The Big Lie

When Gambian students took to the streets on April 10 and 11 2000 in protest of the alleged murder of Ebrima Barry and the rape of a Brikamaba school girl, the Gambia Government immediately started accusing them of being used by some opponents of the regime to stage the demonstration.

The vice president, Isatou Njie-Saidy and former secretary of state for the Interior, Ousman Badjie, went further to say on national radio and television that the shooting, which led to the death of over a dozen demonstrators started from within the demonstrators themselves since the security forces deployed to quell the demonstrators only had blank ammunition, tear gas, batons and shields at the time.

Many opposition supporters mainly from the United Democratic Party (UDP) were arrested and detained at various police stations across the country. Among them was the late Buba Samura, National Assembly Member for Kiang East. Samura was arrested in Brikama before being whisked to the NIA headquarters in Banjul. He was accused of inciting the demonstrations in Brikama, an allegation he described as rubbish. Armed soldiers were also reported to have arrested and mistreated UDP supporters in Bakau, Farafenni, Jangjanbureh among others.

Looking back at the incident, I have realised that the Jammeh regime was not honest to the public. The authorities knew about the demonstration since April 7 2000 and the killing of innocent Gambian children and wanton destruction to public and private properties could have been averted if they had acted responsibly. Instead they relied on force to serve as a deterrent to future demonstrations. They have the blood of these innocent souls on their hands and as we commemorate the eight anniversary of the massacre, I call on all Gambians to join my campaign for justice to the victims and their families.

We have to speak out. The parents of these young children are crying for justice every day and night. They still cry any time they see pictures of their children. These parents have been failed by the government as we would also fail them too if we continue to ignore their silence cries for justice. SO THINK!

In this edition of PK's Beef, I have decided to reproduce the speech delivered to the nation by Vice President Njie-Saidy, Gamsu's explanation to what led to April 10, the late Deyda Hydara's reaction to Isatou Njie-Saidy and President Jammeh's address to the nation upon his return from the G-77 South Summit for the benefit of all.

Statement by Vice President Isatou Njie Saidy

Fellow Gambians, Following the unfortunate incident of last Monday in which our school children led by Gamsu and other unscrupulous people in the society decided to wreak havoc on the whole country, on behalf of His Excellency, The President, Government and people of the Gambia, I wish to express our deepest and heartfelt sympathy and condolence to the parents and families of the dead and wounded.

It is indeed very sad and regrettable that within a period of three years, students have decided to go on the rampage for the fourth time causing untold damage and loss of property, and in this instance loss of lives. Contrary to the erroneous belief that the shooting started from the security forces on the ground, it is confirmed that in fact the shooting started from within the demonstrators, since the security forces only had blank am munitions, tear gas, batons and shields at the time. I also wish to assure you of Government's concern and primary duty to maintain the peace and stability of the country in the interest and welfare of the entire population, and for the development of The Gambia as nation.

It must be understood that a fundamental condition for development in any country is that an atmosphere of security and stability is maintained by the state. It is only when potential instability is checked and brought under firm control, and the security environment has become stable, that development programmes can be carried out and the general welfare of the people ensured.

You are all aware that within the last five years, this government has invested substantially in education, health, agriculture and other sectors of the economy. We are all living witnesses to the massive expansion of educational infrastructure and services at all levels throughout the country, including the establishment of a university for the first time, where most of the students enjoy full scholarship. This has been made possible through the support of both public and private institutions and individuals, including the establishment of an Educational Trust Fund under the Office of The President.

The parastatal institutions, in particular the Gambia Telecommunications Company Ltd. (Gamtel), have contributed immense resources towards the education of a significant number of students at all strata of the society. In fact the board of directors of Gamtel has recently approved an increase of 40% on their education fund.Despite all this sacrifice from Government and the parastatals, it is indeed very disheartening that the students led by Gamsu and other unscrupulous people have wilfully carried out such massive destruction of useful facilities, thus depriving everyone of their essential services.

Fellow Gambians, I wish to appeal to all, particularly community and religious leaders during this period of grief and sorrow, to offer prayers for the deceased and the speedy recovery of the injured. Let us also pray for peace and reconciliation, and embark on a healing process to enhance our cherished virtues of tolerance and peaceful co-existence that The Gambia has always been renowned for. In the same vein, we wish to urge the media to engage in objective reporting during this difficult and trying period.

