Following is the petition developed by The Movement For The Restoration Of Democracy In The Gambia which we are using as we prepare for the New York Demonstration before the Gambian Mission and the United Nations on May 2, 2000. We welcome all fellow Gambia-L's to utilize this petition in our concerted campaign to stop the atrocities taking place in The Gambia. This document (word document) has also been attached to this e-mail for those members wishing to download and print out for easy distribution. We will also forward the fact sheet and flyer as inline text and as an attachment as well. ______________________________________________________ PETITION PETITION MOVEMENT FOR THE RESTORATION OF DEMOCRACY IN THE GAMBIA 1920 Walton Avenue, Suite 5B Bronx, New York 10453 Tel/Fax: (718) 842-6162 THE MOVEMENT FOR THE RESTORATION FOR DEMOCRACY IN THE GAMBIA sorrowfully announces the murder of Gambian Students by The Gambian Army and Paramilitary on 10 and 11 April 2000 in violation of International Human Rights and Constitutional Rights. Gambian students have an inalienable and entrenched right under the 1997 Constitution, Section 25(d) to "freedom to assemble and demonstrate peaceably and without arms." These rights are echoed and guaranteed under the African Charter and under the United Nations' International Convention on Civil and Political Rights. ¨ The student demonstration was organized by the Gambian Students Union (GAMSU) in Banjul, Brikama and other towns to protest the torture and death of 19-year-old student, Ebrima Barry on 9 March by Brikama Fire Service personnel, and the rape of 13-year-old Binta Manneh by a police officer, on 10 March 2000. ¨ GAMSU requested a permit for the intended peaceful demonstration, which was denied, yet the Department of State for the Interior issued a press release "threatening any student who dared to disturb the peace." ¨ When students assembled in front of the Gambian Technical Training Institute on April 10th to march to the city center, Paramilitary Units menacingly ordered the students to disperse, then proceeded to chase, kick and stomp on the heads of falling students and then finally shooting indiscriminately into the crowd. ¨ President Yahya Jammeh administration's directive to utilize live ammunition to quell the student demonstration resulted in the slaughter of a minimum of 14 people (reports indicate that as many as 50 persons have been murdered). Omar Barrow, a journalist at SUD FM Radio, Banjul, was murdered by paramilitary personnel while serving as a readily identifiable Red Cross volunteer assisting the wounded and dying. ¨ A minimum of 128 students and other persons have been injured, many requiring hospitalization. Due to poor medical facilities, many of the injured require life saving medical treatment outside of the country. Royal Victoria Hospital has indicated that there is a shortage of blood and that the situation is disastrous. Among the wounded is a 3-year old child lying in the hospital with a bullet in his head. Doctors in the Gambia do not have the necessary facilities to perform the required life saving operation for him. ¨ Numerous students are missing, including Alhaji Darbo, Vice President of GAMSU and Alieu Khan, President of the College Students Sub-Union. Hundreds of students continue to be rounded up for questioning, arrested and detained at undisclosed locations throughout The Gambia. Distraught parents do not know whether their children are among the dead or detained. ¨ Reports have been received that the government is refusing to turn over the bodies of murdered students to their families. In addition, the government has not made available to the public, identification of all individuals presently being detained, nor account for missing persons. THE MOVEMENT FOR THE RESTORATION FOR DEMOCRACY IN THE GAMBIA consisting of Gambians, Africans (Continental and Diaspora), and Concerned Friends of The Gambia ask for an immediate investigation into the atrocities and human rights violations that continue to plague The Gambia. Your support and advocacy is needed to insure that the following actions/reactions relative to The Gambian Government take effect: ¨ Express concern as to the human rights violations and excessive force utilized by Gambian security forces in interrupting constitutionally guaranteed student demonstrations, 10 and 11 April 2000; ¨ Return the country to an atmosphere of peace and respect for all persons, and to immediately end the destruction of public and private property; ¨ Mandate that all security forces abide by the United Nations Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials, which states that "the intentional lethal use of firearms may only be made when strictly unavoidable in order to protect life"; ¨ Initiate a full and impartial investigation into the pattern of security force violence and urge that all governmental personnel responsible for human rights violations be immediately brought to justice; ¨ Insist on an immediate full, independent and impartial investigation regarding the torture and murder of Ebrima Barry by Brikama Fire Service personnel, the rape of 13 year old Binta Manneh by a police officer, and the "line of duty" death of Omar Barrow, journalist and Red Cross volunteer during the student massacre; ¨ Restoration of basic rights of free speech and assembly and immediately terminate all arbitrary arrests, suspicious detentions and indiscriminate and unlawful assaults; ¨ Insure that all personnel found to be responsible in the above-cited cases are charged and brought to justice without further delay; ¨ Immediate public access to accurate and verifiable information on the number of deaths and those individuals who are presently detained or missing; ¨ Immediate release of all persons that have been arrested or detained following this incident; ¨ Immediate release of all bodies to families for burial; and ¨ Immediate cessation of Government mass burials. Name Address Signature 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. Return to: MOVEMENT FOR THE RESTORATION OF DEMOCRACY IN THE GAMBIA, 1920 Walton Avenue - Suite 5B, Bronx, New York 10453 __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Send online invitations with Yahoo! Invites. http://invites.yahoo.com