Gambia News: Gambian activist goes missing ahead of planned protest over executions

(Africa Review) - The Gambian government appears to be cracking down on opposition to its much-criticised spate of executions after reports that its intelligence agency had picked up an activist planning to lead a protest.

Mr Baboucarr Ceesay, a vice president of the Gambia Press Union and a former journalist with the opposition Foroyaa newspaper, was Friday arrested after he went to pick a permit for the planned march.

The demonstration was being planned in secret as President Yahya Jammeh's authoritarian government does not tolerate internal criticism or displays of dissidence.

But demonstrations in Gambia are illegal without police clearance, and this forced the activists to apply for a permit from the authorities.

Sources say Mr Ceesay, also a correspondent for the Nairobi-headquartered regional media house Nation Media Group, was detained by the secret police when he went to collect the permit for which he had applied in his name.

Details of his whereabouts remain unclear but he was reportedly escorted to his house for a search Friday morning before being taken away.

There has been heavy police presence at strategic places after reports of planned demonstrations against more executions following the Gambian government confirmation that it had executed nine death row inmates two weeks ago.

The US embassy last week warned its citizens to be vigilant while travelling to the tiny west African nation of 1.8 million and which had not executed a prisoner since 1981.

The Gambian government has been under huge international pressure following the executions with the AU, EU and UN all having called for a halt to the killings.

Gambia:Yahya Jammeh’s countless murder, torture, exile victims - Updated List

By Mathew K Jallow, Wisconsin, USA

As Gambians remember seventeen years of unprecedented human and civil rights abuses, we endeavour to put names to the many Gambians who have lost their lives or suffered injustices under the regime of Yahya Jammeh. The updated list of the executed, murdered, disappeared, those being tried, facing charges, exiled or languishing in Yahya Jammeh’s prison system and jail houses around the country tell the story of the brutal legacy of Yahya Jammeh’s and his regime over the past seventeen years. But this list is by no means complete, since the multiple forced disappearances in the Fonis are not near completely documented yet and other crimes by the regime are still to come to light.

Prisoners execute in Mile 2 Prisons August 23, 2012

1. Lamin B. Darboe

2. Alieu Bah

3. Lamin Jarju

4. Dawda Bojang

5. Malang Sonko

7. Lamin F Jammeh

8. Gibril Bah (Senegalese)

9. Tabara Samba, raped multiple times before her execution (Senegalese, female)

Gambians recently murdered on orders of Yahya Jammeh

Abdoulie Colley, Abuko Village

Musa Badjie, collapsed and died in Mile 2 Prison, August 25, 2012

Wuyeh Colley, Kanunorr village, murdered August 22, 2012

Enor Colley, Kanunorr village, murdered August 22, 2012

Regime’s witching-hunting Kangaroo Trials

GAMCOTRAP’s Dr. Isatou Touray and Co. trials

GNOC’s Beatrice Allen and Co. trials

Suruwa Wawa B. Jaiteh and Dr. Loum’s trials

Dr. Amadou Jallow and Co. trials

Dr. Alasan Bah and Co’s trials

Recent arrest, detention and charged with treason

Amadou Scattred Janneh, former minister of Information

Ndey Tapha Sosseh, former president of the Gambia Press Union

Mathew K. Jallow

Famara Demba

Modou Keita

Ebrima Jallow

Michael C. Uche Thomas (died in prison)

Torture and Yahya Jammeh’s convoy related deaths

Demba Sibey of Numuyel village

A third grader from Saaba Primary School

A young girl killed Yahya Jammeh’s motorcade/Gunjur prayer fest

Paul Bass NIA operative killed by Jammeh’s convoy

Arab businessman dead in collided with Jammeh’s convoy

A soldier from Sintet village killed escorting Jammeh’s convoy

A little girl killed by convoy during Mauritanian President’s visit

A child killed by stampede for Jammeh’s biscuits at Sere Kunda market

In total since 1994 nearly twenty people; children and adults have died as a direct result of Yahya Jammeh’s speeding convoys and biscuit throwing to crowds.

