Ebou Colly

Once again you have given us some insight into the
November 11 Massacre. The AFPRC tried to claim that
there was a coup attempt when in actual fact it was a
Massacre. I find it disturbing that GNA officers could
take part in this brutal act. I still can't come to
terms with the logic behind executing some brave
soldiers.But believe me their day will come when
justice will take its course. It happened in Nigeria
during the Babaginda/Abacha Regime but today the likes
of Major Mustapha Hamza, General Bamiyi and many
others are currently facing charges for their
dishonest acts. It happened in Chile but today we see
General Pinochet facing the courts for human rights
abuse. With all these examples I remain of the view
that the bereaved families of those soldiers executed
by AFPRC/APRC soldiers will one day get justice. The
likes of Yahya should start thinking about the
aftermath of their tenure. They will certainly have to
answer charges for crimes against humanity.

With all these revelations, I find it difficult how
educated people like Jobe and many others could
support the APRC regime. I wonder why they were
awarded degrees, diplomas, certificates by their
respective universities etc. They are dishonest to
start with and are an insult to their integrity as
intellectuals.

Have you heard Joseph Joof's comments on International
Human Rights Law? This man is actually insulting the
Gambian people. I find it dishonest that he could come
up with some statement. If this is what Joseph Joof is
trying to tell us now, then why did he accept a post
at the African Commission on Human Rights? In fact an
easy suggestion to Mr Joof is for him to reimburse the
African Commission all renumeration paid towards his
services. He has betrayed the course for human rights
protection in Africa.

