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Gambia: Fear rules
Thursday, 22 July 2010 10:25
In the 14 years that President Yahya Jammeh has been in power, there have been six foiled coup attempts.
Three days after the most recent coup attempt in March 2006, thePresident declared on national radio and television that “any attempt to unconstitutionally
overthrow the government would be crushed without mercy” and that he would “set an
example that would put an end to the treachery and sabotage”.
At least 63 civilians and soldiers were unlawfully arrested over the following months
and detained for varying periods. Many were tortured and held in harsh, and even
life-threatening, conditions; some were convicted in unfair trials, while others were victims
of enforced disappearance or extrajudicial execution.
Some of those arrested in 2006 were suspected coup plotters while others, according to
human rights observers, were arrested because they were thought to be opponents of the
government. This group included two lawyers and six journalists, several of whom were prisoners of conscience.
The suspected coup plotters were officials in the government and security forces including
six Members of Parliament from the President’s own party. At least four relatives of Ndure
Cham, the former Chief of Defence accused of masterminding the coup plot, including his
wife, were arrested.
Only 21 of the 63-plus people arrested were ever charged in connection with the foiled
coup attempt. The 21 included 11 army personnel, five National Intelligence Agency
officers and five civilians, of whom four were members of the government. Only 15 cases
went to trial.
Since then, against a backdrop of arbitrary unlawful arrests, detentions and other human
rights violations, all public protests have ceased in Gambia. Lawyers are reluctant to take on
human rights cases for fear of reprisals, and families of the victims are afraid to speak out.
The media, for the most part, censors itself in the face of arrests, fines, threats and physical
attacks that have been meted out to those accused of criticizing the government.
“PEOPLE DO WHATEVER THEY
CAN TO AVOID GETTING
ARRESTED BECAUSE ONCE
YOU ARE ARRESTED YOU ARE
OUT OF THE PROTECTION OF
THE LAW AND ARE SUBJECT
TO ALL KINDS OF HUMAN
RIGHTS VIOLATIONS FROM
THE POLICE, THE ARMY, AND
THE NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE
AGENCY.”
Human rights defender
CHIEF EBRIMA MANNEH
Chief Ebrima Manneh has been a victim of enforced disappearance since July 2006.On 11 July 2006 witnesses saw Chief Ebrima Manneh, a reporter at the governmentowned
Daily Observer, being arrested by members of the NIA at the newspaper’s offices.
It is believed that his arrest was in connection with his trying to print a BBC article that was
critical of the Gambian government.
On 21 February 2007, after pressure from lawyers and family members, the government
published a press release denying any involvement in his arrest and subsequent
disappearance, and claiming that they had no knowledge of his whereabouts. However, in
July 2007, he was seen in hospital in the custody of Gambian police, apparently receiving
treatment for high blood pressure.
On 19 June 2007 the Media Foundation for West Africa filed an application in Gambia on
behalf of Chief Ebrima Manneh. The application to the ECOWAS Community Court of
Justice summoned the government to answer charges over his disappearance. The court
ordered the Gambian government to immediately release Chief Ebrima Manneh from
unlawful detention without further delay and pay the sum of US$100,000 in damages. To
date the Gambian government has not complied with the order.
DEMBA DEM
Demba Dem, a former Member of Parliament, was one of four defendants tried for treason
at the High Court. In August 2007 he was the only one of the four who was acquitted.
During the first several weeks of his detention in Mile 2 prison he was denied access to his
family and lawyers and was forced to sign a written statement.
Demba Dem told Amnesty International:
“You cannot call these trials fair. There was absolutely no tangible evidence in the trial. It
was all based on our written statements that were not actually even written by any of the
people accused.”
Throughout the course of the treason trial which lasted one year and half, Demba Dem was
held in solitary confinement in Mile 2 prison. He was frequently in the hospital seeking
treatment for injuries that he received while in detention.
He told Amnesty International:
“I was there for over a year and half and because I was so badly beaten I left the cell often
for treatment due to my poor health condition from all the torture. Throughout my detention
I was electrocuted, cut with a knife, and constantly beaten. They always brought me to the
NIA headquarters when they wanted to electrocute me – they did not do that in Mile 2.”
November 2008
Index: AFR 27/004/2008
“IN MY CASE THE HEAD OF
THE MAJOR CRIMES UNIT
ACTUALLY WROTE OUT MY
STATEMENT AND THEN
FORCED ME TO SIGN IT BY
THREATENING ME WITH A
KNIFE. I WAS SO SCARED I
SIGNED IT. THIS STATEMENT
WAS USED IN THE COURT AS
EVIDENCE. THIS IS WHAT
THEY WERE DOING WITH
EVERYONE'' Demba Dem.
MUSA SAIDYKHAN
Musa Saidykhan was unlawfully arrested, detained and tortured. On 27 March 2006 all
the staff of The Independent newspaper were arrested and the newspaper was closed
down. After several hours, the staff were released, apart from the managing editor, Madi
Ceesay and the editor-in-chief, Musa Saidykhan. These two were detained initially by the
National Intelligence Agency and then spent more than three weeks in police custody. They
were then taken to the NIA headquarters where they were held until their release on 22
April 2006. Both men were tortured while in detention.
