From the Daily Observer 04/18/2001 Tamsir trumpets truth and reconciliation commission The majority leader of the National Assembly, Tamsir Jallow, has called for a truth and reconciliation commission to help heal the wounds of the tragedy of April 10-11, 2000, which claimed the lives of at least 12 Gambian youths. Contributing to the adjournment debate on the Indemnity Act bill last evening, Hon Jallow argued that before the bill is passed, mechanisms like the truth and reconciliation commission should be put in place for the sake of national reconciliation. Citing Nigeria and South Africa as examples, he advanced that such a commission would appease those whose relatives were victims of the incident. Hon Jallow said it was misleading for some assembly members to link the bill entirely with the April 10-11 events, noting that "the bill will have a positive impact on unfortunate events that might occur in the future." He noted that the amendment should not be seen as a cover-up on the side of the government, saying "if it were a cover-up, no pronouncement would have been made in the government white paper on the reports of the commissions of inquiry." Sidia Jatta, member for Wuli, posited that the bill was a sign of guilt, adding that it was brought to the assembly to assassinate the Republic of The Gambia and the freedom of Gambians. "Why was the bill presented to the assembly with a document of urgency when it is not urgent? Where is the urgency in it?"he queried. Hon Jatta reasoned that laws were meant to serve the people and should be universally applicable. He pointed out that during the tragic events of April 10-11, 2000, constitutional rights were flouted and that the bill was meant to cover those who were responsible for human rights infringement. He further pointed out that the assembly has ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child and other human rights conventions which, he said, the bill was incompatible with. Cecilia Cole, the deputy speaker, argued that most Gambians had forgiven and forgotten the events of April 10-11, 2000, and that the bill would only make people to remember what they had forgotten, thus exhuming the bitterness. In his contribution, Seedy Amang Kanyi, member for Jarra East, said that the bill would promote criminality by defending criminals in uniform. He added that if the APRC had stood up for truth, they wouldn't have come up with the bill. "The truth might be suppressed but justice will always prevail," he stated, describing the assembly as a rubber-stamp. The debate continues today. _________________________________________________________________ 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. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------