Recent Arrests of journalists

Sports Editor Nanama Keita, facing witch-hunting/Kangaroo Trial

Ahmed Alota, arrested, detained, released

Executed and Murdered Civilian and Military

Ousman Koro Ceesay
Deyda Hydara
Sidia Sanyang
Ebrima Chief Manneh
Omar Barrow
Lamin Sanneh
Ousman Ceesay
Sarjo Kunjang
Ebrima Barry
Ousman Ceesay
Saja Kujabi
Haruna Jammeh
Yaya Jammeh
Daba Marena
Staff Sergeant Manlafi Corr
Sergeant Major Alpha Bah
Lieut. Ebou Lowe
Lieut. Alieu Ceesay
Sgt. Fafa Nyang
Lieut. Basiru Barrow
Cpt. Sadibou Hydara
Lieut. Almamo Manneh
Lieut. Abdoulie Dot Faal
Lieut. Bakary Manneh
Lieut. Buba Jammeh
Lieut. Momodou Lamin Darboe
Cadet Officer Sillah
Lieut. Basiru Camara
Corpl. Mendy
Lieut. Gibril Saye
Sergeant Dumbuya
Momodou Sowe

Gambians detained, released in Jail or murdered between 1994-2012

RSM Alpha Bah (exected
Major Ebrima Bah
Lt Momodou Alieu Ba
Corporal Samba Bah
Tijan Bahoum: Power Supply Director NAWEC
Kemo Balajo: ex-National Intelligence Agency
Foday Barry: ex-NIA; director of Intelligence
Ourani Barry: ex-Senior Civil Servant
Lamin Bojang: Medical Research Council
Ebrima Camara: ex-police officer
Omar Barru Camara: ex-MP APRC
Captain Wassa Camara
2nd Lt Alieu Ceesay
Lamin Ceesay: Politician
Madi Ceesay: President, Gambia Press Union
Awa Darboe Cham: wife of alleged coup leader Ndure Cham
Lamin Cham: ex-Daily Observer, BBC correspondent
Lamin Cham: Politician
Momat Cham: former minister
Momodou Cadi Cham: former politician
Superintendent Abdoulie Colley: ex-police officer
Retired Colonel Abdoulie Conteh: former KMC Mayor
Staff Sergeant Manlafi Corr
Captain Bunja Darboe
Lamin R. Darboe: Politician
Lamin Saiba Darboe
Captain Yaya Darboe
Adama Deen: former Managing Director Gambia Ports Authority
Demba Dem: ex-MP APRC
Momodou Demba: Politician
Mariam Denton: Human Rights Lawyer
Raif Diab: Businessman
Ramzia Diab: former nominated MP, APRC
Musa Dibba: ex-NIA Director of Finance
Sheriff Mustapha Dibba: ex-Assembly Speaker
Baba Drammeh: ex-Independent Electoral
Commission (IEC) officer
Omar Faal: Marabout
Ansumana Fadera: ex-Senior Civil Servant
Jerreh Fatty: Politician
Lamin Fatty: journalist, The Independent newspaper
Mariama Fatty: Politician
Kebba Faye: ex-Senior Civil Servant
Tamba Fofana: Head Master
Abdou Gafar: journalist, Daily Express newspaper
Lamin Gassama: Security Manager, Banjul International Airport
Antouman Gaye: Lawyer
Pa Njie Guirigara: General Manager, VM
Sarane Hydara: ex-Senior Civil Servant
Captain Abdoukarim Jah
Karamo Jaiteh: former Managing Director, Gambia Roads Authority
Suruwa Wawa B Jaiteh: former Permanent Secretary
Staff Sergeant Buba Jammeh
Haruna Jammeh. Villager
Kebbaringo Jammeh: Councilor
Marcel Jammeh. Villager
Lance Corporal Babou Janha
Amie Jarju. Villager
Cherno Ndure Jarju: Politician
Lamin Jarsey: Politician
Tamsir Jassey: ex-Deputy Inspector General Police, Director of Immigration
Dudu Kassa Jatta: Politician
Ousman Rambo Jatta: Councilor
Colonel Vincent Jatta: ex-Chief of Defense Staff (deceased)
Momodou Jaw: ex-IEC officer
Abdoulie Kanaji Jawla: MP, APRC
Baboucarr Jobarteh: ex-Protocol Officer
Maimuna Jobarteh: Politician
Abdou Jobe: Managing Director, NAWEC
Alieu Jobe: ex-Accountant General
Duta Kamaso: ex-MP, APRC
Kanyiba Kanyi: Politician
Lamin Keita: ex-Senior Civil Servant
Nato Keita: Politician
Abdoulie Kujabi: ex-Director General, NIA
Jasaji Kujabi
Dr. Badara Loum: ex-Permanent Secretary
Lt Ebou Lowe
Mustapha Lowe: College student
Bamba Manneh: ex-NIA operative
Chief Ebrima B. Manneh: journalist, Daily Observer newspaper
Fatou Jaw Manneh: journalist
Kebba Yorro Manneh: Politician
Daba Marena: ex-Director General, NIA
Malick M’boob: ex-Daily Observer, RV
Sulayman Sait M’boob: ex-Minister, IEC Commissioner
Sergeant Buba Mendy
Captain Pierre Mendy
Omar Ndow: former Managing Director of Gamtel/Gamcel
Ndondi S.Z. Njie: former Chairman of IEC
Alhagie Nyabally: ex-President, Gambia Student Union
Alassan Nyassi
Balla Nyassi

