Yus, thanks for forwarding this article. Mr. Sanneh and Pa Samba, thanks
also for condemning the actions of these vigilante groups. The country is
becoming unrecognizable by the day. I join you and reiterate that the
government should act swiftly and throw the book at these criminals. Such
bigotry should not be tolerated. Who told these knuckle-heads that Gambia is
a 'Muslim' country? The religious leaders should stamp out that notion from
the minds of these imbeciles before things get out of hand. Condemning this
criminal behavior does not mean that one condones immorality. If we as a
society want to outlaw prostitution, we should put that in our statute books
and prosecute and jail people that break the law. Short of that, no one has
the right to play God and start judging people's morality. The lady on the
Observer said it all when she said that she detected that women were being
treated as second class citizens. If we have a moron for a president, what
does one expect? It will not be unfair to link such criminal behavior to
Yaya's infantile views about the way women should dress and their choice of
skin cream. If these criminals knew that the government was going to deal
with them severely, they will not attack defenseless women and burn down
private property.
Mr. Sanneh, you were right to point out that this lawlessness will continue
to undermine the tourist industry in particular and foreign direct
investment in general. If the police cannot prevent criminals from
destroying the property of private investors, the investors will simply stop
coming to Gambia. There are ways and means of attacking the problem posed by
prostitution. You don't attack the problem by burning down bars or
assaulting women. Besides, my reading of what this woman is saying suggests
that single women 'suspected' of prostitution are being attacked. What is
coming next? Are we going to have people raiding bars and hotels preventing
people from drinking alcohol because Gambia is a 'Muslim' country? These
people have to be stopped.
KB


>From: Yusupha Jow <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: Women Attacked??????
>Date: Wed, 1 Nov 2000 12:40:14 EST
>
>KB:
>This report from the Observer seems to confirm your report.
>
>Report as follows:
>
>Mrs Isatou Touray, a leading gender activist, has condemned the
>mistreatment
>meted out to women suspected of being sex workers by armed attackers who
>vandalised pubs and motels in the Kanifing municipality early Monday.
>
>Speaking at the Gamcotrap office, yesterday, Mrs Touray urged the
>government
>to bring the perpetrators to book.
>
>"The attack was on women. There was a woman who was beaten. Some women were
>stripped and apparently up to the time I am talking to you, what they are
>saying is that the police are doing something, but there is nothing
>definite
>yet that has come out," said Mrs Touray. Mrs Touray deplored that the women
>were subjected to mental and physical torture, which she said was a gross
>violation of their fundamental rights. "Something has to be done.
>
>They are part of the state, they have a right, and being single does not
>mean
>you are a sex worker. You have a freedom to live and entertain and enjoy
>your
>life as and when you like it. That does not mean you are doing sex work and
>in any case, it takes both men and women to do sex work," Mrs Touray
>charged.
>She decried "the mistreatment and other inhuman treatment" meted out to
>Gambian women. "I think there are certain things that are going on in this
>country with regards to women's lives.
>
>That is, any group or vigilante group, can just get up and say these women
>are X, these women are involved in bleaching, these women are putting on
>short dresses, these women are this and that. I think it is unfair to
>women.
>Their individual rights, their sexual rights, their individuality is being
>undermined, their existence is being eroded," she queried.
>
>Mrs Touray complained that Gambian women are being marginalised even though
>they constitute 51 per cent of the population. She said women have been
>contributing to all aspects of the socio-economic development of the
>country.
>She also complained about the slow pace of justice in cases involving
>women.
>
>"There are certain things that are happening, which if they happen to a
>specific group who are not women, will prompt immediate response. In this
>case, since... we have not heard any statement yet neither from people who
>matter excepts the police who have been interviewed by the BBC or whatever,
>giving out the state of the issue.
>
>Women are being threatened and I am telling you that every Gambian women
>for
>that matter is threatened and is actually thinking of some other things. I
>wonder if this will not be translated into negative votes in the next
>coming
>elections, because women have right to self-determination," Mrs Touray
>said.
>'What should not happen Should not happen' Contacted for comments on the
>Monday attacks, the Vocal State House imam, Alhaji Abdoulie Fatty, said, "I
>do not want to comment at the moment because I do not have any idea about
>what happened.
>
>" However, Imam Fatty said, "We all want peace and stability in this
>country.
>We all want to go to bed in peace and wake up in peace and live with our
>family. Nobody wants to be a refugee. That has really scared me a lot, but
>being government or individuals, we should all try and do our work. We
>should
>ensure that what should happen should happen, what should not happen should
>not happen." But Imam Fatty said he totally condemns prostitution in the
>country. Bar owner In a separate development, Ajaratou Mansaray Conteh, a
>Sierra Leonean refugee and owner of All Ice International, said the Monday
>attackers vandalised her bar.
>
>She added that the attackers also went to her apartment and threatened to
>kill her after vandalising the apartment. She explained, "The boys said
>they
>have a message from the authorities that they should burn the motels and
>the
>bars, because this country is a Muslim country. I said we are paying tax.
>The
>boys said you are a foreigner, we will kill you. You are making money on
>our
>heads. I said no problem." Update Meanwhile, at least 64 people have been
>arrested in connection with the rampage. Among them were 20 non-Gambians.
>
>Most of the detainees have been held at Kairaba police station. Police
>insiders said they are looking for more people and that their
>investigations
>were progressing well. The police insider said their investigations
>revealed
>that although the attacks were an organised crime, there was no link to any
>religious movement as speculated by many people. The police source also
>confirmed those 13 bars and motels were attacked; three were burnt down,
>six
>seriously vandalised.
>
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