--- saihou Mballow <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Ebrima,
>        thank you for always your readiness to lead
> the
> struggle against this corrupt and undemocratic
> Jammeh's regime.
>
> It is clear that you have dedicated yourself to the
> struggle of the Gambia people against Jammeh's
> dictatorship.
>
> Once again keep it up and time will tell.
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> Mr.Gomez jr.,
> I cannot end without thanking you for first coming
> up
> with the idea of Gambians meeting the new American
> Ambassador to
> the Gambia.
>
> The solidarity is commended every where.Thanks,
>
> Saihou
>
>
>
> --- Ebrima Ceesay <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> > Gambia-L:
> >
> > Below you will find an open letter I have
> addressed
> > to Ambassador Jackson,
> > the new USA representative in The Gambia. By the
> > way, whoever disagrees with
> > my views/account can feel free to write his or her
> > letter and then send it
> > to the Ambassador.
> >
> > Ebrima Ceesay
> > Birmingham, UK.
> >
> >
>
________________________________________________________________________
> >
> >
> >
> > Dear Ambassador Jackson,
> >
> > I am a Gambian who is currently living in the
> United
> > Kingdom.
> >
> > This letter is written on my behalf, and also on
> > behalf of many Gambians
> > throughout the world and in The Gambia whose
> > greatest wish is to see their
> > country return to multi-party politics and
> > functioning democracy.  Democracy
> > itself is a contested concept, but in the
> > post-Colonial period from 1965 to
> > 1994, The Gambia, if a minimalist definition of
> > democracy is used, had stood
> > as a beacon for the rest of the continent in terms
> > of political stability
> > and "democratic ideals".
> >
> > Following the military take over of The Gambia in
> > 1994, we have witnessed
> > seven years of economic, social, judicial,
> > legislative and political decline
> > to the extent that the current situation in The
> > Gambia is both grievous and
> > precarious.
> >
> > Indeed, it is at a critically acute stage.
> > Repression, poverty, tyranny,
> > mismanagement of public money, arbitrary arrest
> and
> > kidnapping and killing
> > of opponents are the hallmarks of Yahya Jammeh and
> > the APRC’s regime.
> >
> > The US State Department Country Reports for The
> > Gambia from 1994 onwards,
> > give a very clear indication of the deteriorating
> > condition of the country.
> > Reports from Amnesty International and other Human
> > Rights groups throughout
> > the world, testify to the debasement of The Gambia
> > and its citizenry under
> > the APRC and Jammeh.
> >
> > There have been countless decrees promulgated by
> > Jammeh which enable the
> > security forces (in particular the National
> > Intelligence Agency – NIA) to
> > tap telephone lines, fax lines, e mails and
> internet
> > services; to arrest
> > without warrant; to detain without trial; to
> muzzle
> > the independent media;
> > to interfere with the independence of the
> Judiciary.
> >
> > There is supposedly a new Constitution in place to
> > guarantee the rights of
> > Gambian citizens in their own land, but government
> > is still by a number of
> > Decrees which contradict the provisions of the
> > Constitution.
> >
> > Under Jammeh, we now know that around 124 Gambians
> > have been murdered.  On
> > November 11th 1994, in an alleged counter coup
> > attempt, almost 40 soldiers
> > were killed on Jammeh’s orders because he believed
> > them to be his enemies.
> > Civilians are being killed:  on April 10/11th
> 2000,
> > fourteen young people
> > (the youngest a child of 3 years) were gunned down
> > in cold-blood for
> > demonstrating peacefully in support of a fellow
> > student who had been
> > tortured and killed.
> >
> > By virtue of his despotic and brutal rule, Jammeh
> > has directly or indirectly
> > sent into exile a conservative estimate of 5,000
> > Gambians.  The situation is
> > now so desperate that many overseas Gambian
> students
> > and citizens refuse to
> > return home to The Gambia on completion of their
> > study or work programmes.
> >
> > Jammeh has arbitrarily sacked or prematurely
> retired
> > almost 100 senior Civil
> > Servants, specifically because they do not toe his
> > line.
> >
> > Right now, Lt Lalo Jaiteh, Ebrima Yarboe, Momodou
> > Dumo Saho, Lt Omar Darboe,
> > Momodou Marenah, Ebrima Barrow and others, have
> been
> > detained and held
> > incommunicado for months, in total violation of
> the
> > Constitution.  Even when
> > the Courts ruled that they should be granted bail,
> > Jammeh refused to comply,
> > and initially he even went so far as to say these
> > people were in fact not in
> > detention!
> >
> > The independent media (of which I was once a
> > representative as an Editor of
> > the Gambia Daily Observer) has been a particular
> > target of Jammeh and the
> > APRC since 1994. Journalists have been arrested,
> > detained without just
> > reason, taken to court, harassed and persecuted.
> > The Government for two
> > whole years closed down Citizen FM Radio Station
> for
> > no reason.
> >
> > Recently, Radio One FM offices were attacked in an
> > arson attack orchestrated
> > by the APRC, and its proprietor George Christensen
> > suffered burns.  Over 60
> > non-Gambians, mainly West African, (all of whom
> were
> > involved in some way in
> > the fields of journalism, teaching, health
> services
> > or the judiciary) have
> > been summarily deported from The Gambia.  Kenneth
> > Best, one of West Africa’s
> > most respected journalists, was deported to his
> war
> > torn home country of
> > Liberia.
> >
> > In one of the worst violations of human rights, in
> > October 1995, Jammeh
> > handed over a Sierra Leonean journalist, Cherno
> > Ojuku Ceesay, to the
> > military government in Sierra Leone:  this man had
> > fled his country to seek
> > sanctuary in The Gambia because the military in
> > Sierra Leone wanted him.
> > Knowing that Ceesay would face execution if
> returned
> > to Sierra Leone, Jammeh
> > did not hesitate to deport him to Sierra Leone.
> > Thanks to the intervention
> > of the international community and international
> > media pressure, Cherno
>
=== message truncated ===


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