Overseas Campaign To Restore Democracy Heats Up: Gambian Opposition To Meet British MPs The Independent February 16, 2001 Posted to the web February 16, 2001 Alhagie Mbye Banjul The Movement for the Restoration of Democracy in The Gambia (U.K) in conjunction with a cross-party group of British members of parliament and representative of The Gambia's opposition parties are reportedly arranging a briefing session on The Gambia at the House of Parliament on February 28, 2001. According to reports the session will be held in the Committee room in the British House of Commons to address among other issues, the "democratic deficit in The Gambia" including the withdrawal of basic civil liberties and democratic freedoms and the imprisonment and harassment of opponents and opposition party members. The session will also try to address the use of "government-sanctioned physical violence against the independent media, and the rejection by government of the report and findings of the Commission of Inquiry into the last April student massacre." According to the reports the meeting will also discuss the cancellation of local government elections in The Gambia and issues surrounding the Presidential and National Assembly elections slated for later this year. The convenor of the meeting is said to be John McDonnell, a member of the British Parliament for the constituency of Hayes and Harlingen. Speakers during the session will include Ms. Diane Abbot MP, Mr. Jeremy Corby MP and representatives of various human rights groups. According to the report representatives from organisations such as the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, Department for International Development and The Foreign and Commonwealth office will attend. Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, international NGOs such as Action-Aid, and CRS are also expected during the session. Other representatives will also include the Centre for Democracy and Development, Pan-Africanist International, Socialist International, Liberal International and Inter-Parliament Union (IPU). It was also revealed that representatives of selected foreign missions as well as international and local British media would be in attendance. Gambians, who said they would attend the occasion, told The Independent that they expect a crowded session. _________________________________________________________________ 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. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------