First of all, I wish to take this opportunity to thank Ms. Jagne again for
her efforts. Decent Gambians should emulate what Ms. Jagne is doing and has
done for our dear country and its citizens.
The letter from Mr. Hackett just confirms my earlier views about this whole
debacle. The letter also reinforces my notion that the British government is
insensitive to the plight of the innocent and defenseless Gambian citizens.
This double talk highlights the hypocrisy of this government and makes a
mockery of their 'ethical foreign policy'. Did we not say weeks ago that
this is about Sierra Leone, British troops and the British electorate? At
least Hackett had the decency to admit that. Let us face it, the British
care less about whether Yaya's brute machine will go out and murder innocent
Gambian children. All the British are concerned about, is ways of avoiding
British soldiers being killed in theaters like East Timor, Sierra Leone and
other so called Third World countries. We know where they stand. Our duty is
to condemn them strongly and showcase their insensitivity and hypocrisy. It
is disingenuous for the British to pretend that they are on the side of our
children by claiming that they want justice done on the issue of the April
massacre, yet at the same time, they are helping to further arm the brutal
forces that perpetrated the massacre. This is simple logic. To save the
lives of professional British soldiers, the British are putting the lives of
innocent Gambian children in jeopardy. It is telling that Hackett only
highlighted our government's achievements in the international peacekeeping
arena. He conveniently ignored the blatant human rights violations the
regime is engaged in and will continue to engage in with the support of the
British. I want to let Hackett know that there is no substantive movement in
the case of the massacred victims. The people responsible for those heinous
acts are still roaming the streets of Banjul as free men and women. The
coroner's inquest and subsequent commission of inquiry came up with bogus
findings. These were merely delay tactics employed by the government and
their friends in the EU to thwart the wheels of justice. I repeat that up to
today (more than six months after the massacre), not a single person has
been brought to justice. I would also like to inform Hackett that the UDP
supporters that were ambushed in Basse are still under jeopardy. The
attorney general of our illegal government is still trying to send Ousainou
Darboe and his supporters to jail. The government currently has an
application before the Gambian court of appeal which is aiming at revoking
the bail granted to Ousainou Darboe and his supporters. Thanks to the
ineptitude of the attorney general's chambers, Darboe et al still do not
know their fate because when the attorney general is scheduled to come to
court, he absconds. So the net result is that the matter of the ambush is
still unresolved. Britain and the EU should not take any diplomatic credit
for the state of that case. In the first place, APRC thugs should not have
ambushed the UDP supporters. Secondly, what can be more absurd than 25
people being accused for the murder of one person (the aggressor because he
went to a lawful gathering, uninvited)? Thirdly, how can the Brits reconcile
the fact that Gambian law enforcement was super efficient in this ambush
case, whereas in the case of the massacre of 15 innocent and defenseless
Gambian children, no one has been brought to court to answer charges. I
think Hackett should look for other things to brag about than trying to
defend Yaya's dismal human rights record. Since we are on the subject of the
ambush, what did the Brits do about the dismissal of the magistrate that
ordered the release of Darboe and his supporters. Am not trying to say that
it is the Brits' responsibility to do something about that. All am trying to
say is that, it is gross hypocrisy for the Brits to cite incidents like the
Basse ambush and the formation of a commission of inquiry to look into the
massacre of our children in order to prove that the British are doing a
great job in trying to promote human rights in The Gambia. The British do
not care if the army goes out tomorrow and murder innocent Gambian children.
They do not care if the army sits by and watch APRC thugs butcher political
opponents, burn down properties of innocent Gambians and abduct defenseless
citizens. Case in point is a recent seminar the British organized in order
to bring together law enforcement and human rights activists in The Gambia.
At the seminar, NIA officers stood up and denied ever abducting Gambian
citizens. This was done at a time when people like Dumo were languishing in
jail, incommunicado. The point am trying to make, is that token gestures
like organizing such seminars is neither here nor there. The NIA goes there
and tell blatant lies and go out the following day and abduct innocent
Gambians and torture them. That is the human rights record of Yaya and his
security apparatus. They are not out to protect innocent Gambians. They are
out to protect Yaya at any cost. If it means murdering 15 innocent Gambian
children, so be it.
We also resent the way Hackett was trying to downplay this resumption of aid
by implying that the aid is restricted to taking few officers to Sandhurst.
