Movement for Democracy and Development P. O. Box 500 Bronx, NY 10453 Email: [log in to unmask] June 23rd 2006 Honorable Dr. Condoleezza Rice Secretary of state U.S. Department of State 2201 C St. NW Washington, DC 20520 Dear Secretary Dr. Rice: We, Gambians based in the United States, under the umbrella of the Movement for Democracy and Development (MDD) Organization in The Gambia, are writing to draw your attention to the unlawful arrest and continuous detention of a Human Rights lawyer Ms Mariam Jack Denton who was arrested on March 24th, 2006 and is detained at Mile 2 central prison in Banjul. She is held in solitary confinement, incommunicado and without charge. Ms Denton is the Administrative Secretary for Legal and Human Rights Affairs for the main opposition United Democratic Party (UDP). With the presidential elections less than 90 days ahead, her continuous detention is seen as a way of preventing her legal services to the Gambian community and particularly to the opposition. She has always been a strong woman in the courts challenging the Government’s unlawful actions: denial of permit for the opposition to hold rallies, unjustifiable arrest and detention of opposition militants, representing (UDP) National Assembly candidates on election petitions, and at times providing free legal representation to the needy ones. We are very much concerned about the deepening political and human rights abuses, widespread torture, as well as the great number of alleged extrajudicial killings of detainees by both the presidential guards and agents of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA). President Jammeh has no respect for the country’s constitution which guarantees freedom of assembly and expression, right to information and privacy, and protections afforded by the Gambia’s supreme law against arbitrary arrest and imprisonment of individuals without trial. Hon. Dr. Rice, in President Bush Inaugural address on January 20th 2005, he said “The best hope for peace in our world is the expression of freedom in the world.” The convictions behind his words were challenged by some dictators like the former Liberian president Charles Taylor but where is Charles Taylor today? The whole world has respected President Bush for standing by his words and defending democracy and freedom worldwide. We all know President Bush has played a good roll in bring former Liberian President Charles Taylor to trial. Hon. Dr. Rice, The Gambian president, Yahya Jammeh has challenged President Bush by continuously suppressing and oppressing the Gambian people. He has managed to suspend freedom of the press, muzzling the Internet, and severing channels of communication with the outside world, he has turned Gambia into a prison with 2 million people. He continues to arrest and detain opposition political figures, private journalists, and Human Rights lawyers. President Jammeh’s actions are detrimental to not only The Gambian people, but also to President Bush efforts to increase freedom across the world. We, the concerned members of the Movement for Democracy urge you to put the considerable moral force of this great country where we have chosen to live, and where some of us are citizens, behind the effort to pressure the Gambia President to exercise democracy and guarantee the fundamental rights of all Gambian people provided by the Constitution. As President Bush said “There is only one force of history that can break the height of hatred and resentment, and expose the pretensions of tyrants, and reward the hopes of the decent and tolerant, and that is the force of human freedom.” Finally, we look forward to your urgent attention and action to help secure the release of the Human Rights lawyer Ms Mariam Jack Denton and give substance to these powerful words of President Bush and your strong voice in support of democracy and freedom of the press in The Gambia. Sincerely, Signed: Saihou Mballow Chairperson Cc: Africa Union Cc: American Embassy Banjul Cc: Amnesty International Cc: Human Rights Watch Cc: International Red Cross Cc: CPJ Cc: Reporters without borders Cc: Gambia Media Cc: Allgambian.Net Cc: The Gambia Journal.com Cc: Freedomnewspaper.com Cc: Gambia List Cc: Gambia Post Cc: African Abroad News paper Cc: West African Newspaper __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