This is a chilling account that qualifies the Gambia as a country that
abuses human rights.

It is time that victims of the NIA give back as good as they get. Unless
sooner people start fighting back, the tortures and intimidation would
continue.  Most of the NIA personnel are cowards.

It belies believe that they would go to such lengths for some trivial
information which had in no way endangered the country's security, as most
of what is in the Independent and West Africa Magazine is in the public
domain.

I would welcome information on any NIA Personnel travelling to Europe in
order to give them their just dues for the atrocities they are committing
againts innocent civilians.  At least if this is the only thing I could
contribute to awaken the "devil and his cohorts" , I would be very much
satisfied.

I hope other G-lers would address this problem as they saw fit and oblige my
request.

Peace
Mohin.






>From: Pa Modou Jobe <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Journalist Explains Torture By Security Agents
>Date: Mon, 3 Dec 2001 16:20:30 +0000
>
>Journalist Explains Torture By Security Agents
>
>
>The Independent (Banjul)
>
>Alhagie Mbye, The Independent reporter who has earned the distinction as
>among the most harassed journalists in The Gambia today has spoken of
>torture and other forms of physical abuse meted on him by the National
>Intelligence Agency.
>
>In a chilling personal account of his ordea,l Mr. Mbye who looked emaciated
>and drained following eight days of grinding NIA torture by electric shock,
>said his interrogators had used subtle methods to intimidate and harass him
>for a couple of stories he had written for The Independent newspaper and
>West Africa magazine for which is stringer. He said to the last minute of
>his detention he had stood beside everything he had written for the two
>media houses. We reproduce below Mr. Mbye's narration.
>
>It was on Wednesday evening at around 8.30 pm while I was busy preparing to
>have my supper after breaking my fast in my compound at Bakoteh Layout when
>three men whom I later identified as NIA personnel approached me and told
>me
>that I should immediately report to the NIA headquarters in Banjul.
>
>The NIA personnel who initially informed my neigbours that they were
>friends
>of mine who were just paying me a social visit were lead by one Demba
>Ceesay, a lab technician now attached to the investigation department of
>the
>NIA. Mr. Ceesay, who identified himself as Abdoulie, knocked on my compound
>gate and was ushered inside together with his two companions.
>
>Their visit coincided with the arrival of Musa Jobarteh, a colleague of
>mine
>at The Independent who arrived and found the three men surrounding me. I
>took advantage of the distraction caused by Musa's arrival to enter a
>neigbour's room where I made a quick call to Alagi Yorro Jallow, the
>managing editor of The Independent newspaper informing him about my arrest.
>I also rang my uncle whose mobile phone was engaged at the time.
>
>At this juncture, Ceesay informed me that I should not raise any alarm and
>should obey their orders, as I was not going to spend time at the NIA
>because, as he claimed, it was just a matter of clarification.
>
>I then followed them to a white 504 Peugeots with registration number BLJ
>5012A, and I was told to sit at the back while Demba Ceesay quickly drove
>away. To my surprise, he was driving toward the Senegambia Beach Hotel
>highway instead of the Banjul route. From there he proceeded towards Kerr
>Serign before swerving down a remote area where the three men spoke in low,
>sinister wishpers among themselves.
>
>After the quiet murmur among themselves, they changed the direction of the
>car and headed towards Bakau to Banjul and finally arrived at the NIA
>headquarters where a guard on duty opened the gate for us.
>
>Ceesay then spoke to the security guard who in turn told me to handover all
>my belongings I was carrying including my mobile phone, house keys, wallet
>containing D500 and a few coins.
>
>The three men then told me to sit and wait in the reception while Ceesay
>left for an unknown destination, promising that he will see me later.
>
>I spent the night in the NIA reception office and the following morning I
>was locked up in a very dark, tiny and windowless cell. I was to spend the
>day and night in this room with no food or water till the next day, a
>Friday. Indeed I had a sleepless night on the bare floor with mosquitoes
>constantly biting me while flying insects continuously flew into my nose,
>mouth and ears.
>
>In the morning I was allowed out of the cell to wash my face and by 10 to
>11am, some security guards escorted me to the investigation office where I
>found Mr. Ceesay and OC Tamba. From there I was escorted to another office
>where I met four officers who asked me several questions pertaining to an
>article I filed for West Africa magazine entitled 'President Jammeh
>reelected' dated October 29 to November 5.
>
>Demba Ceesay and Tijan Bah, other NIA personnel also questioned the source
>of an article I wrote for The Independent captioned; 'Two men charged with
>insulting President Jammeh', and also the editorial of the same Independent
>newspaper issue entitled 'Gambia's lost virginity,' regarding the murder of
>Aziz Faal, a Mauritanian national.
>
>I was interrogated from one desk to another but I maintained that the
>articles were all in proper perspective, including the editorial. The NIA
>personnel also showed me certain sentences they had highlighted with a pen
>in the West Africa magazine story for which they demanded an explanation.
>In
>reply, I told them that being the correspondent for West Africa magazine in
>The Gambia I was responsible for the said article and further reminded them
>that all the statements contained in the story were based on press releases
>and comments by observers and political commentators from the various
>political parties.
>
>During this marathon questioning, the NIA even advised me to return to the
>Daily Observer where I used to work if I wanted to have peace of mind and
>to
>be in the good books of the authorities. Of course I rejected their
>proposal
>outright.
>
>The NIA officials also informed me that certain western countries such as
>the United States, Britain and France are using journalists in the private
>media against the government. I responded that no responsible citizen will
>allow himself to be used by outsiders and reminded them of all the finance,
>economic and health stories I used to file for the benefit of the country.
>
>The NIA also claimed that The Independent was always prepared to carry
