And Hon. Fatty had to hold a debate with Yahya on crime and circumstance and on the Death penalty instead of charge that it would be murder-so-foul if he were to kill those he planned to kill. And here's the kicker: I bet you can't tell who Hon. Fatty addressed this letter to!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Haruna.
GMC Enters Death Penalty Brouhaha
Reads :221
Mai Takes Jammeh to Task
The leader of the opposition Gambia Moral Congress (GMC) has
joined the brouhaha surrounding President Yahya Jammeh’s announced
enforcement of the death penalty in September.
Lawyer Mai Fatty – himself a victim of the Gambia government’s
vicious attacks – described Mr. Jammeh’s statement as a mere “narrative”
that “lacks in policy substance because his government fails to tell
Gambians how he intends to create a crime- free society. He said such a
narrative, which is “without realistic and sound policy foundation, is a
non- starter.”
Find below GMC leader’s full reaction:
We welcome the President’s call for a crime-free society in the
Gambia. However, with the majority of those on death-row being convicted
of crimes of a political nature, it would be an irreversibly fatal
travesty to put those people to death. We strongly urge the Gambia
government to reverse its dangerous intention with immediate effect. On
the death penalty, our policy position is fundamentally at variance with
the APRC. GMC is fiercely opposed to the death penalty in the Gambia,
particularly under prevailing political and judicial circumstances. We
believe that we can realistically reduce crime, including violent crimes
without killing a single soul. First, a sustainable policy to that
effect, a professional security establishment, and a strong commitment
backed by the required resources must exist. A GMC government shall
abolish the death penalty within our first 100 days in power.
What Gambians anticipated from the government was to tell us its
policy prescriptions for tackling crime. What we got from the president
was a narrative, lacking in policy substance, while failing to state his
government’s plans on how he intends to create a crime- free society. A
narrative without realistic and sound policy foundation is a non-
starter. The government has never conducted a study into the factors
behind the increase in crime rate. They cannot tell you why crime is up
because they don’t know. You cannot control crime without dealing with
its underlying causes. There is no statistical evidence anywhere in the
world, including The Gambia, attributing decline in crime rate
exclusively to the death penalty. Unfortunately, for the past eighteen
years, crime statistics has been non-existent in The Gambia to show
government’s sincerity on the issue.
Law enforcement agencies, particularly the police must be
provided with the right professional training, tools and resources to
combat crime. For now, the budgetary allocation to the entire Police
Force is far inadequate to seriously tackle crime, even for one region
of the country. Investment into the Police Force is critically low. From
personal experience as a lawyer, every time you report a crime to the
police, you would have to either provide them a vehicle at your own cost
or subject yourself to the mercy of the situation. The undeniable fact
is that the police are poorly equipped to do their job, and criminals
know this. The government is equally aware of the challenges faced by
the Police Force.
Incontestable evidence around the world, including the Gambia,
has proven that miscarriages of justice or wrong convictions do occur.
Persons who would later be proven not guilty would have been killed by
the State. We must also look into the crime of prosecutorial misconduct
where evidence is either concocted by security agencies or exculpable
evidence intentionally withheld from the courts and defendants. I do not
know of any criminal trial conducted over the past eighteen years where
the prosecution submitted or shared exculpable evidence with the court.
However, my personal professional legal experience in The Gambia proved
that counterfeit evidence extracted via severe infliction of torture
were presented in court to secure wrongful conviction for treason. We
subjected prosecution evidences to ferocious legal scrutiny in court and
they were rejected by the judge. The contrary could have led to
wrongful conviction of an innocent person for capital offense, a crime
he never committed. Most convicted and waiting on death-row at Mile two
were not so fortunate.
The Gambia should not even consider the death penalty without
first building strong state institutions, effective judicial and
criminal justice systems properly insulated against the slightest
political interference and financial incentives.
the attachments to this post:
Mai Fatty
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