Pope: Great Job on the petition and website! Abdoulaye Pope Pope wrote: > > Hi people > I have finally finished the work on the online e-mail petition form and it > is fully functional now. You can find it at http://www.gambia.f2s.com under > the Petitions section. This is a fully automated form that will send your > petition letter to over 60 organizations just by the click of a button. So > as you can see there is no need to send me any messages to add your name to > the petiton letter. Just go ahead to the website and send it with the > default petition letter or customize it to your liking. > > All those who sent me a message to add their names to the petition letter, > please go to http://www.gambia.f2s.com/Petition/petitions.html and > personally send the petition letter. > > I had to change the petition letter a little bit (from third to first > person). See below. if further changes need to be made, just let me know and > I'll change it on the website. > > And finally I do apologize, cause I had promised to have the site ready I > think it was two days ago. But after u visit the site, am sure you'll > appreciate the amount of work that went into it. Thanks all, especially > Jabou > > Pope > YN > > TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN > > Dear Sir/Madam, > > I am writing to bring to your notice the tragic events that took place in > The Republic of the Gambia on April 10th. and 11th., when security forces > opened fire on unarmed student and civilian demonstrators killing 14 people, > including Omar Barrow, a Red Cross volunteer and journalist. These deaths > occurred as students went on a demonstration to protest against the torture > and murder of a fellow student Ebrima Barry by Fire Service personnel, and > the rape of a 13-year old school girl, Binta Manneh, by a police officer. > Hundreds of students have since been arrested and distraught parents do not > know whether their children are among the dead or imprisoned. > > I am writing as a concerned citizen, to respectfully request you and your > organization to keep pressure on the Government of The Gambia to > immediately: > > Instruct the Gambian security forces to halt all excessive use of force > against civilians; > > Release all the students currently under detention; > > Release the names of those killed and release their bodies to their > relatives for proper burial; > > Launch an independent inquiry into the shootings and circumstances > surrounding it; > > Ensure that all security personnel found to have used excessive force > resulting in human rights abuses will be fully dealt with according to the > provisions of the law; > > Instruct the Gambian security forces to exercise maximum restraint towards > students protesting the deaths of their friends and schoolmates; > > Ensure that those responsible for the murder of Ebrima Barry and the rape of > Binta Manneh are prosecuted to the maximum extent of the law without undue > delay; > > Ensure that all security personnel and the Gambian government abide by the > constitution of The Republic of The Gambia and the international human > rights standards enumerated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, > which was adopted without opposition by the United Nations General Assembly > on December 10th., 1948. > While awaiting your kind cooperation and support in this most urgent of > matters, I take this opportunity to sincerely thank you and your > organization for your concern and continued support and promotion of human > rights around the world. > > Sincerely, > > ______________________________________________________ > Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L > Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------------