Batch, I think you are preaching to the wrong choir about truth and
objectivity and sentimentalism. Again, let us not get carried away. I am
posing specific questions to you people that you are unable to answer.
Chongan and Ebou Colly narrated torture they went through. You accuse them
as being worse torturers and murderers. On top of that, you are yet to tell
us a single incident of torture or murder these gentlemen were engaged in.
Yet you turn around to me and talk to me about being truthful and objective.

Knowing Chongan the way you claim to have known him just goes to undermine
your position. Because if you know the man that well and cannot prove that
he tortured someone worse than he was tortured, that tells me that what you
are accusing him of never happened. Going to Sam Sarr, why you dragged him
into this the way you did is also troubling to me. You see the man on TV and
you want to interpret that to mean that he is a torturer. Come on. How can
you equate what you saw on TV to what Chongan and Ebou Colly said? Remember,
Ebou Colly graphically narrated how Singhateh handcuffed Mamat Cham, dragged
him out of the cells, beat him senseless and parade him for a mock
execution. Chongan also narrated how Sabally called his name, how he was
handcuffed and beaten and how Yankuba Touray put a gun in his (Chongan's)
mouth. The duo also explained the horrendous conditions at the prisons.

Now, can you tell us a worse form of torture or murder Chongan or Ebou Colly
have been engaged in. How would you feel if I say that you are a murderer
without backing up what I said. And please quit these innuendoes about
Chongan's nicknames and people you saw on TV. Let us deal with specifics.
Sitting with people on TV is very different from what happened to Samuel Doe
for instance, where everyone saw that he was tortured. Do you have a tape
showing that Chongan or Sam Sarr tortured someone?
KB



>From: Samba Linguere <[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: Wed, 11 Jul 2001 14:53:28 -0000
>
>Kebba,
>
>Thanks for your observations. One thing that I must first indicate is that
>we must never just be driven by mere sentiments in our struggle to uproot
>the Jammeh dictatorship. If we are to create a new nation, inhabited by a
>united people, we must never be afraid of unearthing the evil deeds of the
>past and present. This is the only way that the hard truth will be known.
>This is the only way that the victims of injustice can forgive and forget.
>And this is the only way that The Gambian people can move ahead to create a
>society where the hearts and minds of citizens beat in unison.
>
>So, to start with, you are wrong to say that I am making any false
>accusations. I know Chongan personally when he was still a primary school
>pupil at Serrekunda School. I know his family well, living then close to
>the
>Latrikunda football field, just a stone throw from the then Bakadagi Bar
>and
>Restaurant, before they finally moved. I have nothing against Chongan. All
>that I am doing is to remind him of the days when real power was in his
>hands - how he misused it; how he abused his authority. Chongan will tell
>you that because of his arrogance he used to call himself DINDING MANSOO,
>meaning in Mandinka the Child King.
>
>Kebba, let's not make personalities the issue. Their actions and their
>implications are what we are interested in, not as ends, but as means to
>enable us avoid such expensive mistakes in future. We don't just want to
>replace Jammeh, full stop. We want to create a just society. And justice
>can
>only prevail where the truth is sought for, known and exposed. Without
>this,
>South Africa would have been a jungle by now where the victors and
>vanquished of the apartheid days will be at each other's throat.
>
>Secondly, I made reference to the aftermath of the 1981 coup not to indict
>Chongan, but to bring to the attention of the L the many atrocities that
>this small country of ours has gone through within this short period of its
>history. Do you know that the same actions of the AFPRC in indemnifying
>their criminal actions was also done by the PPP regime after the 1981 coup.
>The Indemnity Act was first introduced into the Criminal Code then; and
>trial by jury expunged from our statutes books. Kebba, we need to look at
>the past to know the days of Jawara. We will need to look at the Jammeh
>days, when he is gone, to know what happened.
>
>Of course, in 1981 Chongan must have been either in form 4 or form 5. Ebou
>Secka will tell you.
>
>Thirdly, I am 100% sure about the accusations I made against Samsudeen
>Sarr.
>I have had the privilege to deal with Sam while he was still an army
>officer. Anybody can get the video tapes of the press conferences convened
>by the Gambia National Army at the Army Headquarters in Marina Parade to
>verify the charge that I am making against Sam, especially when the
>Farafenni and Kartong attackers were captured. Get the tapes and get the
>facts.
>
>I am not dismissing what both Sam and Chongan are saying. What I am simply
>saying is that there are people who will not know the injustices and
>brutalities of society, and will assume that everything is alright until
>the
>day they become victims; then they will want a whole reconstitution of
>society at the instance. Such people, as far as I am concerned, are not
>genuine in their call for change. They are opportunists, pure and simple,
>who have lost their privileges.
>
>On a final note, Kebba, in spite of our opposition to Jammeh, we must never
>forget that truth and objectivity should be the cornerstone of our
>struggle.
>Without them, we will only uproot Jammeh only to replace him with another
>dictator.
>
>Good day and no hard feelings.
>
>Batch.
>
>
>>From: Dampha Kebba <[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 12:04:58 -0400
>>
>>Batch, you are also doing the same despicable thing both Ousainou Ngum and
>>Ebou Secka did. You are trying to paint people in a light that they do NOT
>>deserve. Do you realize the gravity of what you are doing? Do you know
>>Chongan? Did you know he was at Gambia High School in 1981 probably
>>preparing to take his O'Levels? What does this man have to do with people
>>that were tortured in the aftermath of the 1981? This man suffered untold
>>misery trying to defend the legitimate government of the day. All he gets
>>from you is vicious accusations you cannot back up. You should be careful
>>the kind of accusations you throw at people. Calling people murderers and
>>accessories to murder is a very serious allegation you should not take
>>lightly simply because you might think that you can get away with these
>>wild
>>accusations.
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