12 April 2000.
Secretary General,
Office of the President,
State House,
Marina Parade,
BANJUL.
The Great Lesson Is Still Not Learnt
Unprecedented events require unprecedented honesty, sincerity, maturity and
resourcefulness to be fully comprehended and addressed.
Everyday, the public is being informed that the situation is now under
control. However, everyday we hear reports of manoeuvres by students in one
place or another to demonstrate against the State.
Suffice it to say, schools within Region 1 and Region 2 were closed down
indefinitely on Monday, 10 April 2000. On Tuesday, 11 April 2000 schools all
over the country were closed down. This is meant to serve as a crisis
management strategy. It, however, signifies that any congregation of
students is still deemed as a threat to national security. As long as such a
state of affairs remains, one cannot say that things are under control. In
short, one is merely postponing the day of reckoning.
What is really needed is not to postpone confrontation but to eradicate the
basis for it. This requires sober reflections on the side of the government.
The tone of press releases matters a great deal in containing or inflaming
the situation. Let us take the content of your press release of 11 April
2000. The press release from the Office of the President reads:
"A preliminary assessment of the aftermath of the unauthorised
demonstration, led by The Gambia Students' Union (GAMSU), on Monday 10 April
2000, has revealed extensive damages to both private and public properties
and loss of lives. It has so far been established that 12 people died and 28
were admitted at the Royal Victoria Hospital, out of which 15 are students
and 13 non-students.
"Some GAMTEL offices and telephone booths, police and Fire Service
facilities, equipment and vehicles were burnt down or vandalized. Other
public installations, such as Post Offices, the Janjangbureh Area Council
and Regional Education Office were burnt down and the ferry service at
Sankuleh Kunda and telephone lines were interrupted.
"There is no doubt that the crisis was incited by The Gambia Students' Union
(GAMSU) and aggravated by some bad elements and bandits who took advantage
of the situation, disguising themselves and encouraging the crowd of so
called demonstrators to do the damage.
"Therefore, The Gambia Students' Union and anybody linked to this
unwarranted and unjustified incident must bear the full responsibility and
have to answer for the carnage.
"It must be understood that the death of Ebrima Barry and the alleged rape
of a girl have been given all the attention and urgency they demand and
deserve by the Department of State for Justice. The suspects in the case of
Ebrima Barry have been interrogated, investigations completed and the case
has now been registered in court. As a matter of fact the accused persons
are presently remanded in custody.
"At this point, the Government of The Gambia will ensure that justice takes
its course in line with the separation of powers and our respect for the
independence of the courts. After all, the suspects too have human rights,
including the right to fair trial, which must be observed. It must be made
clear that no individuals or group of people will be allowed to hold the law
to ransom.
"Government therefore strongly condemns this irresponsible and senseless
behaviour, and calls on all parents, teachers, guardians and religious and
community leaders as well as all peace loving Gambians and non-Gambians
alike to ensure that peace, calm and tranquillity are maintained at all
times, and to prevail on their children and wards to be law abiding and
responsible.
"Government has further decided that all schools and tertiary institutions
in the country are to be closed with immediate effect until further notice.
"Finally Government wish to reassure the general public, friends of The
Gambia and visitors to The Gambia that the situation as of now is under
control." (END)
It is unfortunate that the press release is apportioning blame before any
investigation is done. How can such remarks be made when everything should
be under investigation? Such threats can aggravate the situation. Such a
self-righteous posture does not give the impression that the government is
learning the necessary lessons from the crisis. It is the attempt to break
Ebrima Barry by force which led to his death. It is the attempt to prevent a
demonstration by force which has led to resistance and national catastrophe.
The march of events imposes upon the government the imperative necessity of
avoiding the issuing of condemnations and judgments which are within the
purview of independent and impartial magistrates and judges who try cases.
The press releases emanating from the Office of the President should give
accurate reports of the realities of the crisis and explain government's
position instead of uttering condemnations and threatening retribution.
Developments prior to the crisis indicate very clearly that the GAMSU
leadership and the authorities responsible for security were engaged in a
mature dialogue. The principal contradiction emanated from the desire of the
GAMSU to hold a demonstration. The authorities felt that the demonstration
was unnecessary. GAMSU felt that it had a right to hold a demonstration.
What the authorities should have done is to allow the students to exercise
their rights and then use the opportunity to address them by stating what
has been done to deal with their concerns. The public would have been left
to judge whether government has done enough to redress the situation.
There is absolutely no doubt that the approach taken by those who are
custodians of public institutions can help to restrain or inflame a
situation. This is evident in the very crisis itself. In places like
Churchill's Town, some soldiers did appear with guns but went directly to
the students and were telling them these words "You are our brothers and
sisters. If we kill you today, we'll be killing our brothers and sisters. We
beg you to go away." And many of the students did go away.
However, at the GTTI and Westfield Junction, security forces were seen
beating students, kicking them and many students have reported being stamped
on or being subjected to one form of brutality or another.
These are entirely different approaches by members of the security forces.
Those students who suffered brutalities simply generalised their feelings
towards all the other security forces and conceived them as agents of
coercion rather than agents for their protection. It is such generalised
anger which can drive a person to transfer such anger to other security
forces in the police stations and other fire stations who had nothing to do
with the death of Ebrima Barry or the suppression of students who assembled
at the GTTI. This is not an attempt to rationalize the situation but to
explain very clearly the concrete realities that were on the ground.
What is needed from the government are words that would eradicate the
cynicism that has built up and the negative impressions that have emerged.
This is not going to be achieved by threats and denials. It can only be
achieved by facing the facts.
Indictment must be based on evidence. The evidence that we have so far
received is that GAMSU simply assembled near GTTI but had not started a
procession when the security forces intervened. There is no law indicating
that people cannot assemble and there is ample evidence to show that after
the GTTI conflict, one was no longer talking about a procession. One was
talking about resistance and a revolt by the students which gave rise to
the carnage.
The government has something to learn. The students have something to learn.
Our whole society has something to learn and the fertile ground to ensure
that real learning takes place is to move away from cover-ups, insinuations,
innuendoes and speak to each other like intelligent human beings who
sincerely wish to find a way out of this crisis.
During the height of the crisis, Sidia Jatta was able to speak to the
students, the Secretary of State and the Army Chief of Staff at the
Westfield Junction. However, the situation had got out of hand and the left
hand no longer knew what the right hand was doing.
We hope that the historical imperatives impose on the government will be
shouldered and the right lessons drawn at the right time to prevent Gambian
schools from being closed indefinitely for fear that once the students
congregate national security shall be the casualty.
While anticipating that you will give the opinions expressed due
consideration,
We remain,
...............................................
Halifa Sallah
For: The Editorial Board.
CC:
Attorney General and Secretary of State for Justice.
Secretary of State for The Interior.
Secretary of State for Education.
Chief of Staff, Armed Forces of The Gambia.
Commander, Gambia National Army.
Director, National Intelligence Agency.
Inspector General of Police.
Secretary, National Security Council.
Gambia Students' Union (GAMSU).
The Press.
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