Ous, we are still waiting for you to tell us about the atrocities Chongan
committed that would warrant you to say that he is a worst monster than the
people that tortured him. You know you CANNOT prove that. That is why I said
that you are a LIAR. The torture that Chongan et al suffered in the hands of
these vermin is unparalleled in Gambian history. At first I was just talking
about Chongan and wanted to put you on the spot to back up your lies, if
possible. Clearly, you CANNOT pin anything on the man that is remotely close
to the injustice that was meted on him. Remember, his only 'crime' was that
he was defending the legitimate government of the day. What Gambian has
Chongan ever tortured who was defending the government of the day?

Let us move further. If you know anything at all about torture in the
country prior to 1994, you will know that one of the worst, if not the worst
victim of such practice was the late Alieu Sallah. Not Pap Cheyassin Secka.
Not Simon Talibo Sanneh. I give these examples because Secka in particular
later unashamedly admitted that he was a major participant in a plot to
overthrow the government of the day. Left to Secka alone, Jawara and all his
ministers would have been killed had the coup been successful. Have you ever
heard Secka narrate the torture told to us by Ebou Colly and Chongan? Mind
you, torture in 1981/82 has NOTHING to do with Chongan. He was NOT even in
the Force then. He was in High School.

Now, let us look at what happened to Alieu Sallah. Do you know who was
Sallah's tormentor? A certain Police Officer had a personal vendetta against
Alieu Sallah. According to eye-witnesses (including Alieu Sallah himself)
Sallah had humiliated this Officer in broad-daylight asking him to dance
while Sallah and his 'coup-mates' clapped and laughed at the man. When the
coup failed, this man came back for revenge against Sallah. I believe this
was the worst case of torture that was reported in the aftermath of 1981.
Out of respect for other potential victims, I would not definitively say
that Sallah was the worst victim. I do not know everybody else's story. I
have family members that were incarcerated at 'Depot'. None of them reported
to me a systematic form of torture that was going on. This is not to say
that that did not happen.

Again, I have to remind you that this got NOTHING to do with Chongan. Now,
this man underwent torture that would have killed many Gambians. In fact it
killed Sadibou Hydara. Most people did not know that this took place. Some
of us that heard about it, did not want to believe that such a heinous thing
happened to someone whose only crime was trying to perform his
constitutionally mandated duty. He volunteers his time to tell us what
happened. As Prince said, he does not even seem to harbor the resentment
most people would have wanted him to harbor. He did not come here to
minimize torture that could have taken place pre-1994. He did not try to
portray himself as a hero or an angle. Matter of fact, both him and Ebou
Colly expressed how fearful they were.

And what did we have? You coming from nowhere, with resentment I cannot
imagine, saying that Chongan did to people worse than was done to him and is
capable of being worse than Yaya and his gang. To add insult to injury, you
CANNOT back up your lies. Instead you label the man and invite him for a
shouting match over G_L. What kind of man are you? Do you think Chongan has
the time to come here to prove a negative? I think you are overestimating
your importance and the depth of your empty accusations. You think if you
say Chongan is a monster people will just buy that? 'Tabulate' his
horrendous crimes and his many victims. Then people will know who you truly
are.

Like Sanusi said, no one is saying that Chongan is an angle. Chongan himself
will not claim that. However, both you and Joe Sambou CANNOT come up with
anything remotely similar to what Chongan and Ebou Colly said happened to
them. If you pursue this avenue people will just see you as spiteful people
that are indifferent to the plight of these heroes that were defending our
Constitution when most men were under their beds hiding from the bandits.
How can you compare a bar brawl with incarceration in 'Dead Row' for ten
months and a mock execution after a brutal beating? You are right that
injustice is injustice. But, there is also what we call proportionality.
Thanks to people like you the horrendous actions of the AFPRC thugs (like
Yankuba Touray) is lost in all this. Chongan is now in England (by the way,
I take this opportunity to congratulate him for successfully completing his
Law Degree. I stated earlier on that he was studying, but it was brought to
my attention that he has just completed. Great Job Chongan) ….anyway,
Chongan is now in England. Has no power. Yankuba Touray on the other hand is
a very powerful man in this regime. Tomorrow these morons can wake up and
slaughter 100 Gambian children. Commonsense demand that we make them our
priority. Rather than diluting the atrocities of these vermin by comparing
their heinous actions to bar brawls, you would be helping the struggle more
by focusing on our current predators. If you want to fight that battle and
castigate people that were part of the old regime but currently hold no
power, by all means go ahead. If you do NOT tell lies that affect me and my
friends, you will not hear from me. But you start calling my friends
torturers and monsters, you will hear from me. Don't flatter yourself and
think that you are so important that I will ready to engage in a 'war' with
you. Never also delude yourself to think that I am going to sit down and
brace for your 'harsh' rhetoric. You have no clue who you are dealing with.
This is not the first time we crossed paths. Revisit the archives. When you
do that, also check my contributions (or lack thereof) in the 'fight' Ebou
Jallow had with certain G_L members. Then you will realize whether I just
support people willy-nilly.

