Gambia-L,
The number of contributions which have been coming in for the past four days
condemning the April 10 massacre and calling for collective action have
demonstrated our collective will to live in a free and just society. I was able
to finally get in touch with people in The Gambia. From my conversation with many
there and the reports we have been receiving, people there too are in a state of
shock and would like to see justice and an end to the rule of terror. In this
contribution, I want to share some general thoughts, summarise the proposals
which have so far been made, accompanied by comments and observations.
At this point we need to turn our rage and anger into positive energy in order to
generate well measured collective actions to achieve our desired goals. Uppermost
in our minds should be the interest of the motherland and her people. We should
strive to avoid any further bloodshed and loss of life, without compromising the
people’s interest. These events, tragic as they are, have demystified the power
of the state to some extent. Imagine what Gambia would have been like right now,
if on top of the students’ demonstration all Government workers refused to go to
work, all relatives of people in uniform being at the frontline telling their own
sons, daughters, brothers and sisters to shoot them first before shooting anyone
else; human bodies paving the roads waiting for military vehicles to ride over
them. The state apparatus will collapse and I want to believe that no Gambian in
uniform will shoot his blood relatives to uphold the rule of terror.
Unfortunately this beautiful picture is not yet existing and the situation is far
from resolved. There is still a state of uncertainty in the country and different
interest groups can be found at all levels, whose interests in the long run is
not to uphold the people’s will. Anything leading to more confusion should
therefore be avoided at the moment, as the outcome cannot be calculated under
these circumstances. It is important, I believe not to promote hatred between the
military and the people. There are some people in the military whose hearts are
filled with grief. Most people in the military today have taken up this
profession simply to earn a living. So they are also victims and not our enemies.
The people’s enemies are those who keep the country backward and use the military
and any means at their disposal to enrich themselves at society’s cost. This is
not to say that the soldiers who committed crimes should not be brought to
justice, but we should not antagonise the military as a whole. The game which the
Government is now trying to play by distancing itself from the use of life
ammunition, thereby putting the blame, by extension, solely on the military and
perhaps some specific scapegoats, is therefore dishonest and dangerous. As for
the demonstrators, the letter addressed to The President by FOROYAA has clearly
absolved them in my view and no honest person with a living conscience can put
any blame on them.
I also believe that we should focus our attention more on the home front. To
sensitise the international community about the horrors of the massacre and seek
assistance from them is absolutely necessary, but we should never lose sight of
the fact that the solution to The problems of The Gambia lies ultimately on our
shoulders as a people. Only we can bring lasting peace to the country. Without
wanting to belittle the effectiveness of the UN etc., let us remember that such
organisations have not always acted swiftly and effectively in resolving crisis.
We should therefore try to work closer with the forces of peace and progress at
home; try to complement their efforts and be a part of the search for solutions
there, through direct co-orperation, suggestions and initiating mechanisms to
facilitate the achievement of our common goal. This raises the question of
information flow. We need to know who is doing what there to promote the common
good, we also need to have reliable updates of the situation and people who can
assist us to find the right contacts and answers to questions we may raise, with
objectivity. The meeting in DC as reported by Latjor did come up with the need
“to develop a strategy to obtain timely and accurate information on the ground
(Gambia)” as part of their agenda. This is very necessary, as the effectiveness
of our actions and the tactics we may employ will largely depend on an accurate
assessment of the development of the situation on the ground. Finally, we should
remember that the transition from military rule to civilian rule was largely
managed by Gambians. So, we have reasons to trust that competence and goodwill is
available in The Gambia.
It seems to me that the spirit captured in Rolf Christensen’s statement “I am
deeply ashamed to admit to myself that my complacency in allowing my nation and
my heritage to be hijacked by a group of despots may have contributed to the
deaths of innocent school children” and implied by the call for action in the
2001 election reminds us that there are both immediate and long term goals. The
immediate goal being, to restore peace and freedom and bring to justice all those
who have committed crimes related to the massacre and the events which led to it.
These tragic deaths should not be repeated. What we ultimately want, I believe,
is a free and just society led by people working in an environment of good
Governance to pave the way for prosperity and happiness for the ordinary Gambian.
Bearing this in mind can help us focus better on the important issues.