Dr. Badara Loum: Former Permanent Secretary, Agriculture
Private Alagie Nying: Gambia National Army
Sam Obi: Daily Express, RFI correspondent
Baba Saho: ex-NIA director, External Security
Musa Saidykhan: former Editor-In-Chief, The Independent newspaper
Betrand Sambou
Dodou Sanneh: former journalist, GRTS
Ebrima Sillah Sanneh: ex-IEC officer
Lamin Sanneh: former Permanent Secretary
Sergeant Abdoulie Sanyang
2nd Lt Pharing Sanyang: Gambia National Army
Commander MB Sarr: Gambia National Army
Lt M. Savage: Gambia National Army
Ebou Secka: ex-Senior Civil Servant
Nourou Secka: ex-NIA operative
Momodou Senghore: ex-Senior Civil Servant
Ousman Sey: Marabout
Musa Sheriff: journalist, Gambia News & Report magazine
Amie Sillah: journalist, women activist
Alieu Singhateh: ex-NIA operative
Kebba Singhateh: Politician
Modou Sonko: journalist, Daily Observer newspaper
Private Ebrima Sonko
Juldeh Sowe: journalist, The Independent newspaper
Issac Success: journalist, Daily Express newspaper
Azziz Tamba: Politician
Ebou Waggeh

Arrest and Detention of Journalists

October 2005: Abdoulie Sey
2005: Musa Saidykhan
March 2006: Musa Saidykhan
March 2006: Madi Ceesay
April 2006: Lamin Fatty

Journalists on Exile in Senegal, Europe and the US

Pa Ousman Darboe
Alieu Badara Sowe
Pa Ousman Darboe
Musa Saidykhan
Sulayman Makalo
Omar Bah
Alhagie Mbye
Ebrima Sillah
Augustus Mendy
Bankole Thompson
Papa Colley
Sulayman Darboe
Fatou Jaw Manneh
Pa Omar Jatta
Momodou Thomas
Musa Saidykhan
Ansumana Badjie
Pa Samba Jaw
Sarjo Bayang
Pa Nderry Mbai
Cherno Baba Jallow
Ebrima Ceesay
Baba Galleh Jallow
Ebrima G. Sankareh
Yankuba Jambang
Mathew K. Jallow

Military/Security mysterious deaths

Captain Tumbul Tamba
Captain Musa Jammeh
Colonel Vincent Jatta
Lieut. Solomon Jammeh
Pa M. Jallow
Manlafi Sanyang
Boye Bah
Momodou Bah
Illo Jallow

Military/Security/Civilian recently detained

Lang Tombong Tamba
Bore Badjie
Omar Bun Mbye
Demba Njie
Lamin Fatty
Yankuba Drammeh
Malamin Jarju
Kawsu (Bombardier) Camara
Ngorr Secka, NIA
Ensa Badjie
Bun Sanneh
Sarjo Fofana

Military/Security/Civilians: detained, released, fled

Captain Bunja Darboe
Capt Yahya Darboe
Capt. Wassa Camara
2nd Lt Pharing Sanyang
Alieu Jobe
Tamsir Jasseh
Omar Faal
Demba Dem,
Col. Ndure Cham
Abdoulie Kujabi
Kemo Balajo
Alieu Singhateh
Foday Barry
Landing Sanneh

Executed Military and Security officers 2006
Alieu Ceesay
Alpha Bah
Manlafi Corr
Ebou Lowe