My unwavering support for people like Chongan and Ebou Colly is a very
informed decision. Call me a praise-singer or whatever you want. See, I
rejoice in the achievements of good Gambians. I do NOT just judge certain
people and condemn them for good. I give people benefit of the doubt and do
research before I make certain accusations. I know for a fact that Ebou
Colly NEVER tortured anyone. Has no blood on his hands. Chongan also NEVER
tortured anyone. Having said that, I also know that some childhood friends
of Chongan can come here and tell us that Chongan might have jokingly
instructed someone to incarcerate them or ask them to perform the 'monkey
dance'. Now, is it appropriate to bring these matters up in order to put the
man down? Especially when Chongan and his perceived victims all want to put
these matters behind them. I do NOT struggle to bring people down. I do NOT
have a heartache when I read good things about good people. I firmly believe
in repentance and people's ability to turn their lives around. Chongan is a
classic example of that. Who would have thought that the DIG of Police would
be reduced to a 'Dead Row' and 'RIP' inmate and he would later pick up his
life and become a Lawyer? And finally I take this opportunity to inform Joe
Sambou that this might have been Chongan's first contribution on G_L, but he
has been fighting in the trenches in this struggle. He is not just joining
the struggle. Member of the Movement in London will tell you that Chongan is
a very active member of that Movement.

Be my guest and pursue this matter with all the harshness you can muster.
KB



>From: Ousainou Ngum <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: WHAT HAPPEN TO US AT RIP.
>Date: Tue, 10 Jul 2001 21:25:42 -0700
>
>Joe:
>
>    That episode was just another one that solidifies my case against this
>Chongan cry-baby. You know, these people are trying to juxtapose the
>Chongan
>who was under the command of someone and the unleashed AFPRC folks. I mean,
>are these people serious when they try to put my credibility on trial for
>exposing the devil within this Chongan guy? He had, in the past, repeatedly
>arrested innocent people and physically assaulted them in broad daylight,
>fire his hand gun in the air to end nightclub and bar sessions, go after
>his
>supposed foes and etc, etc... Let Chongan speak for himself rather than
>have
>a host of praise singers singing a contrived recod on his behalf.
>
>    KB, are you distorting my words or is it that my language ain't
>straight
>talk? You have gone up to the extent of trashing my rationale and labelling
>me a liar just because you know the man personally.(if this persists, my
>response will be quite harsh) I'll let it be known that I know the man, as
>well, but when it comes to telling it as it is, there should be no room for
>sentiments. I think you're being overly sentimental. This is where we
>differ. You are one of the most out-spoken critics of the injustices being
>perpetrated by the Jammeh establishment on the G-L, yet you seem to be
>stifling the crimes that this dude perpetrated when he had limited power.
>Let's call a spade a damn spade! Where is the double-standard coming from?
>
>    Besides, I'm in no way "shifting my position". What I'm saying is that
>from what we've seen in this guy when there was still something to fear, he
>would have been worse than the AFPRC members had he acquired such powers.
>And DO NOT DISTORT THIS ONE, ok? I mean, we have already seen enough of the
>monster in this guy in order to figure out what kinda dictator he would
>have
>been had he acquired absolute power as is the status quo with Jammeh. It
>doesn't take a "fortune teller" to figure it out. If it's war that you want
>as well, be my guest too. I'm still sticking by my position. Good night.
>
>Ous Ngum.
>
>
>
>
>
>_______________________________________________________
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>http://www.bluemountain.com/giftcenter/
>
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