Hi!
    This is a draft of the brochure I plan to distribute before asking for donations. Comments/suggestions? Thanks.
                                                                                                Buharry.

____________________________________________________________________

 
Dear Sir/Madam,

                                You may be aware of the shooting disaster that took place in The Gambia on the 10th. And 11th. April 2000 in which 14 people were killed and more than 48 seriously injured. The shooting incident occurred when the security services opened fire on students demonstrating the torture and murder of a student, Ebrima Barry, by Fire Service personnel and the rape of a 13-year old school girl, Binta Manneh by a police officer. Among the dead was a Red Cross volunteer and journalist, Omar Barrow, who left behind a young wife and a 7-month old baby. An initiative concocted on Gambia-L, a Gambian issues mailing list, has as one of its aims a donation drive. The proceeds of this drive will be used to offer financial assistance to the families of all who died, to help with the treatment of those injured, to hire a lawyer to investigate the circumstances surrounding the shooting and defend the students in court if need be. Another aim of the initiative is to petition the United Nations, Amnesty International, the Red Cross and other human rights agencies to put pressure on the Government of the Gambia to immediately:

 

-          instruct the 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 enquiry 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 security forces to exercise maximum restraint during demonstrations slated for next week;

-          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 abide by the Constitution of The Republic of The Gambia and all international laws and treaties of which The Gambia is a signatory.

 

Our volunteers will contact you later on for donations and request you to sign the petition. Thanks.