Thank you Mr. Dampha.  I am a firm believer in using
all available tactics to solve a problem.  And I do
believe that writing to officials in the International
community is one of the tactics that we should utilize
in combatting Gambia's problem.  And am glad that
there are people like you who are also doing what they
can to confront this problem.  For I am convinced that
together, Gambians can restore our beloved nation to
democracy.  All we have to do is look towards the
story of Milosevich and the people of his country.

--- Dampha Kebba <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Ms. Jagne, thank you for your efforts. Every effort
> to unmask the Devil we
> have back home, counts. We also thank Hamjatta and
> Ebrima Ceesay. That was a
> fantastic articulation of the issues. The British
> action in restoring
> military cooperation with the renegade regime we
> have back home, is
> indefensible. All the ambassador had to do, was to
> look at Peter Singhateh
> and Jatta in order to see whether training soldiers
> from Sandhurst had a
> positive effect on the innocent Gambians. I would
> have had more respect for
> the ambassador had he come out and said that the
> purpose of this cooperation
> is to ensure that next time there is turmoil in
> Sierra Leone, Gambian
> (instead of British) soldiers will be sent to fight
> rebels. That is what
> this is all about. The ambassador himself admitted
> that sending that
> nonentity to Sandhurst was just the beginning of a
> more fruitful
> relationship (for Yaya and Britain). So if we do not
> stop them, the next
> time around, we would be reading in the press that
> Britain is sending tanks
> and heavy weaponry to Gambia. That is why we commend
> your efforts and those
> of other Gambians that registered their disgust with
> the British government.
> It is the prerogative of the British government to
> ally themselves with a
> child murderer, rapist, thief and coward of the
> caliber of Yaya. It is also
> our duty to hold the British government accountable.
> They have to reconcile
> this illogical move with their rhetoric about an
> ethical foreign policy. We
> have to let the British tax-payers know that their
> government is sending
> their tax pounds in order to support a Gaddafi ally
> that would not hesitate
> to unleash brute force on his citizens. Again, we
> join you and reiterate
> that there are numerous areas in which the British
> can give us assistance.
> Beefing up Yaya's brute machine is NOT one of those
> areas. We do not have
> far to look. What has Singhateh and Jatta done for
> us lately? I cannot think
> of anything apart from the massacre of innocent and
> defenseless children in
> broad daylight. So since the British cannot
> guarantee us that the soldiers
> they train will turn our right, they should cease
> military cooperation that
> has the only effect of further arming Yaya. The life
> of Gambian children is
> too precious to be wasted on the farfetched theory
> the ambassador used in
> order to justify the British action. What is there
> to show us that these
> soldiers they are training would not turn out to be
> other Idi Amins?
> 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: A copy of the letter I sent to the British
> officials' E-mail
> >        addresses provided by Mr. Hamjatta Kanteh
> >Date: Mon, 9 Oct 2000 16:41:29 -0700
> >
> >To Mr./MS.  ----
> >Title:
> >
> >Dear Sir/Madam,
> >
> >My name is Sigga Jagne and I am a citizen of the
> tiny
> >West African country, the Gambia.  I currently
> reside
> >in the United States where I attend graduate school
> as
> >well as work as an industrial hygienist.  I decided
> to
> >write this letter after reading a publication in
> one
> >of the Gambian newspapers about your country
> resuming
> >military training assistance to the Gambian
> >government.  I, like many Gambians the world over,
> was
> >shocked by this decision on the part of your
> >government.  Ordinarily, such an action would
> >generally have been welcome by most Gambians.  But
> >recent developments in our country has caused us,
> >Gambian citizens and friends of the Gambia in
> general,
> >to lament the action.  For it came in the wake of
> the
> >slaughtering of innocent and armless Gambian
> children
> >in broad daylight by the very instrument supposed
> to
> >protect them - the Gambian military.  The only
> crime
> >that these children had committed was to practice
> >their right to peacefully demonstrate against the
> >murder of one of their colleagues- a school boy -
> by
> >fire service personnel; and the rape of a 13 year
> old
> >school girl by security personnel.  After waiting
> in
> >vain for justice to be done in the above named
> cases,
> >and after listening to the familiar "never going to
> be
> >fulfilled promises to ascertain that justice is
> done"
> >by the president.  The students prepared to lunge a
> >peaceful demonstration on April 10, 2000.  Military
> >personnel were sent out to shoot them with live
> >bullets which left about 12 students, including a 3
> >year old boy, dead and a vast number maimed for
> life
> >or seriously injured.  You see sir/madam, even
> before
> >this event, the military and other security forces
> >were constantly being used by the government as a
> tool
> >of intimidation and often murder, in order to
> silence
> >any voices that dare to speak against the rampant
> >corruption and injustices that the government has
> >become known for.  As such, a stage was set in the
> >Gambia where the security forces and the
> government's
> >APRC Youth Wing, backed by the president, has the
> >authority to arbitrarily arrest, harass, beat,
> >threaten, kill anyone that so much as utters a word
> >against the president or the APRC government.
> Civil
> >servants and judges are fired for not supporting or
> >for merely speaking a good word about the
> opposition.
> >The opposition parties and the media are constantly
> >arrested, beaten and threatened with death.  One of
> >the major radio stations in the country, Radio One
> FM,
> >which is well known for airing the Gambian people's
> >increasing discontent, was burnt down by the APRC
> >Youth Wing.  This came in the wake of a meeting
> held
> >by the president and his supporters, in which he
> (the
> >president) clearly asked his supporters to report
> any
> >civil servants or judges who are opposed to his
> >political party, so that they can be stripped of
> their
> >positions.  At this meeting, the president
> responded
> >to stories, from his militant youth group, of
> beatings
> >and intimidation rendered to those opposed to him
> by
> >laughing and applauding.  To top it off, the
> president
> >threatened to put "six feet deep" anyone opposed to
> >him describing such people with language that I do
> not
> >dare reiterate in this letter.
> >
> >Sir/madam, the Gambian people generally live in
> fear
> >of these forces and are constantly forced to look
> the
> >other way in the face of rampant injustices, in the
> >wake of constant beatings, arresting, and harassing
> of
> >their fathers, mothers, sons, daughters etc.   Such
> is
> >their fear that, even when one phones one's friends
> >and family in the Gambia, many of them hang up the
> >phone or change the conversation as soon as any
> >mention of something adverse to the government is
> >made.  FOR THE GAMBIAN SECURITY FORCES ARE RAGING A
> >WAR AGAINST THE PEOPLE OF THE GAMBIA BY ORDER OF
> THE
> >PRESIDENT.  It should therefore, sir/madam not be a
> >strange matter that Gambians are outraged that your
> >government, which is well known for its promotion
> of
> >democratic values, seems to be legitimizing the
>
=== message truncated ===


=====
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"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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