Hamjatta, thanks again for your brilliant contributions. I know we can always count on you to show up in our hour of need. Your idea about looking into civil suits being brought by the families, is a great one. We know genuine lawyers that will gladly go to court and fight for these families. If we have family members in the United States, I join you and respectfully counsel them to chat with lawyers to explore possibilities of bringing actions under the Foreign Tort laws of the U.S. That way, the next time Yaya sets foot in the U.S. federal marshals will serve him court papers and freeze his ill-gotten gains deposited in foreign bank accounts. Hamjatta, you are spot on about the faithlessness of some of our leaders. I have a lot of pity for these people. Deep (superficially deep) inside these people, they know that what they are doing is wrong. It was no accident that Secka ran away from the press after delivering this despicable message. It is no accident that people I know for twenty years or more, stopped talking to me after they started dining with the Devil (Yaya). It was no accident that Jassey-Conteh's cousin started avoiding Jassey as soon as he (Alagie Conteh) decided to mortgage his soul to Yaya. If someone has blood running in his or her veins, he/she cannot call me a hater of our children and then turn around and support Yaya, the very person that ordered the slaughter of our children in broad daylight. Yaya and his cohorts have very sorry lives. One day when it is all said and done, people like Pap Cheyassin Secka will come to us crying and begging for forgiveness. Mark my words. Yaya has been living on borrowed time since April 10, 2000. The massacre of our children is an indefensible act. Secka could not handle the pressure of defending the despicable manner this case has been handled. It is poetic justice that the murder of our children is what led to Secka's demise. It shall also lead to Yaya's eventual downfall, because the vermin cannot act honestly. Acting honestly in this matter would require Yaya to resign and be tried before a court of law like any common criminal. We all know that Yaya is incapable of doing that. So we have to force him. Now that Secka is gone, another traitor has taken his place. I respect calls made in this forum to give Joseph Joof benefit of the doubt. But I have to tell Bojang and Samateh that that is a luxury the struggle cannot afford. The vermin that decide to mortgage their souls to the Devil deserves nothing but condemnation from us. We need not give Joof benefit of the doubt. He has already shown us who he is. By accepting the post, he has told us that he wants to side with Yaya in his war against the people. There are lawyers in The Gambia that can school Joseph Joof about law. So he is not the best man for the job. Those lawyers were all approached and they turned Yaya down. Joof does not need this job to feed his family. He can legitimately make more money in the private sector. So it is not about money either. It is also not about serving the nation. Like I said, there are more qualified lawyers than Joof in the country. Secondly, we all know that all these intellectual prostitutes are so scared that they do not have the guts to give Yaya good advise if they think that Yaya will not be happy with the advise. Joof is not different from Secka, Bensouda, Sisay, Bittaye, Marong or Mbye (I hope I did not miss one of our former AGs.) In other words, they are all cowards. Secka's handling of the massacre investigation is a classic example of how pitiful these people are. If Secka was not scared to offend Yaya and acted like a real lawyer, the matter would have been solved months ago. But because these people wear their hearts in their behinds when they talk to Yaya, they give Yaya illogical advise; advise that on the surface might be good for Yaya, but when you look at it objectively, the advise is bad for the country and can only spell disaster for Yaya. Take it from me that we cannot rely on Joof to change this circle of intellectual prostitution - giving Yaya the only advise they think Yaya wants to hear. What most of these people do not know (because they did not know Yaya pre-1994) is that Yaya is a moron that knows nothing about laws, economics, etc. So if these intellectuals wanted to do good and were not so consumed with fear, they will give Yaya sound advise and allow the chips to fall where they may. But what we have, is a recipe for chaos. We have a moron that knows nothing lording over servants that are so scared to think straight. Only anarchy and chaos will ensue. Going back to Joof, he also showed us his colors by partaking in that bogus commission of inquiry. He did not say a word when government officials came before the commission and told blatant lies or refused to testify on certain issues. This man has no integrity. When he was appointed to the commission, I denounced him and urged the Bar Association to get rid of him as their president. My reason for denouncing him was that Joof (as a lawyer) knew that the commission was just a delay tactic. Lawyers know that criminal cases belong in courts. So why did Joof partake in this fraud? I will not at this stage go into personal stuff I know about Joof and his unfitness to do the job at hand. I will follow all the professional moves he makes while in office. I shall criticize loudly each and every wrong move he makes and I shall ignore any right move he might make. I will also document all the atrocities (including his participation in the bogus commission) he participated in and ensure that when the time of reckoning comes, he shall account for his actions. Joof