Musa Saidykhan told Amnesty International:
“On 28 March 2006 the army, with heavy weapons, surrounded my house, and the police
arrested me and whisked me into a waiting police Land Rover. I was told by the arresting
officer, that I was needed at the police station for questioning. The army’s presence created
a state of fear in my neighbourhood, where a lot of people could be seen in tears. The
arresting officer assured my ageing godmother that I would be interrogated at Serekunda
police station and would be back a few hours later. But that was far from the reality.”
It is believed that Musa Saidykhan’s unlawful arrest, detention and torture had less to do
with his being suspected of plotting a coup than with the government grasping the
opportunity to silence its critics. In 2005 Musa Saidykahn attended the African Editors
Forum in Johannesburg, where he described briefly how the government was breaching
press freedom, including through arbitrary arrests, detentions, deportations, kidnapping
and arson attacks.
In November 2007 the Media Foundation for West Africa filed a lawsuit before the
Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Community Court of Justice
against the Gambian government, over the illegal detention and torture of Musa Saidykhan
in March 2006. The lawsuit claims that electric shocks were administered to his naked
body during his 22-day detention. A date is yet to be fixed for the trial.
YAHYA DAMPHA
Yahya Dampha was the victim of an attempted kidnapping by NIA agents.On 6 October 2007, journalist Yahya Dampha was arrested along with two non-Gambian
Amnesty International staff with whom he was travelling during a field visit. The three were
initially detained by the NIA in an undisclosed location for several hours and then turned
over to the police.
The three spent two days in detention at the police station and were then released on
condition that they report back to the police on a daily basis, until they were all
unconditionally released on 12 October 2007. None of them was charged.
As soon as the two Amnesty International staff had left Gambia, Yahya Dampha went into
hiding. That same day, on 13 October 2006, Yahya Dampha’s family was visited by NIA
agents. The following day Yahya Dampha left the country for Senegal, fearful of what might
happen to him if the NIA found him at home. Still at risk in Senegal after an attempted
kidnapping by Gambian NIA agents, Yahya Dampha sought protection from UNHCR and
the Senegalese authorities. He was granted asylum in Sweden and in July 2008 he was
resettled with his family.
November 2008
Index: AFR 27/004/2008
“WE WERE TAKEN TO A
HIDEOUT WHERE WE WERE
SHACKLED AND SUBJECTED
TO TORTURE. THE TORTURE
SQUAD LED BY THE
RESIDENT’S PERSONAL
PROTECTION OFFICER
STRIPPED ME NAKED AND
ADMINISTERED ELECTRIC
SHOCKS ALL OVER MY BODY,
INCLUDING THE GENITALS. I
WENT UNCONSCIOUS FOR
ALMOST 30 MINUTES “, Musa Saidykhan.
RECOMMENDATIONS
TO THE GOVERNMENT OF GAMBIA
Comply with the ruling of the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice and release Chief Ebrima Manneh immediately.
Release all those currently being unlawfully detained or charge them with a recognizable crime, including victims of enforced disappearances.
Ensure that prompt, thorough and impartial investigations are conducted into all human rights violations, including those committed against people associated with the
March 2006 coup plot, journalists, human rights defenders and others who have been unlawfully detained, and bring to justice suspected perpetrators. The victims and their relatives should be provided full reparation. The results of such investigations should be made public.
Immediately cease human rights violations by the police, army and the NIA, and ensure that police officers abide by the highest standards of professionalism and respect for human rights. The government of Gambia must stop using the army, NIA and police for political purposes such as unlawfully arresting and detaining perceived opponents of the government and human rights defenders.
TO THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY, ECOWAS AND THE AFRICAN UNION:
Publicly condemn instances of human rights violations, including arbitrary arrests, torture, extrajudicial executions and enforced disappearances which come to their attention and address such concerns to Gambian authorities.
Discuss the human rights situation in Gambia at the next African Union Council of
Heads of State and consider how to enforce the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice judgment on Chief Ebrima Manneh against the Gambian government.
November 2008
Index: AFR 27/004/2008
Amnesty International
International Secretariat, Peter Benenson House
1 Easton Street, London WC1X ODW, United
Kingdom
www.amnesty.org
Amnesty International is a global movement of 2.2 million people in more than 150 countries and
territories who campaign to end grave abuses of human rights.
Our vision is for every person to enjoy all the rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights and other international human rights standards.
We are independent of any government, political ideology, economic interest or religion -– funded
mainly by our membership and public donations.
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Comments
attacks...meted out to those accused of criticizing the government...PEOPLE DO WHATEVER...TO AVOID GETTING ARRESTED...ONCE...ARRESTED YOU ARE OUT OF THE PROTECTION OF THE LAW AND ARE SUBJECT TO ALL KINDS OF HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS...”
Comment
Quote”...Amnesty International...vision is for every person to enjoy all the rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights standards...RECOMMENDATIONS ...Ensure that prompt, thorough and impartial investigations are conducted into all human rights violations, including those committed against people...” Which sane patriotic person can standard to accuse AI for western bias in the above calls/recommendation?
...cont...
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