. It is not on only the horrendous way he does it but – the monstrous way he does things beneath even the minimal standards of modern civilization. The question for Gambians is: How many infants should be fed to crocodile? How many Gambians deserved to be buried without proper janazah? How many of our dead deserved to be given to the jalangs for rituals purposes? Gambians, please put this man out of his misery and give power back to the people.
By Habib
The Fatu network is getting disturbing reports of severe torture inflicted on a junior officer of The Gambia Prison Services at Mile 2 Central Prison.
According to credible sources, Borry Jallow, a 27 year old prison officer was accused of helping inmates in getting essential support from their families. Mr Jallow was arrested last week during a routine search by prison officers who accused him of smuggling letters and other essential needs for inmates at mile 2.
Mr Jallow is said to be a kind hearted young man who always sympathizes with inmates. However this time around he was said to have been caught with the usual things that inmates badly need in prison such as toiletries. It was there that authorities at mile 2 arrested him and subsequently subjected to severe torture.
Prison authorities have accused him of being a possible threat to national security. Since his arrest last week, he spent more than five days at a notorious single cell in mile 2 where our sources say all forms of torture are administered.
As it is now, Mr. Jallow has been handed over to The National Intelligence Agency for further interrogation. We have also been informed of torture and other forms of degrading punishment being inflicted on him right now at the NIA. As one of our sources said, the way Mr. Jallow is being mercilessly tortured could lead to his death.
The Fatu Network is seriously monitoring this situation and we are warning the security forces that The International Community is already informed of the situation this young security officers finds himself in at the moment.
By: Madi Jobarteh
Introduction
Today 24 April 2016 marks the 46th independence anniversary of the Republic of the Gambia. The start of independence was marked by a ceremony on that day in the capital then called Bathurst when the British-born Gambian Chief Justice Sir Philip Bridges sworn in Dawda Jawara as the first president of the Gambia as per Section 32 of the 1970 constitution, and following the republican referendum held two days earlier on 22 April.
Forty six years after independence, the Gambia is yet to become an independent country because the Gambian person is yet to become a sovereign citizen. This is a malaise that was created by our independence leaders and intellectuals that continues to be perpetuated through the years until today 24 April 2016. After the defeat of formal colonialism which was introduced all over the Gambia by 1902, the new independent state that emerged on 24 April 1970 and its officials failed to politically educate the Gambian citizen to realise that indeed independence means the nation is one unified entity in which the owners of the voice, power and resources of the new nation are the people themselves. Rather since independence, the rulers in the first and second republics protected state sovereignty, but weakened and hijacked citizenship sovereignty and national independence. This is the crux of our malaise as a nation.
What is Sovereignty?
Chapter 1 Section 1 of the 1970 Constitution stated that the Gambia is a sovereign republic. This constitution went further to identify fundamental rights and freedoms, thus manifesting citizenship sovereignty under Chapter 3 as belonging to Gambian citizens that must be protected by the state. These rights include the right to life, liberty and security of the person, speech, association, assembly, privacy, and property among others. These are entrenched clauses that can only be changed by a referendum because these rights are sovereign rights establishing our self determination as a people.
In the 1997 Constitution, not only did Section 1 states that the Gambia is a sovereign secular republic as an entrenched clause changeable by only a referendum, but also Section 2 went further to unequivocally stipulate that the sovereignty of the Gambia resides in the people of the Gambia and that the state derives its legitimacy from the people and on whose behalf it performs it functions. Furthermore, Chapter 4 identified a set of fundamental rights and freedoms in entrenched clauses for which it categorically places the primary obligation for their protection and fulfilment on the State in Section 17. Again these fundamental rights and freedoms are the basis of our sovereignty. It is these rights that colonialism seized and damaged with impunity. Thus with independence, it is these same rights which were rescued and restored to us as a sovereign people.
The essence of sovereignty therefore is that people who are sovereign determine their destiny by being their own law and policy makers in all aspects of their lives. It means power and voice of the nation resides in the people who are the independent owners of the wealth of the country. Sovereignty means the State is an instrument of the people charged with the responsibility to manage the affairs and resources of the people for the benefit of the people. The State is fundamentally tasked with only two functions in a sovereign republic which are; first, to respect and protect the fundamental rights of the people as specified in the constitution and other laws as sovereign rights. Secondly, to fulfil the needs of the people as emanating from those rights which are now claims that citizens can make on the state. It is in the fulfilment of these sovereign rights and needs that citizens enjoy public goods and services hence development in the form of affordable, accessible and quality healthcare, education, good roads, water and electricity supply and protection of personal liberty and exercise of personal freedoms among others.
Thus in Chapter 4 of the 1997 constitution, Gambians have a list of sovereign rights such as right to life, liberty, education, political participation and association and peaceful demonstration among others. The role and responsibility of the state is to establish the necessary institutions and employ competent citizens to utilize our national or sovereign wealth which comes from our taxes, loans and grants to fulfil the needs of our people as their rightful claims by law. In this case therefore, the state is nothing other than a servant of the people because the state emerged from the will of the people and charged with the responsibility of fulfilling the will of the people. Thus in a sovereign democracy, the State cannot be more powerful than the people, or citizens become afraid of the government or the state. Rather it is the state that is afraid of the people because the people are the owners and masters of the State and all its agencies and officers.
