.HI,
THIS IS FROM THE INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER.
As people still await April 10
commission report General public
express disappointment
The report of the commission of inquiry looking into the
events of
the April 10-11 disturbances is yet to be made public but
the fact
that the chairman of the commission, chief Justice Felix
Lartey, in
handing over the report, said that both the security forces
and the
students are culpable has met with strong reaction from the
general
public.
Taking to The Independent, Omar Sosseh, who received a
gunshot
wound on his leg during the demonstration said the
statement was
not satisfactory at all. 'I believe the security forces are
to blame
because they used live bullets on us.The commission should
have
looked into the matter as to who is on the wrong and who
started all
this mayhem in the first place,' Omar said.
Another student who suffered the same fate, Omar Jagana
emphasised that if both parties are wrong, then the
security forces
are more on the wrong 'because they entered our school and
shot at
us. Even though the demonstration was unauthorised, they
should
have found a more civilized way of quelling the
demonstration rather
than shooting at us.'
Another student, Fatou Touray, blamed the security forces
for what
happened. 'The students demonstrated because of the Barry
case
and the 13-year girl who was raped. They should not have
shot at
the students because they had a right to demonstrate,' she
remarked.
Landing Kassama, an ex-student, said the government has no
respect for human rights and that was why they did not
hesitate to
use live bullets to quell the student demonstration. Also
talking to
this reporter, some youths also shifted the blame squarely
on the
shoulders of the security forces.
'The security forces were wrong. We have seen students in
other
countries demonstrate and they do not use live bullets on
them. We
have also recently seen supporters of the KMC Chairman
demonstrate for his re-instatment. Why were they not shot
at? How
can they blame both parties for what happened? This is
ridiculous,'
one of them said. The youths also blamed President Jammeh
for
'wasting a lot of time in Cuba while live bullets were
being used on
the students.
What we want to know is, who ordered the shooting,' they
stressed.
Femi Peters, a parent also said one cannot understand how
both the
security forces and the students can be blamed for what
happened.
'One important question which the commission failed to
address
itself is who gave the order to shoot the unarmed students.
It is an absolute fact that not even the Chief of Staff and
Commander
of the Gambia National Army (GNA), the Inspector General of
Police,
the Secretary of State the Interior and any other person in
the
security services have the right to order the shooting.
This itself has
left so many questions unanswered,' Mr. Peters stressed.
Another parent, Louie Gomez said the students have been
deprived
of their rights. ' If this had not been the case, then we
would not
have witnessed such a bloody carnage,' he said. Yassin
Njie, another
parent, said the students have a right to demonstrate and
the
question of who ordered the shooting is still unanswered.
Mr. Ousman Sabally, a teacher at Saint Augustines said it
is possible
to have two people at fault but in this case the forces are
more at
fault. 'Lives were lost former but the damage properties
can be
repaired. They should have found another way of controlling
the
students rather than use live bullets.
They have no right to do what they did in our school and
they will
pay the price for that,' he said. The secretary to the
commission, Mr.
Abdou Cole, could not be reached for comments as he was at
a
meeting with the SOS for Tourism. A commission member,
James
M.B Abraham, refused to comment until the report is made
public.
However, a female police officer, who begged anonymity
said,' the
students are to blamed because they were the cause of
everything.'
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