has been around since 1986 and has done a lot of things he cannot be proud about. We know those things. The guillotine will drop if need be. He already has his work cut out for him. He needs to ensure that there is a conviction in the Ebrima Barry case. He needs to ensure that Dumo et al have their day in court forthwith. He needs to ensure that those ridiculous constitutional amendments Secka was trying to push, get shelved. He needs to ensure that all those undemocratic and draconian decrees get repealed. Above all, he needs to ensure that the criminals that perpetrated the murder of our children get brought before a court of law and punished for their heinous actions. I am sure there are numerous other rotten things going on in the country that need the urgent action of a true Attorney General. If Joof is honest with himself, he will realize that he cannot deliver on these issues. That is why he should have turned down this offer in the first place. Lastly, I would like to plead with people not to pay mind to the fact that Joof was the president of the Bar Association. This is an empty title. This was my fear when he was appointed to the commission. The reason I urged the Bar Association at that time to get rid of him was because I knew Yaya and his cohorts will try to use that title as a public relations gimmick. They will try to portray Joof as an accomplished and important lawyer. People who are not in the know, will think that Joof is someone that is highly regarded by lawyers and is someone that is interested in justice. Let me inform you that Joof is not highly regarded by lawyers. The Bar Association is the weakest such association in the whole world. Why do you think accomplished lawyers like Antouman Gaye and Ousman Sillah are not heading the Bar Association? It is because no respectable lawyer gives a darn about the Association. Self-promoters like Joof use manipulative tactics to get such empty titles. Like I said in this forum before, and Ebrima Ceesay can attest to this because he was at the Observer then, the Gambian Bar Association gave the weakest condemnation of the July 1994 coup. Even the language from the doctors' petition to Yaya and his gang, was more forceful. If a lawyers' association is not strong enough to bring their colleagues together and tell Yaya that some of his moves are blatantly illegal, that association is a failure in my book. Joof will be hard pressed to tell us one significant accomplishment he got while president of the association. He can may be tell us that he had traveled a few times to attend meetings; silly meetings that other association members did not even know about. What he will not be able to tell you is what he and his association did when their colleagues (like Borry Touray, Ousman Jammeh, Felix Lartey and the numerous AGs) were bastardized by this regime. What Joof will not talk about is what his association did about the unlawful abductions and incarcerations of people like Dumo. Where was the Bar Association when a moron like Mustapha Marong who did not even have the required post call experience, was appointed AG? That appointment was illegal and we did not hear a whimper from that lame-duck association. The lawyers that helped Yaya write these draconian decrees and helped Yaya form the kangaroo courts he called commissions and participated in those commissions, will all account for their actions. Lawyers are some of the most culpable people in this mess. They had a potential to do a lot of good things and they refused to do it. In my book, after the soldiers, the lawyers are the second worst profession in that country. I hasten to add that this is a generalization and there are obviously some good soldiers and some good lawyers. Imagine what it will be like if lawyers refused to go to court because we have illegal political prisoners in the country. They will bring the country to a standstill. Police stations will be flooded with criminals that cannot get trials. There will be chaos in the prisons system. It will be a simple act of defiance on the part of the lawyers. But it will make the country ungovernable. Better still, other citizens will be encouraged by that simple act and stand up against the tyranny visited on them on a daily basis by this callous regime. Why are the lawyers not standing up to Yaya? Because they do not have a strong association. Noble men like Antou Gaye, Ousman Sillah, Emmanuel Joof, cannot do it alone. All the lawyers in the country (including judges and magistrates) need to come together and ensure that Yaya and his gang stop the lawlessness in the country. Hamjatta, thank you again for your insights. Your dedication to this cause is also quite inspiring. Your contributions, both on G_L and behind the scenes, is well appreciated. I am honored to be on the same side of the struggle as you. KB >From: Hamjatta Kanteh <[log in to unmask]> >Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list ><[log in to unmask]> >To: [log in to unmask] >Subject: Re: Justice Denied >Date: Wed, 31 Jan 2001 06:07:33 EST > >Brother KB, >When I first read that Jammeh had refused to accept the findings of both >the >Coroner and the Commission, I was reminded of the ancient aphorism that a >leopard is born with spots and will die with spots - some things in life >will >never change. But then some of us are on the record for opposing both the >Coroner and the Commission not in principle but the terms of reference and >the expedient nature of their wherewithal that literally turned them into a >damage limitation strategy. Time, that refuter and debunker of illusions >has >proven our case again. I say and write