The British ambassador in The Gambia told his friends in the army that this
was just the beginning. The next we know, Britain will be supplying weapons
to these vermin. People like Hackett should know that they are not dealing
with fools or impotent morons any more. The Yayas and the Edward Singhatehs
of this world are illiterate morons that do not represent what is good in
The Gambia and Gambians. Gone are the days when silly statements like those
given by Hackett will pass muster. Hackett can try all he wants, but he
cannot justify arming Yaya to murder innocent Gambian children. What Hackett
has to realize, is that the primary purpose of our army is to defend the
lives of innocent Gambians, and not to participate in international
peacekeeping missions. I have nothing against international peacekeeping
missions, but the insignificant contributions Gambia makes to such missions
should not be rewarded by this insensitive move from the British.
We again urge the Gambians in Britain to continue their protest on this
matter. The hypocrisy and insensitivity of the British government has to be
unmasked. The British electorate has to be informed of this debacle. I hate
attacking other members of the opposition, but frankly I must express
disappointment in the Jawara camp. How can they let the British get away
with such a despicable act? We are in all this mess because of the
ineptitude of the Jawara regime. They should tirelessly work to ensure that
we get rid of Yaya. Sitting in Britain and watching the British arm Yaya
further is disgraceful. We should let the British know that taxpayer money
is being used to support a despot that boasts about allies like Gaddafi and
Charles Taylor; a despot that is worst than Idi Amin Dada. We should not be
satisfied unless the British admit this fiasco and withdraw their aid to
dictator Yaya.
KB



>From: Sigga jagne <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: THE BRITISH FOREIGN AFFAIRS CABINET'S REPLY  CONCERNING THEIR
>         RESUMPTION OF MILITARY  CO-OPERATION WITH THE GAMBIA.
>Date: Thu, 19 Oct 2000 07:02:17 -0700
>
>16 October 2000
>
>Ms. Sigga Jagne
>
>
>
>Via email: [log in to unmask]
>
>
>
>
>
>Foreign &
>
>Commonwealth
>
>Office
>
>King Charles Street
>
>London SW1A 2AH
>
>www.fco.gov.uk
>
>
>
>Dear Ms Jagne
>
>
>
>Thank you for your e-mail of 10 October to the
>Minister for the Cabinet Office, Dr. Mo Mowlam,
>expressing your concern at the British Government's
>resumption of small-scale military co-operation with
>The Gambia. As an officer with responsibilities
>towards the Gambia, I have been asked to reply
>
>
>
>The resumption of Sandhurst training for Gambian
>cadets by no means implies a wholesale endorsement of
>the Government of The Gambia's performance since the
>1994 coup. We have publicly condemned the harassment
>of journalists and opposition activists. The United
>Kingdom was instrumental in securing an EU Presidency
>Statement following the arrest and charging with
>murder of 25 senior opposition UDP activists.
>
>
>
>The British Government was also the first to express
>its concern over the tragic deaths of students on 10-
>11 April this year.
>
>
>
>Our High Commissioner called the Secretary of State
>for the Interior on 11 April to express our concern at
>the high number of casualties, and urged the
>government to ensure the security forces exercised
>maximum restraint and not fire upon demonstrators. He
>stressed the need to maintain full respect for human
>rights.
>
>
>
>With the full support of the UK, the EU issued a
>declaration on 17 April, seeking assurance from the
>government of The Gambia, that the incidents leading
>to the disturbances are dealt with through dialogue,
>and in a peaceful and orderly manner. The president of
>The Gambia ordered a Commission of Inquiry later that
>same day.
>
>Despite these concerns, the Gambia has repeatedly
>proven herself ready to support international
>peacekeeping efforts under UN auspices in trouble
>spots like Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone, East Timor and
>Kosovo. This was a key factor in our decision to
>support Sandhurst training for Gambian subalterns: we
>are keen to support Gambian efforts to create
>professional military force capable of carrying out
>its international and domestic duties to the fullest
>extent possible.
>
>
>
>The UK, both directly and with our EU partners, will
>continue to monitor events in the Gambia closely. We
>urge the government of Gambia to restrict the use of
>force; ensure that all enjoy the protection of the
>law, and that the rights of all Gambians are respected
>
>
>
>
>Nicholas Hackett
>
>
>Nicholas Hackett
>
>Africa Department (Equatorial
>
>
>=====
>"NO ONE CAN MAKE YOU FEEL INFERIOR WITHOUT YOUR PERMISSION"
>
>                        ALSO
>
>"NOTHING IS UNACHIEVABLE, THE ONLY QUESTION IS, WHETHER ONE IS WILLING TO
>DO WHAT IT TAKES TO ACHIEVE WHAT IS DESIRED"
>
>__________________________________________________
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