Telling the Terror Agents
The Independent (Banjul)
EDITORIAL
December 3, 2001
Posted to the web December 3, 2001
Banjul, the Gambia
A High Court judge could not have described them any better. 'NIA
operatives do not behave like humans' he said. They are in a realm of their
own where indecorum and grisly dehumanising treatment is the only language
they speak, we would add.
If human beings like those in the NIA could behave inhuman without the
slightest remorse and step up their systematic harassment of the good, the
poor, the weak and the law-abiding, then The Gambia qualifies as a country
under siege.
Dark rooms, electrified knuckles specially fashioned for torture, mosquito-
infested cells, graveyard stillness, faces stern behind dark glasses are
all these present-day Gambian Gestapo need to terrorise 'visitors' who all
but want to be their guests in the first place.
Appalled as we at The Independent may be over Mbye's detention, we would
never lose sight of the fact that the NIA was after all set up by the state
to prop up security and make Gambians and guests live in peace of mind and
body. But its notoriety has only brought us to one chilling reality - fear
and sense of insecurity among people apprehensive about the daily
possibility of being hounded by the NIA. Their treatment of Alhagie Mbye
provides freshly chilling insight into their method and motive against
hapless 'visitors' at the agency's bureau. Held incommunicado, denied any
decent food, subjected to grinding sessions of interrogation and tortured
out of his wits for days on end, Mbye's ordeal could only suggest an
institution of heartless and mindless individuals who derive pleasure in
the agony of others and perhaps profit from their elimination. Our reporter
was at the cruel butt of NIA insensitivity not because of violating any law
or threatening the security of the state. Nor was he abused for
misrepresenting the mission of the state or the vision of the government.
He was aggressed for his ideals, his calling, his ethical profession and
his stout commitment to them. His torturers knew they had no case against
him, no chance to take rightful advantage of him. He was as always innocent
and harmless as a lamb set for premature slaughter. Rare were reports he
filed routinely to The Independent and periodically to West Africa found
with gaping holes to warrant him being plucked from the privacy of his
home, driven mafia-style inside a dark glass vehicle and cruelly detained
in a sordidly cold and decrepit room, where he would later wait for the
worst. Obviously a report safely edged on 'alleged' and 'claimed' does not
have the faintest bearing to security. All what were reported were alleged
and not scribbled to pass off as the prim and proper facts. NIA
misrepresentation of articles gives them away as not very expert.
Moreover, their disregard of a court order to produce Mbye in court speaks
volumes about their scant sense of law and of respect for life.
Mbye was simply an underserved prey to the NIA's trademark of wanton
wickedness. Only the Gestapo of Hitler's Germany of the 1930s and 40s could
come anywhere near as brutal, sinister and insensitive. Inasmuch as we
would not expect lousy school dropouts, gibberish cronies and street-wise
misfits to behave with tender decorum, the NIA as an institution is
unforgivable for unleashing them on already hounded and hooded individuals.
Let the NIA know that they are never going to be glorified by acts of
insane cruelty on individuals who cannot even hurt a fly let alone commit
grievous crimes or threaten state security.
Independent journalism is no crime, it is a legitimate practice
complimenting their role as security watchdogs. Let NIA operatives realize
that their method would never make them friends with those who cherish the
values of the free world. Another point yet; why should the NIA be used by
a raving sycophant who cannot know the wood for the trees in simplistic
journalism. FJC was quite instrumental in Mbye's detention in August and
again was behind the poor reporter's recent ordeal. Her e-mail to West
Africa a day before Mbye was picked up provided some searchlight into the
embers of her dervish plans against The Independent. Although she was
rebuffed by West Africa we would yet again remind her that she would always
live with a tortuous conscience.
Conspiring with the Gambia's Ton Ton Macoutes to drag us down is outside
honour. Contributing to the detention and torture of an innocent man is
less honourable. Like Shakespeare's Macbeth, their conscience would never
know peace here and the hereafter. We rest our case.
<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>
To view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface
at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
[log in to unmask]
<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>
|
