Don't worry Suntou I am aware of Mo and Galleh's opinions on this here debate. What you need to do is sober-up.
Haruna. Jobs and money and tourism!!!! Allahu wakubaru. And in the face of threats to the lives of OTHERS.
-----Original Message-----
From: suntou touray <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Fri, Oct 23, 2009 1:04 am
Subject: Re: [>-<] RE: Motion against the proposed removal of African human rights commission in the Gambia
Mo, that was a brilliant backdrop to all we have wrangled over here.
ndeed your points stamped home all that which should be said in
aking sure that the commission remains in the Gambia, now commission
hould do what is expected of a human right organisation. Brillaint!
aba, i can't beleive you are able to furnish us with those gold mind
f history on the tyrants past rants. Now even his staunches defender
ill know, from day zero Yahya was hell-bent on doing whatever it
akes to silence Gambians, no wonder journalist became legitimate
argets for all his wanton crimes.
Haruna, good points, but i refer you to the statements by brother Mo
aldeh and the ealier comments by Baba for an indept perspective on
he debate. Thanks.
Pa, this topic is only a subject of discussion among us here. No NGO
r major body is behind it.
untou Bolonba
On Thu, Oct 22, 2009 at 10:49 PM, Mo Baldeh <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Folks,
Personally, I will not support a motion to move the headquarters of the
African Commission from The Gambia, for several reasons.
Before proceeding though, it seems certain people still confuse the African
Commission for the African Centre. The African Centre is the African Centre
for Democracy and Human Rights Studies, a non-governmental organization
established in 1989 following a bill of the Gambia parliament. For this
reason, some human rights directories list the African Centre as a GONGO - a
Government Owned Non-Governmental Organization. The Centre receives annual
subsidies from the Gambia government in addition to funding from donors.
Visit www.acdhrs.org for more info.
The African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (www.achpr.org) on the
other hand was established by the OAU (now AU) in 1986 following the
adoption of the African Charter (commonly known as the Banjul Charter) by
the OAU in 1981. After an intense bidding by several countries,
particularly Senegal, (whose eminent jurist Kebba Mbaye was instrumental in
drafting the Charter), the headquarters was relocated from Addis to Banjul
in 1989. This was a huge victory for Jawara whose government had been
touted at the time as being one of the most democratic in Africa, despite
its shortcomings in certain areas.
In my opinion relocating the HQ of the Commission anywhere else on the
continent will hardly make any difference. Some of its critics consider the
Commission a mere 'paper tiger', with hardly any powers to enforce any
resolution. Under its watch, the AFPRC junta over-threw Jawara, the Abacha
regime murdered Ken Saro-Wiwa, the Sudanese government continues to carry
out a genocide in Darfur, demonstrators were massacred by the government of
The Gambia and recently that of Guinea, etc. The creation of the African
Court on Human and Peoples' Rights which, hopefully, will emulate its
European and Inter-American counterparts in enforcing decisions has still
not taken off the ground due largely to the refusal of most AU member states
to ratify the relevant protocols.
It is important to note that the 11 members of the Commission are directly
elected by the AU General Assembly, which itself comprises mostly of petty
dictators and self-appointed kings. It is believed that the
Commissioners owe their principal allegiance to their member states and
often hesitate to criticise the very governments that elected them. Those
who did such as Prof. Oji Umozurike (Nigeria) and Justice Kisanga (Tanzania)
or even the late Justice Alioune Blondin Beye (Mali) had vehement opposition
from government delegations to the bi-annual Commission sessions. Some of
them did not get their terms renewed even when they were already serving as
Special Rapporteurs on certain issues such as internally displaced persons.
Since its inception the Commission has barely made any inroads in the
protection of human rights in Africa. The principal protection mechanism in
place is under Article 55 of the African Charter, which allows the
Commission to receive communications (complaints) from parties other than
member states. However, as fittingly described by Justice Kisanga, the
Charter contains so many "claw back" clauses that the Commission has hardly
resolved any of the long list of communications. The states parties to the
Charter rely heavily on Article 56, Paragraph 5 of the instrument, which
states that a communication is only receivable if the complainant has first
"exhausted local remedies". Essentially, if a communication is presented to
the Commission on behalf of Chief Manneh it may be rejected based on such a
"claw back" clause as paragraph 5 of Article 56. For more info. on the
Charter, www.achpr.org/english/_info/charter_en.html
I sincerely doubt if it will make any difference if the Commission is
relocated in Algeria or Zanzibar. If anything, it will take away much
of the focus on the human rights violations in The Gambia and the only
international institution of such importance located on our soil. The annual
sessions of the Commission and the frequent human rights seminars and
training programs contribute to the tourism industry. Despite its inherent
weaknesses, the location of the Commission headquarters in The Gambia should
be a source of pride for our small nation and no one, not even President
Jammeh, should take it away from us.
Thank you.
Momodou Baldeh.
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