Thank you Yusupha Jow for the tip on the aol news site.]

Jabou Joh

Amnesty wants jailed Gambia representative freed


BANJUL, Oct 25 (Reuters) - The human rights group Amnesty International
called on Tuesday for the immediate release of its representative in Gambia,
who was arrested after criticising security forces during an election last
week.

"The arrest of Mohamed Lamin Sillah is an open attack on all human rights
defenders in Gambia," Amnesty said in a statement.

It said the arrest appeared to be related to a radio interview in which
Sillah denounced the alleged harassment of opposition supporters ahead of the
October 18 poll.

President Yahya Jammeh, 36, who seized power in a military coup seven years
ago, won a second five-year term with nearly 53 percent of the vote. Jammeh
supporters attacked the homes of several opposition leaders earlier this
week.

Amnesty, based in London, said Sillah was detained on Monday and has been
held without charge and incommunicado at the National Intelligence Agency in
the capital Banjul.

At least 13 members of the opposition United Democratic Party (UDP) were
detained after the election and there have been reports of other opposition
activists in the former British colony being arrested, the human rights group
said.

Prominent human rights lawyer Oussainou Darboe formed a three-party coalition
to unseat Jammeh but came a distant second, just as he had in a disputed 1996
vote.

Just after the vote, Commonwealth foreign observers gave the poll a clean
bill of health but since then diplomats and opposition members have been less
positive.

16:00 10-25-01

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