Beran,
This report it is as alarming as anything ever before ,a brief and concrete
report of the political situation on the ground.It is a very disturbing
picture and no decent human mind will go by it without questioning the
inhumanity and moral decadency of such a political situation.We have all
rights,moral rights to stand to the challenges of this fascist regime,more
so when basic human rights are criminally violated,such as belonging to an
opposition party or being a journalist.We have a right to national
development.

For Freedom
Saiks
----- Original Message -----
From: Beran jeng <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, June 22, 2001 4:04 PM
Subject: One Year After April 10, Amnesty Country Report Indicts Security
Forces


> One Year After April 10, Amnesty Country Report Indicts Security Forces
>
>
>
> The Independent (Banjul)
>
> June 22, 2001
> Posted to the web June 22, 2001
>
> Banjul, the Gambia
>
> Amnesty International's annual country report for 2001 on The Gambia has
> accused the security forces of torture and ill treatment of students
during
> the April 2000 student demonstrations. The report states that at least 14
> people were killed and dozens injured when the security forces used
> "excessive and indiscriminate force to break up demonstrations" organized
by
> the Gambia Students Union to protest the alleged torture to death of a
> schoolboy and the rape of a school girl allegedly by members of the
security
> forces. It went on to state that several of the dead were less than 18
years
> old.
>
> "Neither the findings of a commission of inquiry subsequently set up by
the
> government nor those of the inquiry carried out by the coroner were made
> public by the end of 2000," the report states. It adds that the chairman
of
> the commission of inquiry was reported to have publicly acknowledged that
> some members of the security forces were found to be largely responsible
for
> the deaths of the students.
>
> The report goes on to state that many of the students arrested during and
> after the demonstrations were tortured and ill treated by the security
> forces, "including the National Intelligence Agency", while they were in
> custody. It also refers to the arrest of the Secretary General of the
> opposition United Democratic Party Ousainou Darboe and several other UDP
> members in Basse in June and their subsequent charge with the murder of an
> APRC supporter. It states that the arrest followed an alleged ambush of a
> UDP convoy by members of "a pro-government militia".
>
> "It appears that this prosecution was intended to silence the UDP and
> prevent Ousainou Darboe from standing in the presidential elections in
2001,
> as no credible evidence was reported to have emerged against the five,"
the
> report states. The report also refers to the arrest and continuous
detention
> in January and June of some civilians and members of the military on
> suspicion of plotting a coup, who it states were all later held
> incommunicado for long periods without being charged. It mentions in
> particular the arrest and detention of Lieutenant Landing Sanneh on
> suspicion of plotting to overthrow the government, and how he was held
> incommunicado for several months before he was charged for treason. "It
> appeared that at least one of his confessions was obtained after a death
> threat," the report states.
>
> The report also mentions the cases of Momodou Ousman Saho (Dumo),
Lieutenant
> Lalo Jaiteh, Lieutenant Omar Darboe, Ebrima Barrow, Momodou Marena and
> Ebrima Yarbo, who it states were all arrested in June 2000 and held
> incommunicado for more than four months. For at least three weeks after
> their arrest, the report states that the authorities denied to their
> families that they were being detained. "At the end of 2000, the six were
> being held at Mile II Prisons, where detention conditions were reportedly
> harsh," it indicates.
>
> The report concludes by referring to the continued arbitrary detention and
> threats of violence against journalists by the security forces. While it
> states that Decree 70/71, which unduly restricted freedom of expression
> remained in force. It gave as an example the arrest and brief detention in
> July last year of Baba Galleh Jallow and Alhagie Mbye of The Independent
for
> the publication of a prison hunger strike, which supposedly took place at
> Mile Two Prisons.
>
>
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