Jabou Joh wrote: "Gassa, a government that is doing right by the people does not have to resort to all of these things, and people are afraid to open their mouths in our country. You and the rest of the troup come here telling us that this is not the case, even as all of these arrests and unlawful detention of people and the abuse of their human rights is going on daily. Is this a government that is likely to listen to anyone who tells them that these acts are not the parameters that one measures a good government by? No matter what else this regime accomplishes, these heavyhanded behaviour will cloud it, and make the rest of the World condemn them and call them a brutal regime. You cannot say you are improving the quality of life for people while at the same time stifling their ability to express themselves freely". Jabou, I don't come to the L to try to rationalise or defend the indefensible. All I am trying to do is bring certain issues in their right perspective. I, for one, respect most of the views some of you express concerning what happens here. However, the blatant lies spread here as the gospel truth is what worries me. It is high time that the suspicion between the opposition, particularly the UDP and the APRC be put to rest and the two parties work hand in hand for the benifit of all. I usually do not like to make reference to people to defend this regime and that is perhaps why I rarely engage myself in issues of so-called human rights abuses or harassments. I will however make an exception today and say a few things. 1. Jabou, I spend more time with Emanuel Joof of the Africa Centre for Human rights than most of you will ever believe. 2. I spend more time with Mohamed Sillah of Amnesty International (Gambia) than most of you will ever believe. For your information, none of them will ever accept from anyone that I am a sycophant, mental midget, interllectual prostitute, vermin, moron, despicable etc, etc. They will be the first to defend my integrity and this you can take to the bank. They all know my stance when it comes to my perspectives about what is going on as we discuss these issues more often than they are discussed here. I can tell you that they do not oppose this government but have certain concerns. They donot belong to the opposition, I can tell you that. They are very principle young men with a lot of integrity and fine judgment and I should know because I am very close to both. Coming to the case of Mohamed Sillah that many parrot about here, did you know, for example, that Mohamed Sillah was a government civil servant untill he resigned very recently? I bet that will a surprise to many. He was NOT FIRED, he resigned! Now let people try to rationalise this and ask themselves why he has never been fired before. how come this government that is so intolerant and constantly fires people who are percieved to be opposition sympathisers did not fire him long ago. After, they were paying his salary. The reason, my friend, is because he is a very fine young man whose stance is not anti-government but pro-decency. I will be the first to admit that many a times there are excesses here and there by some members of the security forces and this is most regretable. However why do you think it is always or in most cases it is always the UDP militants and sympathisers who get this aweful treatment? The problem is that, whereas parties like the PDOIS, NRP and whatever you have, recoqnise the legitimacy of the government, the UDP does not seem to do so. Some of their pronouncements unfortunately border on incitement and I don't think any government worth its salt would ignore that. Coming to this percieved fear by Gambians to speak their minds, I wonder where you people have got that idea from. The so called obnoxiuos decrees 70/71, am sure have never been used before or have they? You people have read online here, excerpts from Gambian papers that are very critical of the government and those papers are still in circulation. Or are they not? Mr. Beran Jeng forwarded a piece from the Independent, not the Observer mark you, giving a very rational overview of what many know. Tell me, honestly, what your views are concerning that article. I am refering to the one about the old guard. That article clearly and eloquently explains what I have, for months, tried to explain in vain. Would a government that does not want to be criticised or engaged open a cyber discussion forum whereby any body can speak his or her mind without any fear? How many of you have taken that opportunity to engage the government possively for the betterment of all? Finally Jabou, nowhere in my post did I imply that any of you are assylum seekers. I was just giving the perception of some of the people living here about some of you in the Diaspora. I have a lot of respect for some of you even though we are politically on opposite ends of the political spectrum. Have a good day, Gassa. _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp <<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>> To view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] <<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>