Our Malaise
The failure of the Gambia since independence, and therefrom the poor human development and limited civil liberties of Gambians emanates from our failure as citizens and as well as officers of the state to realise the value and purpose of sovereignty and act on it accordingly. For this reason, instead of the governments in both the first and second republics protect our fundamental rights and needs as entrenched in both the 1970 and 1997 constitutions, these governments have served to mainly trample on these rights and abandon these needs. This situation became more aggravated by the masses, who, by lacking in political consciousness and republican values as sovereign citizens only served to rather help and strengthen the irresponsibility and violations of the state. There is no gainsaying that the average Gambian public officer including security officers considers himself and herself as not a servant but a master of the people who is beyond reproach and scrutiny by the people, when they perform their duties such as delivery of goods and services.
Public servants act as if they are first and foremost doing a favour to the people. They hold that these public goods and services are a charity for which the people must be grateful to them. These public officers do not know or just ignore the fact that they are merely performing their obligation according to law to protect the rights and fulfil the needs of the people.
Conversely, our people, because of their limited sense of sovereignty, generally also perceive the State and its institutions and officers as more powerful masters. The product of this malaise is therefore a culture of impunity in which state institutions and officials not only fail to fulfil their responsibilities to the people, but continuously violate citizens’ rights with impunity, while the people even defend and support them in this tragedy. To further fester this malaise, both the state and the masses have infused misconceived Islamic beliefs and oppressive and exploitative socio-cultural ideas to perpetuate the disempowerment of the masses and the abuse of the state.
This state of abnormality consequently made the people lack the capacity to hold the state to account and ensure transparency of state institutions, officials and processes. In this way, we have collectively inflicted excruciating harm on ourselves that has continued for 46 years unabated thus making us all both victims and oppressors at the same time.
Our political parties, both ruling and opposition since the first republic, also became complicit in this national malaise by not only failing to provide the necessary political education (excepting PDOIS), but also failed to create the necessary policies, institutions and processes within these parties to nurture a culture of rights and good governance, hence disempowered our citizens to exercise their rights to informed political participation and nation building. It can be seen therefore that since independence, each and every political party in the Gambian continues to be engaged only in sham internal party democracy while the levers of power, voice and control in them are held only by one person or few individuals who are mainly men. This is also the reason why no opposition party becomes viable enough, while the PPP in the first republic and the APRC in the second republic became quite powerful only because of their control of state power.
The manifestation of our low level of citizen sovereignty can be seen in the current political crisis unfolding in our country. After 46 years of independence today, we have an opposition leader and his team incarcerated for exercising a fundamental right that is entrenched in our 1997 constitution. We have political activists that are being arrested and detained by the police and some died in custody for merely exercising their sovereign rights in Section 25 of the 1997 Constitution. While these people are denied their entrenched fundamental rights by our State, one would see in a faraway but truly sovereign nation, Norway where both the State and citizens enjoy sovereignty, a mass murderer could have not only his life spared, but even enjoys human dignity by the conditions in his prison and been able to even take the State to court for what he considered as damages to his sovereignty and getting them restored to him.
Thus if we look at various social, economic and political indicators of the Gambia, one can therefore realise that we face an abysmally poor state of civil liberties, an expensive and erratic delivery of public goods and services which are largely unavailable to all citizens, and a limited space for popular participation of citizens in national issues. This is clearly a manifestation of the poor level of citizenship sovereignty.
What is to done?
The task before Gambians therefore is a collective and individual question as to how sovereign are you, and how much are you exercising your sovereignty? How much of your voice and will determine the manner of the State, and how is the state protecting your rights and fulfilling your needs? The question must be extended to our political parties as to whether we deserve parties in which only individuals and cliques control them yet they use our voice and power to exert themselves on us without transparency and accountability. We must engage in honest self examination as to whether as an individual public or private citizen, one is fulfilling his or her role to ensure that each and every Gambian is an embodiment of dignity.
In the height of the liberation struggle in Guinea Bissau, Amilcar Cabral made the point that our nation and struggle must be led by our best sons and daughters. As a Gambian, are you among the best sons and daughters of the Gambia? How have you raised your consciousness to realise that the sovereignty of the Gambia resides in its citizens and that the sole purpose of the state is to fulfil the will of the people? Have you positioned yourself, regardless of your station in life to identify yourself with the deepest aspirations of the people? In other words, are you able to commit, what Cabral calls ‘a class suicide’ in order to join the masses of the people? This is particularly significant for the middle class and the pretty bourgeoisie in the public sector, private sector and civil society sector, who thanks to the opportunities provided by the Nation-State that they enjoy, now remove themselves from the people. They do not share in the concerns and legitimate interests of the masses rather continue to take advantage of the unjust socio-economic and political system to make more money and enjoy more privileges when all around them are oppression and exploitation of fellow citizens. When the members of the middle class and the petty bourgeoisie, the nouveau riche, lack the necessary political consciousness they can only become oppressors and exploiters of the people creating huge inequalities, poverty, powerlessness and voicelessness in society.