Finally, as mentioned in our previous press release of Tuesday, 11 April 2000, the unfortunate death of Ebrima Barry has been given all the attention and urgency it deserves, by the department of state for Justice. Let me reiterate that investigations have been completed, the suspects interrogated are presently remanded in custody. The case has been registered in court and the due process of the law will be observed.Once again, I wish to appeal to the general public and Gambians in particular, to re-orientate our thinking and behaviour towards patriotism and sense of belonging.
I thank you all for your attention.

Gamsu's explanation

In his affidavit in support of the application to the High Court to release 20 detained students, Alieu Darboe, president of the University Students' Union gave a version as to what led to the events of 10 April 2000.

I ALIEU DARBOE, of Kanifing KSMD, a student, of Gambian Nationality make oath and say as follows:

1. I am the deponent herein and a member of Gambia Student Association.

2. I am the President of the University of The Gambia Students Union which is a sub-union of the Applicant (Gambia Student Association), and as such President I am an honorary executive member of the Applicant.

3. I am aware by virtue of my membership in the Gambia Student Association that the applicant was lawfully registered as a charitable organisation under the Companies Act Cap. 95.01 of The laws of The Gambia, and issued with a Certificate of Incorporation No. 264/1992.

4. I am aware that the applicant had organised a peaceful demonstration by its members to petition the Government of The Gambia for redress of their grievances over the death of one Ebrima Barry and the raping of one Binta Manneh, all acts believed to have been committed by security officers of the State.

5. The said demonstration was to have taken place on 10th April 2000 and students were to converge at the gate of Gambia Technical Training Institute at kanifing for the procession.

6. On 9th April, 2000 the executive of the applicant held a meeting at St. Therese's Middle School at Kanifing in which I was present. At the said meeting one Alieu Khan, the President of Gambia College Sub-Union, informed us that the Secretary of State for Local Government and Religious Affairs, Retired Captain Lamin Kaba Bajo informed him that he heard the applicant was planning a demonstration. The said Secretary of State told Alieu Khan that he was going to arrange a meeting for some members of the applicants Executive Committee to meet the Vice President and some Secretaries of State in order to find a peaceful solution to the crisis over the death of Ebrima Barry and the raping of Binta Manneh.

7. The meeting that Retired Captain lamin Kaba Bajo was arranged was for 10th April, 2000 the day appointed for the peaceful demonstration.

8. The meeting requested Alieu Khan to ask Retired Captain Lamin Kaba Bajo to send a motor vehicle to pick up the members who were selected to attend the proposed meeting. The venue for pick up was to be at the gate of Gambia Technical Training Institute.

9. It was agreed that we explore the possibility of dialogue with State authorities and report back to all members.

10. It was further agreed that we postpone demonstration pending the outcome of the meeting with the State authorities which would then determine our
future action as an association.

11. It was already late in the day to contact students, and we agreed to converge at the gate of Gambia Technical Training institute as earlier communicated to members of the applicant and to inform them of the new
development. It was agreed that we ask them to wait for us to go to the said meeting and give them a feed back after the meeting.

12. On 10th April, 2000 whilst converging opposite Gambia Technical Training Institute the paramilitary officers arrived in battle gears. One of them held a hand public address system and immediately announced that all students were to disperse. This was certainly not what we expected after Retired Captain Lamin Bajo's proposal was accepted and communicated to him.

13. The executive members of the applicant and myself told students not to disperse but to keep off the road and remain calm.

14. I saw the same paramilitary officer who made the announcement use his mobile telephone after which i saw him talk to the other paramilitary officers who were immediately galvanised into activity. They attacked
students beating them with batons and there was utter chaos.

15, I saw Omar Joof, the President of the applicant and Baboucarr Jonga, the External Relations Officer of the applicant arrested by the paramilitary. I was also arrested together with one Alajie Darboe, the Vice President of the applicant.

16. We were taken to the paramilitary base at Kanifing which was next door to the Police Mobile Traffic office, where we were detained together with other students. Whilst in detention all students at the said paramilitary base were beaten and kicked all over our bodies.

17. Whilst in detention the Secretary of State for Interior, Ousman Badjie, visited us and told us that he believed we were being used by some elements which Mr Omar Joof vehemently denied. Ousman Badjie then ordered our release and informed Omar Joof, Baboucarr Jonga, Alajie Darboe and myself to go with him to the meeting at the office of the Vice president. I then realised that Retired Captain Lamin Bajo had indeed arranged the meeting.