The proposals
After going through all the mails, the proposals made so far can be summarised as
thus:
1.) To write a petition letter to the UN secretary General, Human Rights
organisations, Gambian Missions abroad etc.
2.) To prepare an e-mail petition to be sent to relevant organisations. Yankuba
Njie has volunteered to prepare an automated e-mail petition. Relevant addresses
have been provided by Momodou Camara, Momodou Buharry Gassama, Ebrima Ceesay etc.
Buharry has already drafted a letter which can be used for both 1. And 2. Above.
Do we want to prepare a more detailed letter for 1)?
3.) Write to elected representatives of countries of the countries of residence;
US Congress etc. and sensitise Foundations like The Gates Foundation. Should we
use the general petition together with a covering letter?
4.) To organise a Universal Demonstration and other isolated demonstrations. Saul
Khan was suggested to arrange the date etc. for the Universal Demonstration.
Should a few proposals (dates) be made and one agreed on?
4.) To form local co-ordinating committees, mobilise local communities and inform
Gambians about what happened and course of action
5.) To Nominate Gambia-L crisis co-ordinator who will be responsible for:
a.) Collecting money for the emergency fund.
b.) Help in seeking legal representations
Saffie Ceesay was nominated for the USA and Alpha Robinson for Europe.
6.) To mobilise local communities
7.) To host a website for information and promotion of our goals and activities.
8.) To support opposition parties in mobilising for action at home
9.) To form an organisation to monitor human rights violations
I apologise for failing to mention any name or proposal. Please feel free to add
any omissions to the list. Also note that some proposals have been combined
Observations and comments
It is my believe that we can work many proposals at the same time. In order to
avoid proposals being left unattended, it may be helpful for us to think about
how to realise any given proposal. Some co-ordination work is definitely
necessary, lest we may leave some things undone or be waiting for someone assumed
to be responsible to act. To avoid this, people who feel that they are competent
to handle certain tasks may volunteer or others can nominate them. It may be
necessary to form task committees to handle certain duties. So, please take a
look at the list and see what you think you can do. What do you think?
Pictures showing scenes of tragedy can be powerful in getting a message across. I
am sure most of us will remember how the picture of Hector Peterson moved the
whole world after the 1976 uprising in South Africa. If anyone on the ground has
access to such photos, it may be helpful to forward them to the “website
committee”. The Website can be useful in sensitising visitors about the tragedy
and providing information about the course of action. It can be a source where
non-Gambia-L members can be referred to for further information. Messages and
summaries of discussions on the list can be regularly posted there to update it.
On the long run, the website can serve as a forum where political parties can be
invited to present their party programmes and discuss issues of the day and for
other similar purposes.
Local co-ordinating committees can help to act as a bridge between Gambia-L and
non-members living in the various communities. Since not all concerned Gambians
are on the list (some do not even have access to computers) efforts should be
made to reach out to them. Local co-ordinating commitee members can further serve
as contact persons for concerned friends of the Gambia or the media and so on.
The emergency Fund can be converted to a permanent Fund which will serve the
purpose of providing legal fees for victims of Human rights abuse who are unable
to shoulder the cost. We can give it a name which bears relevance to the massacre
as a fitting tribute. For example, it can be called “The Ebrima Barry Foundation
for victims of Human Rights Abuse”.
Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to accept the nomination for
Gambia-L Co-ordinator in Europe. I think we should take a closer look at the
designated second responsibility Here, we can work with Human Right organisations
in The Gambia and reliable, honest citizens who will be in a position to advice
us accordingly. As far as collecting money is concerned, it may be cheaper for
people outside of Germany to arrange for someone to collect all contributions and
send a single cheque to reduce service costs. You may send cheques and Money
orders etc to:
Alpha Robinson
Brueder-Grimm Str. 4
37671 Hoexter
Tel. +49 5271 920043
In cases where you may wish to recommend to someone else or an organisation to
donate or contact me for information or simply where deemed helpful, you may use
my official address:
Dipl.-Ing. Alpha Robinson
Research Engineer
University of Paderborn, Abt. Hoexter
An der Wilhelmshoehe 44
37671 Hoexter
By tomorrow, I hope to be able to provide a bank account as well.
Finally, what do you think of declaring April 10 as a national holiday?
Alpha Robinson
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