Mr. Jeng, thanks for forwarding this piece of news. It is great news indeed
and a further vindication of what we said when this Indemnity Decree was
passed by our lame-duck parliament and signed by the Dictator (Yaya). Did we
not say that this was done to thwart the wheels of justice? Did we not say
that this was a sick attempt on the part of Joseph Joof to deny justice to
his own family members and the Gambian people? Of course we all knew all
along that this Decree was just about April 10 and 11, 2000. Ousman Sabally
is among the lucky ones that lived to file lawsuits. Our children were
massacred in broad daylight and in cold blood and Yaya, Joseph Joof and
their cohorts in parliament sought to deny the families and the victims of
April 10 and 11, 2000 the justice they deserved. I am glad that the Supreme
Court stopped Joseph Joof from denying his own family members their day in
court.

I hope more knowledgeable people on the ground will give us a better
feedback on this pivotal ruling. One word I was looking for in this report
that I did NOT find was ‘UNCONSTITUTIONAL’. I might have been over-excited
and missed it. But I hope that the Supreme Court went further and declared
the Indemnity Decree unconstitutional. One thing is clear though, the court
categorically repudiated the notion of the Indemnity Decree being
retroactive. By saying that Joseph Joof CANNOT take away rights that have
already accrued to Ousman Sabally, the court in effect safeguarded the
rights that also vested in our children and their families that lost loved
ones in the hands of Yaya’s trigger happy thugs. Ousman Sabally’s right to
sue the state agents ‘vested’ when he sustained injuries from Yaya’s thugs.
Our children and their families also had ‘vested rights’ when the children
were massacred. So, if Sabally’s rights cannot be curtailed, our children
and their families are also free to go after Yaya and his thugs. I hope they
do.

This Indemnity Decree CANNOT be made to be retroactive. The Decree was
passed to ‘insulate’ the thugs that slaughtered our children. The highest
court in the land has just said that that CANNOT happen. Let us see how Yaya
(the Dictator) is going to overturn this ruling. Victims of April 10 and 11,
2000 and other NIA (July 22 Movement etc) atrocities must aggressively
pursue their tormentors in court in the form of civil suits. No one should
be above the law. We must NOT allow Yaya to give his thugs a license to kill
our children with impunity. The Indemnity Decree CANNOT be used to deny the
rights of any Gambian that was brutalized by AFPRC/APRC thugs. High time the
judiciary step to the plate and stop the lawlessness in the country.

Mr. Jeng, thanks again for your contributions and the words of
encouragement.
KB




>From: Lamin Jeng <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Indemnity Act thrown out of the window
>Date: Thu, 6 Dec 2001 09:57:05 -0500
>
>For those who had despaired, please take courage.  There are still
>courageous, decent and fair-minded people still left in The Gambia.  God
>bless Justice Hassan Jallow and the panel of Supreme Court judges that
>rendered this decision.  Please read on.
>
>Lamin Jeng


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