Daba Marenah

Students Massacred April 11th. 2000

Reginald Carrol
Karamo Barrow
Lamin A. Bojang
Ousman Sabally
Sainey Nyabally
Ousman Sembene
Bakary Njie
Claesco Pierra
Momodou Lamin Njie
Ebrima Barry
Wuyea Foday Mansareh
Bamba Jobarteh
Momodou Lamin Chune
Abdoulie Sanyang
Omar Barrow
Burama Badjie

Gambians Missing and Disappeared Since 2005

Ebrima (Chief) Manneh: arrested July 2006
Kanyiba Kanyi arrested September 2006
Haruna Jammeh arrested in 2005
Marcie Jammeh arrested in 2005
Alfusainey Jammeh arrested in 2005
Momodou Lamin Nyassi arrested in 2005
Ndongo M’boob arrested in 2006
Buba Sanyang arrested in 2006
Alieu Lowe arrested in March 2006,
Sgt. Sam Kambai arrested in 2006
Bakary Gassama arrested in 2007
Kebba Secka arrested in 2007
Ebrima Dibba arrested in May 2008,
Ebrima Kunchi Jammeh arrested in May 2008

Cases of Regime ordered Arsons against media personals.

August 8th. 2001, Radio Station 1 FM, was set ablaze around 2 a.m. in the morning, after proprietor George Christensen and his watchman were doused with hazardous chemicals in the hope of incinerating them. The two victims survived the ordeal, but the station was a total loss.

August 10th. 2001, the home of Alieu Bah, Radio I FM journalist, who moderated debates and discussions between prominent personalities, was set ablaze around 3 a.m. while he, his wife and children were asleep. The family narrowly escaped death, but the house was gutted to the ground.

October 17th. 2003, The Independent Newspaper premises were set on fire around 3 a.m in the morning when three unidentified masked men stormed the building, assaulted the night watchman and then sprayed him with fire hazard chemical in the hope he would burn to death. But he luckily survived the assault. The premises were destroyed beyond recognition.

April 13th. 2004, the Kanifing printing facilities of the Independent Newspaper was set on fire around 2 a.m. by six individuals dressed in military fatigue. The printing machinery and other hardware equipment were completely destroyed.

August 15th. 2004, the home of B.B.C reporter, Ebrima Sillah was set on fire as he slept. He narrowly escaped.

Arrests and Detentions of Journalists

September 19th. 2003, around 6 p.m. Abdoulie Sey, the Editor-in-Chief, The Independent Newspaper was arrested from his office by intelligence agents and held incommunicado. He was released four days later.

September 2005, Musa Saidykhan, Editor-in-Chief, The Independent Newspaper, was detained for interrogation for a brief period of time shortly after returning from a South African journalist conference.

March 27th. 2006, Musa Saidykhan, Editor-in-Chief, The Independent Newspaper, was arrested again by security agents a few days after publishing an article critical of Yahya Jammeh’s reactions in the wake of an alleged coup attempt on March 21, 2007. He was released after three weeks in detention.

March 2006, Madi Ceesay, The Independent General Manager, arrested by the regime’s agents, was released after three weeks of detention.

April 10th. 2006, Independent reporter, Lamin Fatty was arrested from his home by NIA agents and released after two months in detention and charged with false publication.

April 25th. 2006, Independent receptionist, Juldeh Sowe, was arrested and released after several hours.

July 7th. 2006, Daily Observer journalist, Ebrima Chief Manneh, was arrested by NIA officials from the Observer premises, was seen in public once after two years detention, at the Royal Victoria Hospital, sick and emaciated. Six powerful U.S Senators; Edward Kennedy, Richard (Dick) Durbin, Russell (Russ) Feingold and Joe Lieberman among others wrote to Yahya Jammeh asking him to release Journalist Manneh after being held for nearly three years. Manneh has since been confirmed murdered by Jammeh’s agents.

May 24th. 2006, following the hacking of the online, Freedom Newspaper, five Gambian journalists whose names appeared on the paper’s readers list were arrested and detained for different lengths of time. After several months they were released. They are:

Musa Sheriff
Pa Modou Faal
Lamin Cham
Sam Obi
Malick M’boob

Other arbitrary arrests against journalistSeptember 2006, a Gambia Radio and Television Services reporter, Dodou Sanneh, was arrested and detained, and later fired, rehired and fired again from his job government job.