>critical stories against the government but I reminded them that we always
>allow divergent views for the interest of everyone.
>
>From there, I was again thrown inside the same cell, without food or water,
>until late in the evening when I was given a plate of cooked rice
>apparently
>from a nearby restaurant, which I shared with other detainees locked up in
>a
>separate cell. Those detainees included Nigerians, Ghanaians and Guineans.
>During the night I was given bread leftovers smeared with butter.
>
>However, I was in terrible pains as my feet had started to swell and I had
>no shoes on. I was forced to stand bare-footed on the cold floor inside the
>cell. Although I complained, nobody listened to me or came to my aid.
>
>The cell was stinking of urine and human waste such that even the guards to
>escape the odour refused to even stand at the entrance. I again spent a
>painfully sleepless night until Monday morning when I was again escorted by
>guards to the investigation office where I found Demba Ceesay and Wassa
>Gassama and Babou Njie. I was taken into a photography laboratory darkroom
>where Gassama and Njie stripped me naked before forcing me to sit on the
>floor. Njie took a rope and tied my hands at the back. I was forced to
>stretch my legs on the floor and Njie produced a bunch of wires attached to
>a transformer with three buttons on top and a winder. Njie then connected
>wires over my left ear, through my head and on my private parts while
>Gassama who introduced himself as Mr. Killer, said that they had received
>instructions to eliminate me.
>
>The two men then proceeded to operate the machine and my body started to
>tremble violently. A terrible heat engulfed me while my head was repeatedly
>knocking on the wall. Although I was screaming in terrible pain, the two
>men
>were busy laughing with glee and abusing me. This torture seemed to have
>continued forever. Next they brought huge steel clippers, which they
>attached to my knees and preceded to press it.
>
>According to Gassama, they had been instructed to disable me so that I will
>learn a good lesson since they claim it was not my first time at the NIA.
>No
>amount of words could explain and drive home the exact agony and grisly
>sight of two men unleashing terror on my helpless frame. It was an
>unspeakable experience.
>
>After this ordeal, I was again thrown inside the dark cell where I was
>feeling weak and sick from the blood-sucking torture. I was to remain in
>the
>cell until later in the afternoon when I was taken out to eat with the
>other
>detainees. But I told the NIA personnel that I was not interested in any
>food, as I was not feeling well. I told Ceesay that I needed medical
>attention. But OC Tamba immediately intervened saying that my request was
>not possible unless on condition that I should not speak to anyone. I found
>this impossible and was escorted back into the cell. By now, I was
>urinating
>blood and my feet were wobbly weak.
>
>During the night, one of the guards suggested that with my condition, it
>was
>unsafe to lock me in an isolated cell. He then carried me to another cell
>where other detainees were kept. It was more comfortable there with a shaft
>of light from an electric bulb.
>
>However during the following morning when Tamba found me inside the cell,
>he
>was angry with Ceesay and ordered that I should be returned to my previous
>cell and that I should not even be allowed to talk to anybody. I reminded
>the NIA officials that I had been suffering from malaria prior to my arrest
>and that I was undergoing treatment, so they should allow me to rest. But
>again they refused to listen or help.
>
>I was again thrown inside the cell until the following day, a Tuesday.
>
>Without any food, I was escorted by the same men and the same grisly
>torture
>continued. On Wednesday, around 11am, I was again escorted out of the cell,
>and found Tijan Bah, Demba Ceesay, Njie and Gassama from Tamba's office
>talking. Immediately I arrived, Gassama, who asked Njie to go out of the
>office, again escorted me inside the dark room where more torture was
>carried out on me. Ceesay personally supervised the torture. Again while I
>was screaming, they were laughing and abusing me. They asked me to reveal
>my
>source of information, threatening that if the public were not aware of my
>arrest, I would be killed quietly. During the torture, I fell unconscious
>and when I came to, they told me to put on my clothes and asked me out of
>the room. I was so weak that I could not even locate the entrance and
>Gassama had to show me the way out. Outside I saw, ex-minister Dominic
>Mendy, who had earlier offered me D5 to buy bread but the security guard
>later returned the money to me saying that there was no food for me.
>
>Njie escorted me back to my cell where I remained until the evening when a
>particular guard helped me out for a while to drink tea, before he escorted
>me to the cell until the following morning Thursday.
>
>Thursday morning, while the cell was opened for me to wash my face, I was
>busy begging the guards to allow me to pray, when the security guard around
>the gate approached me and said that Foday Barry, the director of Internal
>Security, had given orders for my release. This was around 7am and I was
>literally thrown outside the NIA premises where I was left lying on the
>ground until a friend I know as Momodou who recognised me took me to the
>Kololi Clinic. I was thoroughly checked by Doctor Ceesay, who said I should
>be admitted immediately or be reporting daily to the clinic.
>
>West Africa Magazine was informed of my release and editor Desmond Davis
>called to monitor my condition. I later learnt that Fatoumatta Jahumpa
>Ceesay, the director of press and public relations at State House, had
>earlier sent an e-mail to West Africa magazine insulting me and informing
>them to contact The Gambia Radio and Television Services (GRTS) whenever
>they need stories from The Gambia. Her e-mail was described as "unethical
>and unprofessional" and provoked a scabbing response from West Africa
>magazine.
>
>However my response to Jahumpa Ceesay's claims against me to West Africa
>was
>very precise. I told them that Mrs. Ceesay has no right to insult me
>because
>she is just parading herself as a mere sycophant who has some deep hatred
>against the private media. I made it known that for her intolerance of
>independent journalism she is not qualified to be the Director of Press in
>the country. I added that Mrs. Ceesay is a square peg in a round hole and
>being an old woman she should learn to respect herself.
>
>
>
>
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