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.