Jabou Joh wrote:

"Gassa, a government that is doing right by the   people does not have to
resort to all of these things, and people are afraid to open their mouths in
our country. You and the rest of the troup come here telling us that this is
not the case, even as all of these arrests and unlawful detention of people
and the abuse of their human rights is going on daily. Is this a government
that is likely to listen to anyone who tells them that these  acts are not
the parameters that one measures a good government by?

No matter what else this regime accomplishes, these heavyhanded behaviour
will cloud it, and make the rest of the World condemn them and call them a
brutal regime. You cannot say you are improving the quality of life for
people while at the same time stifling their ability to express themselves
freely".

Jabou,

I don't come to the L to try to rationalise or defend the indefensible. All
I am trying to do is bring certain issues in their right perspective. I, for
one, respect most of the views some of you express concerning what happens
here. However, the blatant lies spread here as the gospel truth is what
worries me. It is high time that the suspicion between the opposition,
particularly the UDP and the APRC be put to rest and the two parties work
hand in hand for the benifit of all.

I usually do not like to make reference to people to defend this regime and
that is perhaps why I rarely engage myself in issues of so-called human
rights abuses or harassments. I will however make an exception today and say
a few things.

1. Jabou, I spend more time with Emanuel Joof of the Africa Centre for Human
rights than most of you will ever believe.

2. I spend more time with Mohamed Sillah of Amnesty International (Gambia)
than most of you will ever believe.

For your information, none of them will ever accept from anyone that I am a
sycophant, mental midget, interllectual prostitute, vermin, moron,
despicable etc, etc. They will be the first to defend my integrity and this
you can take to the bank. They all know my stance when it comes to my
perspectives about what is going on as we discuss these issues more often
than they are discussed here. I can tell you that they do not oppose this
government but have certain concerns. They donot belong to the opposition, I
can tell you that. They are very principle young men with a lot of integrity
and fine judgment and I should know because I am very close to both.

Coming to the case of Mohamed Sillah that many parrot about here, did you
know, for example, that Mohamed Sillah was a government civil servant untill
he resigned very recently? I bet that will a surprise to many. He was NOT
FIRED, he resigned! Now let people try to rationalise this and ask
themselves why he has never been fired before. how come this government that
is so intolerant and constantly fires people who are percieved to be
opposition sympathisers did not fire him long ago. After, they were paying
his salary. The reason, my friend, is because he is a very fine young man
whose stance is not anti-government but pro-decency. I will be the first to
admit that many a times there are excesses here and there by some members of
the security forces and this is most regretable. However why do you think it
is always or in most cases it is always the UDP militants and sympathisers
who get this aweful treatment? The problem is that, whereas parties like the
PDOIS, NRP and whatever you have, recoqnise the legitimacy of the
government, the UDP does not seem to do so. Some of their pronouncements
unfortunately border on incitement and I don't think any government worth
its salt would ignore that.

Coming to this percieved fear by Gambians to speak their minds, I wonder
where you people have got that idea from. The so called obnoxiuos decrees
70/71, am sure have never been used before or have they? You people have
read online here, excerpts from Gambian papers that are very critical of the
government and those papers are still in circulation. Or are they not? Mr.
Beran Jeng forwarded a piece from the Independent, not the Observer mark
you, giving a very rational overview of what many know. Tell me, honestly,
what your views are concerning that article. I am refering to the one about
the old guard. That article clearly and eloquently explains what I have, for
months, tried to explain in vain. Would a government that does not want to
be criticised or engaged open a cyber discussion forum whereby any body can
speak his or her mind without any fear? How many of you have taken that
opportunity to engage the government possively for the betterment of all?

Finally Jabou, nowhere in my post did I imply that any of you are assylum
seekers. I was just giving the perception of some of the people living here
about some of you in the Diaspora. I have a lot of respect for some of you
even though we are politically on opposite ends of the political spectrum.

Have a good day, Gassa.




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