March 28th. 2007, Fatou Jaw Manneh, a U.S. based Gambian journalist, was arrested at the airport, her traveling documents seized and charged with sedition. Her Kangaroo trial lasted more than a year. Her heavy fine was paid with donations from family and friends from all around the world.

December 16th. 2005, police ruffed Ramatoulie Charreh up after the participants in a conference she attended, attempted to visit the spot where journalist Deyda Hydara was gunned down.

2006, Njaimeh Bah, Point Newspaper reporter, attacked by unknown assailants, was severely beaten.

December 12. 2006, Baron Eloagou, reporter for the Daily Express, was severely beaten by unknown assailants.

December 2006, Abdougafar Olademinji, reporter for the Daily Express, was attacked by unknown assailants and beaten severely.

June 14th. 2009, seven journalists and members of the Gambia Press Union (GPU), were rounded up from various locations by heavily armed paramilitary agents and detained at NIA headquarters before being transferred to the notorious Mile 2 prison outside Banjul. The group listed below, were granted bail and charged with publishing seditious material and their case is ongoing despite protestations of regional and international organizations such as Media Foundation for West Africa, Amnesty International, Community to Protect Journalists.
Emil Touray, Secretary General Gambia Press Union
Sarata Jabbi Dibba, Vice President, Gambia Press Union
Pa Modou Faal, Treasurer, Gambia Press Union
Pap Saine, Managing Director, The Point Newspaper
Ebou Sawaneh, Editor, The Point Newspaper
Sam Sarr, Managing Editor, The Foroyaa Newspaper
Abubakr Saidy-Khan, journalist, Foroyaa newspaper.

June 16th. 2009, Abdulhamid Adiamoh, Publisher of Today Newspaper, was arrested for false publication and detained at National Intelligence headquarters. Forced to plead guilty or face deportation back to Nigeria, he was fine an extortive amount of money or face six months jail time.
June 22nd. 2009, Augustine Kanja, a reporter for The Point Newspaper, was arrested and detained by security agents. He was released June 25th, 2009.

Attempted Murders: Fled Gambia
Ousman Sillah: Attorney/Lawyer
Mai Fatty: Attorney (Attorney/Lawyer

Foreign nationals executed in Gambia
44 Ghanaians
2 Senegalese
1 Togolese
2 Nigerians

72 Ministers: Appointed and Fired

Mass Axi Gai
Angela Colley
Kanja Sanneh
Neneh Macdoual-Gaye
Therese Ndong-Jatta (resigned)
Maba Jobe (hired & fired before taking office)
Momodou Lamin Sedat Jobe (resigned)
Joseph Henry Joof (resigned)
Satang Jow (retired)
Yankuba Kassama
Margaret Keita
Ousman Badjie
Samba Bah
Lamin Kaba Bajo
Musa Bittaye
Amie Bensouda
Fatou Bom Bensouda
John P. Bojang
Momodou Bojang
Nyimasata Sanneh
Bojang Mamat Cham
Ebrima Ceesay
Momodou Nai Ceesay
Ousman Koro Ceesay (murdered)
Sulayman Massaneh Ceesay
Bakary Bunja Dabo
Fasainey Dumbuya
Samba Faal
Omar Faye
Sadibou Haidara (murdered)
Sheikh Tijan Hydara
Blaise Jagne
Balla Garba Jahumpa
Momodou Sarjo Jallow
Dr Amadou Scattred Janneh
Manlafi Jarju
Tamsir Mbowe
Dominic Mendy
Alieu Ngum
Bakary Njie
Omar Njie
Susan Waffa-Ogoo
Hawa Sisay Sabally
Sana B. Sabally
Abdoulie Sallah
Hassan Sallah
Momodou Sallah
Sidy Morro Sanneh
Kebba Sanyang
Samsudeen Sarr
Cheyassin Secka
Musa Sillah
Edward Singhatey
Raymond Sock
Amina Faal Sonko
Baboucarr Jatta
Famara Jatta
Kumba Ceesay-Marenah
Mustapha Marong
Fafa Mbai
Musa Mbenga
Sulayman Mboob
Bolong Sonko
Bai Mass Taal
Fatoumatta Tambajang
Bemba Tambedou
Yankuba Touray
Crispin Grey Johnson
Antouman Saho
Lamin Bojang
Marie Saine Firdaus

Edward Gomez

Mamburay Njie

Compiled by Mathew K Jallow

Gambia: Yahya Jammeh admits to 9 executions, but is the real number 18 or 26 massacred

