British MP Slammed Gambia Gov’t

Monday, 17 January 2011 21:22

Calls Edu Gomez ‘Injustice Minister’
A British politician has slammed the Gambian government following the country’s Justice Minister Edward Gomez’s threatening statement, over a week ago, promising prosecution for exiled Gambians on their return to the country.
"The remarks proves positive that the Justice minister is riding roughshod over fundamental human rights,” said  Anas Sarwar, the MP who sponsored the parliamentary motion urging the UK government to do all they can to put  international pressure on the Gambia government in defense of fundamental human rights.
A clearly irate Justice Minister Gomez told local media in Banjul at the beginning of this month that Gambian journalists and rights defenders abroad were “evil members of the Gambian society” who only work towards tarnishing the “good image of The Gambia government,” and that they were only safe as long as they continued to remain outside the country.
“We will wait here for them to come,” he vowed.
Apparently, Gomez’s statement seemed to have attracted more international attention, especially within the British government, to the realities being portrayed by the vary journalists and human rights defenders he threatened.
That Early Day Motion, spearheaded by exiled Gambian journalist Alieu Ceesay through his Scottish based Campaign for Human rights in Gambia UK, has now been signed by an additional three British MPs, bringing to a total of 27 MPs demanding that the UK coalition government exert pressure on the government of its former colony now headed by a self declared anti-British government in Banjul.
In response to the Gambian Justice Minister, the Glasgow Central MP Anas Sarwar, who sits in the International Development Select Committee in the British parliament, recalled that "Amnesty International produced a widely available report in 2008 which documents various human rights abuses in the Gambia including arbitrary arrests, torture, incommunicado detention, unfair trials, rape, disappearances and extra-judicial killings.” MP Sarwar cited one of the most bizarre of developments that continue to baffle Gambians and the rest of the world, the continued detention of Journalist Chief Ebrima Manneh, who was abducted by states security agents and has not been seen since 2006.
"That’s not how we do democracy in the UK,"  he said, adding: “it’s my view that Edward Gomez should be renamed injustice minister.”
The MP went on: "Indeed Alieu Ceesay who founded the Campaign for Human Rights in Gambia UK and many of his colleagues were force to flee their homeland and recently his name was added to an alleged list of wanted Gambians who are calling for fundamental human rights in their country".
In a press release to the media, Sarwar said: "I will continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with brave campaigners like Alieu who lead by example and fights for fundamental human rights."

Bad news for Justice Minister Gomez
The Scotland based Campaign for Human Rights in The Gambia UK has vowed to continue to push on until the Gambian justice minister and his government realize the reality.
"The bad news for the Gambian Justice Minister is that our campaign will not be put off from speaking out about human rights abuses in the Gambia. We will continue to campaign tirelessly until there is fairness and freedom for all the citizens of the Gambia," said its Chairman, Arthur West.
As founder and Campaign Officer of the organization, Alieu Ceesay remains a focal person in this threat of prosecution for Gambian rights defenders abroad. But he is by no means moved as his statements indicate here.
"A government that rule by fear, intimidation, torture and killing has no place in a democracy,” he said.
And he added: “The Gambian people deserve a free media and to live in a plural society with open debates and freedom of expression. This policy of prosecuting us for calling for the restoration of fundamental human rights to our people will not deter us from speaking out against oppression in Gambia.”
Written by Kemo Cham