Telling the Terror Agents The Independent (Banjul) EDITORIAL December 3, 2001 Posted to the web December 3, 2001 Banjul, the Gambia A High Court judge could not have described them any better. 'NIA operatives do not behave like humans' he said. They are in a realm of their own where indecorum and grisly dehumanising treatment is the only language they speak, we would add. If human beings like those in the NIA could behave inhuman without the slightest remorse and step up their systematic harassment of the good, the poor, the weak and the law-abiding, then The Gambia qualifies as a country under siege. Dark rooms, electrified knuckles specially fashioned for torture, mosquito- infested cells, graveyard stillness, faces stern behind dark glasses are all these present-day Gambian Gestapo need to terrorise 'visitors' who all but want to be their guests in the first place. Appalled as we at The Independent may be over Mbye's detention, we would never lose sight of the fact that the NIA was after all set up by the state to prop up security and make Gambians and guests live in peace of mind and body. But its notoriety has only brought us to one chilling reality - fear and sense of insecurity among people apprehensive about the daily possibility of being hounded by the NIA. Their treatment of Alhagie Mbye provides freshly chilling insight into their method and motive against hapless 'visitors' at the agency's bureau. Held incommunicado, denied any decent food, subjected to grinding sessions of interrogation and tortured out of his wits for days on end, Mbye's ordeal could only suggest an institution of heartless and mindless individuals who derive pleasure in the agony of others and perhaps profit from their elimination. Our reporter was at the cruel butt of NIA insensitivity not because of violating any law or threatening the security of the state. Nor was he abused for misrepresenting the mission of the state or the vision of the government. He was aggressed for his ideals, his calling, his ethical profession and his stout commitment to them. His torturers knew they had no case against him, no chance to take rightful advantage of him. He was as always innocent and harmless as a lamb set for premature slaughter. Rare were reports he filed routinely to The Independent and periodically to West Africa found with gaping holes to warrant him being plucked from the privacy of his home, driven mafia-style inside a dark glass vehicle and cruelly detained in a sordidly cold and decrepit room, where he would later wait for the worst. Obviously a report safely edged on 'alleged' and 'claimed' does not have the faintest bearing to security. All what were reported were alleged and not scribbled to pass off as the prim and proper facts. NIA misrepresentation of articles gives them away as not very expert. Moreover, their disregard of a court order to produce Mbye in court speaks volumes about their scant sense of law and of respect for life. Mbye was simply an underserved prey to the NIA's trademark of wanton wickedness. Only the Gestapo of Hitler's Germany of the 1930s and 40s could come anywhere near as brutal, sinister and insensitive. Inasmuch as we would not expect lousy school dropouts, gibberish cronies and street-wise misfits to behave with tender decorum, the NIA as an institution is unforgivable for unleashing them on already hounded and hooded individuals. Let the NIA know that they are never going to be glorified by acts of insane cruelty on individuals who cannot even hurt a fly let alone commit grievous crimes or threaten state security. Independent journalism is no crime, it is a legitimate practice complimenting their role as security watchdogs. Let NIA operatives realize that their method would never make them friends with those who cherish the values of the free world. Another point yet; why should the NIA be used by a raving sycophant who cannot know the wood for the trees in simplistic journalism. FJC was quite instrumental in Mbye's detention in August and again was behind the poor reporter's recent ordeal. Her e-mail to West Africa a day before Mbye was picked up provided some searchlight into the embers of her dervish plans against The Independent. Although she was rebuffed by West Africa we would yet again remind her that she would always live with a tortuous conscience. Conspiring with the Gambia's Ton Ton Macoutes to drag us down is outside honour. Contributing to the detention and torture of an innocent man is less honourable. Like Shakespeare's Macbeth, their conscience would never know peace here and the hereafter. We rest our case. <<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>> 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] <<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>