By Mathew K Jallow

The oldest inmate, Lamin Darboe, had his death sentence commuted to a life in prison years ago by former President Dawda K Jawara. The youngest, Buba Yarboe of Busumbala village, suffered severe mental illness and was totally incapable of making rational decisions, much less have the capacity to understand his surroundings. And beautiful Tabara Samba, the female in the group, with little children at home, tried and sentenced for murder in an apparent manslaughter case, was gang raped by her captors. This is not a preamble of the opening chapter of an Agatha Christie crime novel, it is real, and it happened in The Gambia. What all three individuals shared in common was their cruel, mind-numbing execution at Mile Two Prisons, an act of brutality so unimaginable, it left an entire nation numbed by grief, disgust and utter disbelief. On that fateful August night last week when nine inmates were led out of their concrete-walled and steel door cells and executed in cold blood with such willful disregard for human life, the Gambia descended further into new depths of mindless barbarity.

Yahya Jammeh has finally dug his own grave. This time around, his fate will not be determined by the primitive superstitions and customary devil worship that have dictated the way he ruled Gambia with bewildering ignorance; instead his life now rests in the hands of the Gambian people.  For the first time in seventeen years, Gambians both at home and abroad cry out in deadly rage with a united voice and a determination never before seen in all these years of tyranny and political madness. For seventeen years, Yahya Jammeh has ruled The Gambia with an extraordinary cruelty and mean-spiritedness, in the process turning himself into an object of hate and scorn, but it is his extremely vexing detachment from reality that has locked him into a perpetual state of delusion and illusionary grandiosity. The relationship between Yahya Jammeh and the Gambian people is a marriage that has never worked well, not even for a single day, and the time for it to end came and went with each extraordinary abuse of power that has included the deaths of fellow citizens. But the recent execution of as much as twenty-six helpless prisoners is the straw that broke the camel’s back and sealed Yahya Jammeh’s fate.

The executions in Mile two Prisons of so many innocent Gambians is more than anyone can bear, and if Yahya Jammeh thinks this egregious act of violence will just go away like the massacre of the sixteen students or the execution of forty-four Ghanaians, he is clearly underestimating the resolve of the Gambian people.  But more baffling still, while the regime admitted to the execution of nine inmates, the real number could be as many as twenty-six people executed on the orders of Yahya jammeh and unless the regime can produce all the inmates to the public, Gambians and the international community will continue to assume that twenty-six were inmates executed. This case is similar to the Ghanaians massacre ten years ago when the regime admitted to eight murders instead of forty-four who were really executed. To make matters even worst, rumors of the use of the body parts of the executed in ritual sacrifice are rife. Given Yahya Jammeh’s extreme dependence on primitive African belief systems, these rumors are not all that far-fetched. But if the ritual sacrifice rumors are proven true, this will further aggravate Gambians and animate even more violent outrage among Gambians and the international community.

Today, ten days after Yahya Jammeh executed as much as twenty-six Gambians and Senegalese, lost in the conversation is the issue of burial of the dead. So far, families of the executed have not received the bodies of their loved ones in order to give them decent burials according to local customs and Islamic tradition. The relatives of the executed are urged to go to the Banjul mortuary and demand to be given the bodies of their executed family members for burial. In the same vein, the Gambian public is urged to support the quest by family members to retrieve the dead bodies of their relatives from Yahya Jammeh. The Senegalese community in The Gambia should also congregate at the Banjul mortuary to demand the surrender of the bodies of Tabara Samba and Gibbi Bah for repatriation to their villages in Senegal for burial. This effort should be supported by the Senegalese government, and besides, President Macky Sall must independently demand the return of the bodies of his citizens to accord them the proper burials they deserve in Senegal. Yahya Jammeh has no authority under any law to continue to detain the bodies of the executed. The family members of the dead have the rights to demand the return of their dead relatives and not let irrational fear of Yahya Jammeh force them to abandon their obligation to their deceased relatives.

