I thought I should bring you the sad news of the killing of civilians by Gambian security forces last week.  In these unfortunate and tragic incidents, a journalist, Omar Barrow, lost his life as he was going about his duties as a Red Cross/Red Crescent volunteer.  For your information, I am appending an article from "The Independent Newspaper" of The Gambia whose Web site you can find at:

    http://www.qanet.gm/Independent/independent.html

The article also includes a press-release from the Gambia Press Union ([log in to unmask]), and you can, if you would like to, contact them for more information about their colleague, Omar Barrow.

As you can imagine, there's been an outrage in the widely dispersed global Gambian community.  You can review postings on the issue at the Gambia-L archives at:

    http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html

For your information, the archives also include a recent posting that was the address given by President Jammeh to the nation, (http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?A2=ind0004&L=gambia-l&F=P&S=&P=91506) on his return from the G-77 meeting in Havana, Cuba, almost a full week after the tragic events happened in The Gambia.  If you ever thought that the year 2000 spells a new beginning, I think you should think again.  It certainly seems that at least for The Gambia, the more things change, the more they remain the same.

And I'm sending this e-mail out in the belief that the best medicine against such atrocities is to make sure that the whole world knows.  From now on out, we will make sure that President Jammeh's full record follows him where ever he goes.

Thanks for reading this, and please excuse me if you find it out of place.

Sincerely,

Katim S. Touray
[log in to unmask]

-------------------------  START OF APPENDED ARTICLE FROM "THE INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER"  -----------------------

                   The Inependent Published Saturday, 15 April, 2000
                        Gov't blamed for Omar
                              Barrow's death
                  Sheikh Lewis, President of the International Society for Human Rights,
                  Gambia, has laid the blame for the killing of Sud-FM news editor and Red
                  Cross volunteer Omar Barrow, at the feet of the Gambia Government.

                  He said the Gambia Government is 'purely responsible' for the death of Omar
                  Barrow, who was reportedly shot dead by security forces at the Red Cross
                  premises in Kanifing during Monday's student demonstrations.

                  Speaking during Mr Barrow's funeral at the Latrikunda mosque, Mr. Lewis said
                  'the government should be blamed as soldiers don't have the right to shoot
                  and kill innocent civilians'.  He said journalists and Red Cross volunteers are
                  neutral and non-political and as a result, should not be targeted by security
                  forces when in the line of their duties.

                  At an emotional gathering, Mr. Lewis stressed that it was the duty of security
                  personnel to maintain law and order and to ensure the safety of civilians
                  during such troubles, 'not to kill them'.

                  He added that 10th April would be a Remembrance Day not only for the
                  Gambia Red Cross Society, but also for the Red Cross world-wide.

                  Outass Abdoulie Drammeh, also speaking at the funeral service, described
                  Omar Barrow as an intelligent young man whose death was a great loss not
                  only to The Gambia, but to Africa as a whole.  He said Mr Barrow was highly
                  respected in the society and contributed greatly in informing the general
                  public. He added that Mr. Barrow contributed greatly to the development of
                  Radio Sud FM, where he was an editor.

                  Sheriff Saye, Alieu Badara Njie, Cherno Jallow of the Gambia Press Union
                  (GPU), and Swaebou Conateh of the Gambia News and Report magazine all
                  spoke highly of Mr. Barrow's contribution to the media.  They expressed
                  heart-felt grief over the incident.

                  Mam Saye Njie told this reporter at the gathering that Monday's shooting of
                  innocent school children and journalist Omar Barrow was akin to the
                  Tiananmen Square killing in China and urged the authorities to respect the
                  human rights of all Gambians.

                  Meanwhile, the Gambia Press Union issued a press release on Tuesday
                  condemning the killing of Omar Barrow. The full text of the release is
                  reproduced below:

                  'The death on Monday of a young and promising journalist will certainly go
                  down as a dark stain in the history of the second Republic.

                  Omar Barrow died when allegedly shot by a soldier as he stood inside the
                  compound of the Red Cross Headquarters at Kanifing.

                  Barrow died while serving as a Red Cross volunteer called to duty by the
                  emergency. He has now paid the highest price with his life to a cause of
                  selfless service to humanity he strongly believed in.

                  His untimely death has shown the whole world the trigger-happy, gunho
                  attitude of our security forces in their unprofessional dealings with civilians
                  and un-armed students and journalists.

                  The Gambia Press Union condemns this dastardly, brutal act of members of
                  the Security Forces and calls on government to immediately set up a
                  commission of inquiry into the death of Omar Barrow and all those who lost
                  their lives in the disturbances.

                  The GPU further believes that the situation could have been better managed
                  if the authorities did not lose their heads by over-reacting

-------------------------  END OF APPENDED ARTICLE FROM "THE INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER"  ---------------