Gambians
in the United States are marking the 15th anniversary of the so-called
culture coup of 22 July, 1994 that brought President Yahya Jammeh to
power.
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The Gambia |
While
the Banjul government puts on official parades, sporting events and
musical entertainment, expatriates in Washington, DC and New York City
are staging protests against what they consider to be one of Africa’s
most repressive regimes.
In Washington, about 40
demonstrators gathered at the Gambian Embassy on K Street, NW on the
eve of the anniversary. Opponents of Gambian regime turned out Tuesday
in the United Kingdom, and a march is planned for Wednesday in
Manhattan near the United Nations.
Human rights activist
and Gambian Press Union (GPU) representative Pasamba Jow attended
Tuesday’s embassy protest. He told the Voice of America that President
Jammeh’s modest origins belie the great wealth he has amassed since
taking power.
“When Jammeh took power, he was earning less
than $300 a month. Today, he is claiming to be one of the richest
people in Africa. He was so poor that he was extremely malnourished
when he came to power. Today he is living an extravagant lifestyle at
the expense of the Gambian people,” said Jow.
The
protesters, supported by Amnesty International and Gambians’ own
Movement for Democracy and Development, represent approximately
8-10,000 expatriates now resettled in the United States. Jow says they
are hoping to raise international awareness about the wave of illegal
arrests, detentions, torture, secretive murders, and unexplained
disappearances that have characterized the 15 years of the Jammeh
military dictatorship.
“What we really hope to achieve is
for the international community to know that Mugabe is not the only bad
leader in Africa. I don’t have hope that Jammeh will ever change, but
maybe he will realize that it does not pay to continue to abrogate the
rights of people,” he said. |
President Jammeh has been criticized for claiming a secret herbal remedy, with which he is shown here treating HIV/AIDS patients |
Tuesday’s
protesters were critical of the ruling Alliance for Patriotism,
Reconciliation and Construction (APRC), which they say has undermined
good governance, human rights, press freedoms, and the rule of law. The Gambian government has been widely accused of killing prominent journalist and editor of The Point
newspaper Deyda Hydara in 2004 and secretly arresting another leading
reporter, Chief Ebrima Manneh, who has not been heard from since 2006.
Last month’s detention of seven Gambia Press Union journalists and
executives, who still face court dates on charges of “seditious
intent,” has muted mounting criticism of alleged government involvement
in Chief Manneh’s disappearance.
In explaining the
significance of Wednesday’s 15th anniversary protests, Pasamba Jow
criticized what he called President Jammeh’s arbitrary,
unconstitutional replacement of government officials and the murders
and disappearances of 18 other democracy activists, soldiers, and
government ministers.
“Since that period, Gambians’ rights
have been stifled. People have been put in jail. Some have been
arrested daily, and people have even gone as far as being murdered. So
to us, it is one of the darkest days in the history of the nation,”
noted Jow.
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Senator
Richard Durbinhas led US calls for the Gambian government to account
for the arrest and disappearance of journalist Ebrima Manneh
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He also said the closure of such media outlets as The Independent
newspaper and Citizen FM Radio had hampered public efforts to learn the
truth about the government’s rights violations. But he said that it is
encouraging to see a growing international outcry about the crackdown
and he is especially grateful to US public officials who have begun
speaking out and bringing the crisis to the attention of the Obama
administration.
“People like Senator (Richard) Durbin, who
is the number two person in the US Senate, is in the forefront in
asking for the whereabouts of Chief Manneh. So if you have members of
Congress, members of the Senate, writing to the president, ordering the
release of Chief Manneh. If you have somebody like Senator Durbin
calling for the release of Chief Manneh on the Senate floor, I think
it’s very encouraging to us who’ve been fighting for 15 years to see
human rights and democracy in the Gambia,” he said.