On that note I shall stop here till tomorrow

Have a wonderful day

Sanusi


--- ebou colly <[log in to unmask]> wrote: >
                            COUP IN
> GAMBIA THREE
> KB Dampha, I am pleased but equally saddened that
> you
> asked about Gibril Saye or Lieutenant Saye. Pleased
> in
> the sense that his case needs to be told which I
> shall
> attempt to do the way I understand it. But am also
> quite sad to remember every thing about this fine
> soldier who was too good to die the way he did.
> Everything you mentioned about this soldier,
> especially his devotion and love to promote sports
> in
> the GNA-had a keen hand in football, basketball,
> volleyball and everything-made him more so a victim
> to
> be mourned and wept for until that day when his body
> is exhumed from that toilet pit and given a decent
> burial. We can classify Saye as the real soldier
> with
> difference. He was nice, respectable and highly
> competent. But above everything, the young man was
> soft hearted, couldn't hurt a fly when it comes to
> killer instincts that we saw among the ranks of the
> army since 1994. The guy had conscience and would
> rather die than see the truth twisted and remain
> indifferent to it like so many APRC lackeys we see
> today. One of the reasons I later learnt for the
> AFPRC's decision to eliminate him was among other
> things his constant challenge to all of them over
> our
> detention at the central prisons without any
> credible
> reason or explanation for it. I understand he had
> openly and constantly protested to the council
> members
> to try us if they had anything against us or set us
> free. But death row at Mile Two prisons was not, as
> far as he was concerned, a place for good officers
> like us. He had even gone against all odds one day
> by
> coming to the prisons to see us with encouraging
> words
> to the effect that they were working hard for our
> freedom. He had brought us provisions and toilet
> articles as well. It was shocking to learn few days
> later that Saye was dead.
> So you were right Dampha in stating that the 11th
> November event found me in jail. About thirty-five
> of
> us were detained for nothing we did.  But I can
> still
> remember how devastated Saye's family was over the
> death of the man who solely provided for them. They
> even had to send a secret inquirer at Mile-Two
> prison
> to find out whether Saye was detained with us. His
> father cannot still get over what he new was a
> murder
> of his son, because he saw his son when he was
> leaving
> for work the morning after the so-called abortive
> counter coup. Soldiers who were present at the camp
> that day also took the trouble to go to the family
> house and explained to them what happened at Yundum
> that weekend afternoon.
> I personally conducted my private investigation over
> the case and came out with the concrete evidence
> that
> these men were murdered when they least expected it
> from these cowards. A man like Saye would have never
> dreamt about Sana Sabally taking a direct role in
> his
> slaughtering. They were very close job associates,
> sharing the same office where Saye was his deputy in
> the heavy-weapons platoon. They were always together
> in their small office by the fuel storeroom. Before
> the coup one would easily mistaken them for brothers
> given the way they used to hang closely together.
> On the flip side however I think that was the reason
> why Sabally freaked out after the 11th November
> massacre. Killing a human being out of no
> justifiable
> reason could be psychologically very traumatic to
> the
> mind of the killer but when the relationship between
> the killer and the victim was bonded by that human
> factor bordering on friendship and love, the tragedy
> turns into a clinical nightmare.
> Anyway, that's another trivial story that I may come
> back to in later discussions.
> But as I said I started my investigation about 11th
> November in the jail with special interest in Saye's
> case. The first opportunity I had to know what
> exactly
> happened was when in February surviving soldiers
> arrested and accused of complicity in the counter
> coup
> were brought to Mile-Two prisons under heavy armed
> guard. The notorious Staff Sergeant Kanyi was part
> of
> the guards. They had to be transferred from the
> Yundum
> cells to death row at Mile Two. They were WO-2 A
> Trawelleh, Sgt. N kabareh, Sgt. S. Manjang Cpl.
> A.Jallow, Cpl. M. Saidykhan, L/CPL M.O. Njie, L/CPL
> K.
> Kamara and PTE. B. Manneh.
> When they were first brought in, they were so much
> convinced of being lesser criminals than we were
> that
> for a while they refused to say anything pertaining
> to
> what bought them there. Every one of them thought
> his
> arrest or detention was a mistake because, as far as
> they were concerned, they did not have a clue about
> any organized counter coup as such. As a result they
> all thought sooner rather than later they were going
> to go home.
> Then on the22nd February, 1995, each of them
> received
> a letter from Baboucarr Jatta's office (then army
> commander) warning them to brace up for a general
> court martial scheduled to start on 25th February
> 1995. That was to say that they had barely thirty
> hours to face a court martial on charges of treason.
> For their defense, they were not allowed to have any
> representation from professional legal officers or
> practitioners. The following officers' names were
> forwarded to them as the only available persons they
> could choose their legal representatives from:
> Captain
> M.B. Sarr, Captain S. Fofana, Captain JP Jasseh and
> Lt. Seckan. These were men who were big time legal
> illiterates. For the prosecution however, Justice B.
> Akamba a Ghanaian solicitor was the head of the
> team.
> It was clear to all the accused that it was after
> all
> a kangaroo court martial that awaited them and they
> also knew that Baboucarr Jatta was a genius at it.
> It
> was a lost course to all of them.
> That was the time they really started talking. By
> the
> time they were hastily tried, found guilty and all
> sentenced to nine years imprisonment with hard
> labor,
> they had told us everything they witnessed and knew
> about the murder of their colleagues.
> Most of them were arrested after Barrow, Faal and
> Nyang were killed but well before Saye was arrested.
> They were in the Yundum cells when Saye reported for
> work the following morning and was placed under
> arrest
> by the military police. Every clothes he was wearing
> (he was in working uniform) was taken off him and
> was
> left with only his underwear before the military
> police forced him to join them in the cells. He was
> stunned and tried to ask for explanation but was
> simply told that the orders came from the council
> members of the government. Who were they? Of course
> the cowards: Yaya Jammeh, Sana Sabally, Edward
> Singhateh, Sadibou Haidara and Yankuba Touray.
> Anyway like all of them who were detained Saye had
> felt that the error would be corrected and that he
> would soon be set free.
> Then the next day while Major Frazer Joof, commander
> of the military police unit was taking their
> statements at the military police office, they
> received orders to stop the investigation and send
> them back to the cells. They were informed that the
> council members were at the officer's mess
> discussing
> their fate. It was lunchtime, so they decided to
> have
> their meals. Half way in their eating they heard
> some
> strange movements out side. Then a voice they could
> not recognized started calling for all those
> officers
> arrested to come out now. Sorting out the officers
> from the other ranks was, according to them, very
> scary.
> All the officers were handcuffed the moment they
> stepped outside. Then they loaded them like sheep in
> the back of an army Land Rover and covered them with
> tarpaulin.
> The windows of the cells at Yundum were not quite
> high, so those in the cells could clearly view the
> activities going on outside. It was from there that
> they saw the convoy of council members departing
> with
> the officers including Saye. Baboucarr Jatta was
> with
> them too.
> For two to three hours they sat in silence praying
> and
>
=== message truncated ===



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