There are certain basic ‘Human Rights’ that all Gambians MUST expect. Gambians NOT suffering from Ales should NEVER be bamboozled into ‘trading’ such rights for ridiculous notions like ‘socio-economic rights’. Say a big NO! to Yaya when he tells you to give up fundamental human rights for the ‘development’ he ‘brings’ into the country. This argument might come in many forms. BUT sane Gambians see through these arguments. Sometimes the Dictatorship might want to convince us that these ‘human rights’ are ‘Western concepts’ that are not apt for our society and the ‘West’ is trying to impose unworkable conditions on us. Needless to say, this is absurd. What is ‘unworkable’ about having a free press? The basic ‘Human Rights’ we ‘enjoy’ in Gambia are enshrined in OUR Constitution. Although the Dictatorship tampered with the Constitution in the final analysis, the bottom-line is that this document was NOT imposed on us by some ‘Western Power’. The starting point of any serious discourse on our so-called human rights is our Constitution; or should be our Constitution. What are the rights that are guaranteed by that document? Are those rights being safeguarded? It is disingenuous to have a Constitution (guaranteeing citizens certain rights), have a government that abuses the citizens and then turn around and tell them that the ‘rights’ guaranteed by the Constitution are after all not important and should play second fiddle to ‘socio-economic rights’. Gambia is NOT at the stage the French were during their Revolution when people were deciding on which way to go in terms of beefing up the bare bones of their political slogans. We have passed that stage a long time ago. People have already ‘decided’ on a Constitution. That Constitution inter alia states that Gambians are guaranteed ‘freedom of speech and association’ and administration of due process of law. These are such basic notions that it is mind-boggling to see anyone trying to argue against such ‘freedoms’ or trying to peddle to people that such ‘freedoms’ are less important than the building of an ill-equipped hospital. Why can’t we expect from our government the (economic) development of the society while at the same time safeguarding the BASIC ‘rights’ of the people? All that Human Rights ‘activists’ in the country complain about is that the government is violating the Constitution when it terrorizes its own citizens. No one (except APRC) is arguing that the government should disregard the laws of the land. APRC is the one that makes the law, violated it and then argue that we did not need the law in the first place. The Media Bill is a classic example. The Constitution guarantees Freedom of Speech. The Constitution also enjoins the regular Courts to administer due process of the law. APRC comes from nowhere, throw out the ‘guarantees’ in the Constitution and then argue that the Gambian people should NOT protest because Freedom of Speech is a ‘Western Concept’. This is ludicrous, to say the least. The argument makes no sense. Even if this ‘freedom’ was NOT guaranteed in our Constitution, the fact that some ‘Western countries’ adopt such ‘freedoms’ should NOT be justification enough for us to abandon the policy. What does fighting for this ‘right’ have to do with the government taking loans and ‘developing’ the country? Why should we trade this ‘right’ with the silly AFPRC/APRC projects that are rendering our people poorer? This doesn’t make sense. You do NOT even hear the most progressive governments in the world (bringing meaningful ‘developments’ to their citizens) making such preposterous arguments. Those governments do NOT tell their citizens to forego their ‘human rights’ in order to give a free hand to the government to develop the country. This tantamount to changing the adage ‘you cannot talk and whistle at the same time, to you cannot walk and whistle at the same time’. Of course people can walk and whistle simultaneously. Just like governments can ‘develop’ a nation (socio-economic development) while at the same time guaranteeing people’s fundamental ‘human rights’ enshrined in OUR Constitution. Matter of fact, any Dictatorship that tramples on people’s ‘human rights’ because of some mirage ‘development’ is just setting itself up for eventual doom. Gambians should NEVER buy into the fraud that they do not need certain BASIC ‘human rights’ because they are ‘Western Concept’. No matter where one is in this world, one should be free to expect that the government does NOT disregard our laws and torture journalists, abduct and illegally incarcerate political opponents, massacre children as young as three with impunity, the list goes on about ‘human rights’ abuses in Gambia. We should NEVER hate ourselves to the extent that we rationalize cold-blooded murder and argue that our people deserve the shortchange we are getting from the mental midgets ruining our society. Not what the Dictatorship says are ‘important rights’ are the real deal. The real deal is spelt out in our Constitution and the various international agreements we have signed onto. NO! to enslaving ourselves because Yaya and his cohorts ‘promised’ us some ‘socio-economic development’ that is rendering our people poorer. 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