this without any slight hint of >gloating but of regret that we have allowed a fat head like Jammeh hoodwink >us into another scam. It tells you a lot about the state of the Gambia - >morally, politically, socially and intellectually. If Gambians let Jammeh >get >away with the murder of our brothers and sisters, without raising hell and >ungovernability by agitating through peaceful and decent means, then we >might >as well throw our towels in and ready ourselves for life in exile - >forever! >Our indifference and lack of proper response to the Jammeh Mess can only >lead >to the Sierra Leone type of situation. >Just look at the PDOIS response - I'm still trying to comprehend the >breath-taking naivety of this once-upon-a-time sophisticated, radical >sincere >and smart party! After all we have gone through with Jammeh, these guys >still >naively think Jammeh has the moral wherewithal to act sincerely and see to >it >that justice is not only done but also seen to have been done. And their >obsessions with commissions? Especially truth and reconciliation >commissions >and the ahistorical analogies of South Africa's Apartheid and the Gambia's >Jammeh Tyranny. Do I have to tell them that reconciliation can only come >after oppressors' machinery of oppression had been laid asunder and not >vice >versa? The calling for a truth and reconciliation commission is not only >logically absurd at this stage but more importantly it exposes a >fundamental >flaw in their reasoning: The idea that this immoral regime of fat heads and >low- lifers are genuinely interested in the dispensation of swift and fair >justice. Do these guys really believe that criminals genuinely set up >stuff >that will land them on the downside? Do they honestly believe that that >tooth-less and muscle-less commission and coroner can effectively dispense >the justice needed after the April murders? Do they honestly? Frankly, I >have >to come to accept their low-risk and soft criticisms of this regime but it >is >on the naïve bit I have some catching up to do. >Well, at least they have released a statement condemning the gov't's >rejection of the findings of the both the Coroner and the Commission. As >you >rightly queried, what about the other players - The UDP, NRP, and the rest >of >civil society? I have once said somewhere - can't quite remember where >exactly - that the reason why we have come this far with a fathead like >Jammeh is the general lack of faith in Gambians and the virtual >non-existent >of any civic society that under circumstances would coalesce and fight a >common enemy. People think faith is just going to mosque and dispensing >with >nominal duties of a practising believer! In my book, faith starts off as an >abstract leitmotif and remains at a rock bottom abstract. What do I mean by >this? Faith is not so much about the lengths you to be seen to be doing >nominal and routine believers stuff but how far you let your conscience be >the guardian of your actions and the extent you let it tolerate or even >accommodate injustice or evil. Going by the aforesaid paradigm, clearly the >Gambia has a faith problem. But then the recent hypocritical howling for >"sharia" after a mass murderer, thief and sinner moots the idea just about >exposes how faithless our society really is. >Brother, I still think that us that think and view Jammeh differently can >practically and positively fight against the evil that has hijacked our >country. Brother I saw it reported a while ago in one of the local papers >one >family of the victims of the April murders called for civil litigation >against the gov't. We should look at this very seriously. Stuff happens >that: >In a society where there is what Tony Giddens calls "civic liberalism", the >families of the victims would have coalesced and formed a support/pressure >group that will independently fight its corner. I suggest we liase with the >folks on the ground and help them form such a group; we might even call the >group - Families/Victims of April 11 Support Group. Then those who are >really >interested in justice can contribute whatever they can lay their hands on >to >push forward the agenda of those who are still traumatised by the April >events. I'm sure there some good lawyers out there who wouldn't >representing >this group on a pro bono basis and sue the gov't for its shabby, >despicable, >disgusting and odious handling of the welfare of the victims of the April >events. Above all, I'm of the conviction that courts of law would in the >very >end be far more effective in unravelling the truth behind April events and >establishing a premise for one to ponder an international litigation >against >the gov't, if need be. >Brother, I thank you for your vigilance, resilience, wisdom and above all >your sense of justice that from had inspired and to this day continues to >inspire. >Hamjatta Kanteh > >---------------------------------------------------------------------------- > >To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L >Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html >You may also send subscription requests to >[log in to unmask] >if you have problems accessing the web interface and remember to write your >full name and e-mail address. >---------------------------------------------------------------------------- _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.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 You may also send subscription requests to [log in to unmask] if you have problems accessing the web interface and remember to write your full name and e-mail address. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------