18. On our way out we heard sporadic gun shots; we saw a thick smoke and people running helter skelter.

19. The Secretary of State for Interior requested us as members of the applicant association to address students and ask them to remain calm, our efforts failed because security officers were firing at students who were in turn hurling stones at them and some made barricades on the highway to stop the security officers from advancing.

20. I am aware that no student was armed; I am also aware that the members of the applicant did not have access to arms and ammunition. Students only had stones which they picked on the road.

21. I am aware that there was no demonstration since the demonstration itself was postponed pending our meeting with the Vice President and Secretaries of State.

22. Omar Joof, Baboucarr Jonga, Alajie Darboe and I requested the Secretary of State for Interior to ask the paramilitary officers to stop firing and to retreat, the said Secretary of State retorted that the order had already been given and he was unable to stop them.

23. We never made it to the meeting and the confrontation between the security forces and students continued.

24. I am aware, and this was confirmed by the State media, that students have been arrested nation wide and some died in the commotion; others seriously injured; some hospitalised, and some still detained.

25. I have been advised by Counsel Hawa Sisay Sabally and I verily believe that students have not been formally charged before any court for any offences relating to the events of 10th April, 2000 and 11th April, 2000.

26. I am aware that Pa Alasan Ceesay, Sainabou Gaye, Lamin Jobe, Alhagi Camara, Ebrima Daffeh, Abdou Sonko and the persons listed in the schedule attached to the originating summons of the applicant are all students who are members of the applicant association who have been arrested and are currently detained by the respondents.

27. The applicant is now aware of the arrest and detention of any security officer or Government agents or servants for their role in the events of 10th and 11th April 2000.

28. The applicant is not aware of the arrest and detention of any security officer or Government agents or servants for their role in the events of 10th and 11th April 2000.

29. I believe these detained students are being held incommunicado and have not been given access to counsel.

30. I believe the healing process can only begin when all students are released and reunited with their families and friends.

31. I verily believe that the continued detention of these named students and any other student for that matter will prejudice the Coroner's Inquest and any proposed inquiry since all these students are potential witnesses. I make these statements to the best of my knowledge, information and belief.


Deyda Hydara's reaction to VP Njie-Saidy

We Want Peace, But...

The statements by Vice President Isatou Njie-Saidy and Interior Secretary Ousman Badjie called for an analysis.

In the case of the Secretary for the Interior, his statements over the Radio and the TV are different. According to the Radio Gambia report, Badjie stated that the security forces only used rubber bullets and tear gas. In the interview over the TV, he stated that they used blanc ammunition, tear gas, batons.

Now, rubber bullets at close range kill, so the use of rubber bullets could have caused death.Badjie also said intelligence information revealed that armed civilians were within the ranks of the demonstrators. If that was the case, then how many members of the security forces were shot by these people? Better still, were any of the armed men identified or arrested since they were located by intelligence operatives?

Now, we would not bother to join the speculation on the suggested identity of such people, which is rampant in town, for want of proof. But we need to know whether the intelligence men, that identified them, just stood by and allowed them to go scot free thereby failing in their real national security responsibility.

If that was the case, then those are the real threat to national security, and not the students! If those people were on the scene and located, they should have been the primary concern and focus of the security, and a special group should have been assigned the role to round them up.

Our sister, the Vice President said the shooting started from within the demonstrators. In both Badjie's and Njie-Saidy's accounts, the point made seems to indicate that these people were firing at the forces. Mrs. Njie-Sady's account clearly denotes that the shooting started from their end. The question is - was it because these people were firing at them, that the security retaliated using live ammunition in addition to the rubber bullets?

And were any gunmen hit, as was the case with several students? Or are we to believe that the gunmen (apparently enemies of the law, as former detainees, as said last night on TV and potential enemies of the state which jailed them) shot at the students while moving among them, and none of the student attempted to run away from them?

Or for those shot, were they shot from the back and, if so, what explains the reported frontal injuries suffered by the victims.Is it a case of being between two fires - with the obvious picture for all to visualise.

It is an open secret that these two statements and pronouncements did not go down well with the public, as verified in transport vehicles, public gatherings (funerals), markets and mosques surroundings. As we said in our last issue, the failure to avert the tragedy lies squarely on the shoulders of the government, and it has to assume full responsibility for what happened.

Hundreds of onlookers saw who did what. The truth must be accepted and said. When a young man is brought to a police station for stealing, his parents bear the brunt of insults and abuses from the police who place the responsibility for such a disposition on their shoulders, although they did not actually commit the felony themselves (No amalgamation please, a constitutional right for demonstration is different from stealing).