This is why Thomas Sankara noted that a soldier (and we can add that a business executive, a police officer, a civil servant, a law maker, an NGO worker, a chief, an imam or priest, a judge, a lawyer, an opposition party leader, etc) without political education is a virtual criminal. A person without political education is one who does not identify himself or herself with the concerns, aspirations and interest of the masses, but rather considers only his or her individual concern, interest and aspirations and utilise the wealth and privileges and opportunities provided by the nation and the state to his or her individual benefit without regard to those of the masses. Just as a police officer or soldier without political education would beat and shoot to death fellow citizens without remorse, so also a policy or law maker or civil servant would not cringe at making unjust laws and stealing public money to benefit only him or herself. It is a parasitic form of life in which such a person only seeks avenues that provide undue advantages even if these unjust opportunities only serve to perpetuate injustice and inequality in society.
Raise your Political Consciousness
Frantz Fanon said each generation must discover its mission, to fulfil or betray. Are you a Gambian who has discovered your mission to your society, i.e. to realise that you bear an obligation to serve your people, to stand for the welfare and rights of your people and to stand up for justice and human dignity. One cannot discover one’s mission if one lacks the political consciousness talked about by Sankara. Thus given the current state of affairs in the Gambia and Africa in general, one can confidently diagnose this malaise as the lack of discovery of our mission by the masses of our people, particularly our youth, the middle class and the petty bourgeoisie due to our low political awareness.
At 46 years and going beyond, I urge each and every Gambian to look beyond one’s position, and one’s party, and one’s tribe, and one’s religion, and one’s family, and one’s business, and one’s institution or organization and one’s selfish interest and see the Gambian Nation. Only then can we build a nation that fits our humanity and can deliver and ensure our dignity. It is such a society that can deliver development to us from the unlimited wealth and opportunities that abound in our country. Gambia and Gambians are still unable to realise their full human potential and tap their huge resources and opportunities because the individual Gambian citizen is yet to be sovereign and independent. But to create this dignified and sovereign independent Gambian and Gambia, we must become new citizens to exhibit qualities that Nkrumah said constitutes the African Personality,
“Africa needs a new type of citizen, a dedicated, modest, honest, informed man and woman who submerges self in service to the nation and mankind. A man and woman who abhors greed and detests vanity. A new type of man and woman whose humility is his and her strength and whose integrity is his and her greatness.”
Just imagine if Edward Francis Small, the Father of our Nation did not discover his mission to realize that he was an embodiment of dignity and sovereignty? EF Small cried out that there must be no taxation without just representation because he realized that no human being is a donkey to be exploited by another human being. It was that cry for sovereignty that eventually gave birth to the Republic of the Gambia as our collective sovereign property. How come 46 years down the line, we face worse conditions than those faced by EF Small in 1920?
Creating a New Gambian
It is distressful that for 46 years we have failed to build sovereign citizens. So long as our people are not sovereign, not only the State and its officers will fail to become responsible as a means to protect our rights and satisfy our needs, but also each and everyone one of us as well as our businesses, NGOs, political parties, traditional and religious institutions and indeed our young people cannot become an embodiment of dignity, and nurture a culture and a society of justice and equal rights. We cannot find our ability to do for ourselves even when we sit on a mountain of wealth and opportunities. Our fertile land and all the cereals, crops and plants that can grow on it, our unlimited waters underground, in our rivers and tributaries and our rains, our wind and sunlight, and our almighty people with unbound intelligence and strength will all be inadequate to provide us the quality and dignity of life we deserve. We shall continue to be a society of wretched people who can only find solace and hope outside of the Gambia, while we continue to oppress and exploit each other in our country.
Let us build a sense and a culture of sovereignty based on republican values which hold that the people are the owners and masters of the country. Republican values are established on the incontestable fact that all citizens are equal and all of us have equal right to all opportunities. Republican values require that we remove from our midst all ideas, institutions, practices, relationships and systems that oppress and exploit and dehumanize the human being. Whether these are cultural or religious beliefs or unjust and unfair laws and practices in our homes, offices and communities, oppression and exploitation of one human being by another human being has no place in a sovereign republic. All human beings, men and women are equal.
No tribe, no culture and no religion have precedence or significance over another. In a sovereign republic, there is no majority and minority tribe or religion or better culture. All cultures must be civilized and democratized to liberate the human being, and not to enslave some sections. Let us create a society of just and fair systems and laws and institutions that develop and upheld human dignity, knowing full well that in any society the only guarantor of peace and stability and human development is the respect, protection and fulfillment of human rights. Positions, guns, tribes, religion and culture have never provided safe haven for individuals in history. Only human rights protect and develop the human being. When a right is damaged in any society, and it is not repaired immediately and in full, then no one is safe in that society regardless of your position, religion, tribe or ammunition.
Forward to the Building of a Sovereign Gambian and Gambia.
From Madi Jobarteh’s Facebook page
