GPU – USA PRESS RELEASE
The Gambia Press Union-USA welcomes the unconditional release of NADD flag bearer and Foroyaa editor Halifa Sallah by the Gambian authorities.
The arrest and detention of Mr. Sallah was an act of senseless criminality that has received its fair share of condemnation both at home and abroad. We commend Mr. Sallah and all those who raised their voices to condemn his arrest and call for his immediate release. We also commend all Gambians and friends of The Gambia who took the time to read and sign our petition on stopping the madness in our country.
But while we welcome Mr. Sallah’s release, we continue to demand that the senseless arrest and detention of civilians on bogus charges of witchcraft must stop now. President Jammeh’s bizarre act of paranoia and blatant disregard for human dignity and the rule of law in ordering the raiding of government offices and villages and the arrest of thousands of innocent civilians including women and the elderly on bogus charges of witchcraft must be immediately brought to an end.
There is no law in our constitution or law books that define alleged witchcraft as a crime. Despite this fact, Jammeh orders innocent men, women and the elderly of both sexes to be rounded up by armed soldiers and supposed sorcerers from Guinea, and forced to drink concoctions which cause them to faint, vomit, urinate or even defecate on themselves in the presence of other people, an extremely humiliating experience in Gambian culture. GPU–USA strongly condemns these outrageous violations of human rights and human dignities and calls on all Gambians, friends of The Gambia, the international community; human rights organizations, and other interested groups to bring pressure to bear on Jammeh to put an immediate halt to these senseless persecutions and humiliations of innocent people.
The GPU-USA specifically calls on President Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Representive Susan Rice, U.S State Department agencies, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, the British Parliament, the United Nations, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the European Union, the Commonwealth, CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, the VOA, the BBC and other international media and human rights groups to intervene and help rid the Gambian people of a regime headed by a mentally unstable president who is subjecting the Gambian population to unprecedented levels of oppression and persecution. The senseless witch-hunting must stop now!
Signed on behalf of GPU-USA
Demba Baldeh, Public Relations Officer
Baba Galleh Jallow, Secretary General
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