The same applies in this case - the government is the mother and father of the security forces. If the government, through its agents fails to protect lives, properties and maintain peace and security at one point in time, it must be courageous enough to accept that it is unable to govern; thus it must assume full responsibility for any situation that arises.

The need for peace and stability must be understood by government as a sincere effort to address the concerns and aspirations of the people. If concerns are not addressed, if issues are not resolved, and if no apparent moves are made openly to allow everybody and aggrieved parties to see that the principles of good governance and the rule of law are observed, resentment, discord and clashes are bound to happen. In order words, it is the government that should lay the foundation for peace and stability in the first place, by creating the necessary conducive environment.

On media objectivity, let us tell our sister and her colleagues that just by associating her in this piece, we are abiding by the requirement for journalistic objectivity. By hinting that a number of people should resign, we did not exclude our sister nor our brother Badjie: meaning that the principles of objectivity were observed. The objectivity of the journalist entails that he/she distances herself from the people or events he/she is observing (people here, are people you normally know and interact with).

And we cannot be accused of not having condemned in the most vehement terms the destruction of properties. We re-iterate our call for all responsibilities to be situated through a credible independent enquiry, for, that, and only that, could appease the wounded people. We subscribe to Peace with a capital P, but not to the "Peace by Force" slogan that some of the security forces were heard shouting to the boys and girls. For "peace by force" can only be the best recipe for disruption of the peace, for conflict and instablity!

Concerning the abuses "stupid, crazy Deyda" and the death threats, we respond that as documented, in 1994, when it was "hotter" and more dangerous as early as September, we offered our life to The Gambia. The situation is still the same, for as a journalist, we're obliged to place our responsibility to the people above and beyond loyalty to anything else. As for the threats:

Yes, a bullet comes with a frightening speed, pierces your skin, enters and explodes in your body's horizontal extremity. Small boys and girls endured it, so why not us? We are no better than them. As for the fire, it is true that it consumes you in a horrible manner. But ....you land in Heaven. So what?


Jammeh's address to the nation on the student's demonstration

BISI - MILLAHI ARAHMANI

Fellow citizens
My task today is indeed a very difficult one, as it is with the deepest feeling ever of immense distress and utmost grief that I address the nation on the unfortunate and tragic students's demonstrations that occured last Monday and Tuesday. On these two dark days in our country's history, this nation suffered irreparable loss of lives and incalculable damage to properties. Most regretable is the untimely death of 12 young people and the large number of wounded.

I therefore wish to take this sad occasion to join each and every one of you, on behalf of the Government and people of the Gambia and that of my family, to extend deepest condolences and heartfelt sympathy to bereaved parents, families, relatives, friends, classmates and loved ones of our departed children. Let us all pray that the Alminghty Allah receives their souls and grant them eternal rest. Les us also pray for the sick and wounded, to recieve Allah's speedy healing and recovery.

We must offer prayes also for the breaved and the nation, to be comforted, to have faith and courage to sustain their loss. As we remember and commit those we love deeply in Allah's care, I am hereby declaring one week of mourning, during which all flags in the country will be flown at half mast in loving memory and respect for the dead.

Fellow Gambians
I want us all to put this sad and unprecedented incident into its proper perspective, to reflect and investigate into the causes and to draw useful lessons from the experience. While I was in Cuba attending the G 77- South Summit, I have been constantly working with the government on the evolution of the situation on the ground.

Everyone will agree that the primary duty of any government is to ensure that peace and stability prevails in a country, safeguard the rights of everyone to life and property, and guarantee freedom and justice without fear or favour. My Government will therefore conduct a full investigation into the events of the 10th and 11th April 2000. In the investigations, no stone will be left unturned in our search for the truth. Concurrently, a coroner inquest will be held on the cause of the 12 young people who lost their lives in this unfortunate incident.

Fellow Gambians

In the days that lie ahead, I will be counting on all Gambians, religious leaders, leaders of conscience to held bring back the peace and stability that has enabled us to help neighbouring countries to avert the dangers of internal conflict and strife. We want to build a society whose youth will be proud of the educational infrastructure and facilities that have been made available to them. This will enable us to build on these foundations which will continue to make The Gambia a haven of peace and stability in the sub-region and Africa at large. These are certainly some of the essential pre-conditions for attaining our Vision 2020.

I thank you all for you attention and pray that the Almighty Allah continue to shower His peace and blessing on the bereaved, the wounded and the country as a whole.

ASSALAMU ALAIKUM WARAH MATULLAHI WABARA KATUHU