Mr. Dampha, I see the point you have painstakingly been trying to put accross. We did not get on the list of 96 countries most notoriously known for torture because of Mr. Chongan. What we are dealing with here is an institutionalized system of torture in Gambia. This is the monstrousity we have to stop. The sooner we stop apologizing for these criminals the better for all Gambians. Lamin Jeng The article below was culled from www.gambianet.com. ---------------------------------- GAMBIA ON TORTURE COUNTRIES LIST Posted Friday, July 6, 2001 by Editor The Gambia has been included in a long list of countries where torture is believed to be a routine practice, invoking fear among ordinary people in the course of their political and social activities. According to the international standard document on world conflict and human rights prepared each year by the Interdisciplinary Research Programme on Causes of Human Rights Violations at Leiden University, in the year 2000 The Gambia, among others practised systematic, widespread, common, frequent or routine torture, which has political undertones. The list released since June 25 was in support of Sister Diana Ortiz' vigil outside the White House last Tuesday as she tried to draw attention to torture, which like genocide, is seen as a repressive measure that both dehumanizes the victim, and inspires local revolution and regional instability that will inevitably threaten U.S. interests. The list contains 96 countries, where torture is said to be the norm. It was intended to inform President George Bush and Congress about the global trend of the human rights situation amidst calls to place high priority on directly reducing US taxpayer assistance to countries where torture is seen as widespread. It is not clear what stance the new United States government would take following persistent reports of violations of human rights and torture although there has been speculation that a tough line against human rights transgressors would be pursued. Since the 1994 coup, which brought a change of leadership in The Gambia, there has been a steady increase in cases of torture by security agents of individuals thought to be threats to the security of the state or political opponents of the administration. Journalists had also borne the brunt of torture by state security agents. In 1999 Shyngle Nyassi, a youth leader of the United Democratic Party was abducted and was released after 26 days, showing signs of being tortured while in the custody of NIA agents. Lamin Waa Juwara the UDP's propaganda secretary was also arrested for political reasons and kept incommunicado around the same time. Recently a US country report indicted The Gambia for what it viewed as a worsening human rights record over the past year. It cited the torture of students and other individuals who were thought to be linked with last year's student demonstration in which fourteen people were killed. Alhagie Nyabally a former vice president of the main student body Gamsu was detained and allegedly tortured by the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) after he delivered what was seen as a blistering speech to commemorate the student tragedy. He was said to have spoken of state hypocrisy and the lack of depth of the administration to address the situation. The death of Ebrima Barry in March 2000 was said to have resulted from torture. Dumo Sarho and five others - Lt Lalo Jaiteh, Lt Omar Darboe, Ebrima Barrow, Momodou Marenah and Ebrima Yarbo were arrested and held incommunicado for more than four months for allegedly conspiring in a coup plot to unseat the government. In a separate incident, Lt Landing Sanneh was arrested for allegedly plotting a coup and was detained for a long period without being charged. He was charged in June 2000 for treason. This latest document states that torture, like genocide, is a detail of international life that most presidents would rather not address. Other countries on the list include Libya, Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Bolivia, Colombia, El Salvador, Haiti, Cambodia, Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, Senegal, Saudi Arabia, Sierra Leone, Mauritania, Rwanda, Zimbabwe and Angola. _________________________________________________________________ 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. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------