This week, Gambians across the globe will express outrage with demonstrations, a move complemented by Senegalese demonstrations for the execution of their compatriots. In stark contrast, in The Gambia,  even the media appeared timid in their reporting, but it is the outrageously tepid “so-called” Group of 6 (six) letter that is so aggravating to the Gambians public.  And more puzzling still, the cowardly “so-called” group of six’s letter to Yahya Jammeh arguing the legal basis for the executions is completely misguided, out of line and irrelevant to the situation. The illegality of the executions is an established face, and besides Yahya Jammeh does not respond to legalities or simple common sense. Time and again, he has shown unwillingness to respect our Constitution and the laws of the land and scores of letter from politicians over the years have been ignored with reckless abandon. As it is, the time for the politicians to overcome their fears is now and what Gambians expect from Ousainou Darboe is to call the country out in a massive show force to demonstrate until Yahya Jammeh leaves. Today, hundreds, if not thousands of Diaspora Gambians are ready and willing to join nation-wide demonstrations seeking the forced removal of Yahya Jammeh. We can no longer afford to be held back by fear, and besides if such blatant acts of violence against fellow citizens do not embolden us with resolve, it will mean the acceptance of the devaluation of Gambian life,

With the massacre of as many as twenty-six Gambians and Senegalese a done deal, the broader debate has to shift focus to the removal of Yahya Jammeh by hook or by crook. After the latest act of unprovoked violence against innocent citizens, Yahya Jammeh has shown himself unqualified to continue breathing God’s air, and Gambians urge members of our military to show they care by mustering the courage to dispatch Yahya to a state of perpetual darkness. It is hoped that soon a united Diaspora front will seek to work hand in hand with the political establishment in order to force Yahya Jammeh’s removal from power. It is unconscionable and outrageous that our military and fellow citizens to continue to wallow in a senseless fear of a handful of MFDC Cassamance rebels who have no business whatsoever being in our country. The rebels who provide Security for Yahya Jammeh do not have a monopoly of mean-spiritedness or the determination to fight. Each one of us has that reptilian cruelty in us that can manifest in extraordinary violent acts. Besides, the more than half million young patriotic young Gambians under thirty years age who can be mobilized to take up arms to free their beloved country are no match for the mere hundred fifty Cassamance rebels. Today, Senegal and the broader international community are also ready for Yahya Jammeh’s departure from the face of the earth. For, apparently, Yahya Jammeh did not get the memo from Liberia’s Samuel Doe, Libya’s Mumar Khadaffi and many other tyrants of the past. Those who live by the gun will die by the gun.

Gambia:Today our nation is shocked, saddened and outraged

By Assan Martin, Human Rights Lawyer

Mr. President:

Since honest and sincere advice are lacking in your administration, I felt that I should give short advice to you with all sincerity and honesty on the recent executions of death row inmates.

Today our nation is shocked, saddened and outraged as to the recent executions of some 9 inmates in mile 2 Prison. As a staunched believer of rights and liberties especially the rights of accused persons, I have constantly spoken against the death penalty since October 19^th 2010. Reference of which is on the point newspaper edition October 19^th, 2010. I was basically advocating for the commutation of death sentences to life imprisonment to avoid the innocent lost of lives that can never be recovered.

As counsel who represented and supervised several murder cases since the inception of the special court established to extradite cases and on gratis for my state brief cases. I here remind you Mr. President that our judicial system (courts) is full of flaws and mainly not competent as claimed. Especially some foreign judges trying to impressed you at the expense of the Gambian people. Be informed that there is a lot of miscarriages of justices in our criminal justice system especially with procedures and proceedings in cases of felons in our courts.

Mr. President the ill advices you received from the so called professionals you relied upon are damaging to our nation.”Tackling crimes can only come by tackling the root causesof crimes”   and for people to be educated for a decent society. Death penalty sentences are not a solution to tackling crimes.

However, your former Justice Minister Mr. Edu GomeZ and co tried to defend capital punishment with no justifiable reasons but to solidify their positions in government.

Sadly most of our foreign JUDGES are incompetent and don’t understand the Gambian society and culture. One cannot imagine a judge sentenced to death an accused person in provocative murder cases. Also in a sad case of woman “sentence to death by hanging “for dumping a baby caused by post-antenatal syndromes or stresses leading to concealment of birth in a remote village.

More so the treason trial involving General Lang Tombong Tamba and 8 others on 10^thMay 2010, is a clear case of travesty of justice. I believe in don’t defending the guilt but again let me remind you sir that there existed no justifiable evidence for conviction in this case.  Where conviction is warranted legal experts will not comment against it.

Once more Mr. President halts all executions and repeals all death penalty provisions. As from today our nation will never be the same because the current situation is beyond remedy.  These executions have tarnished the image of our democracy, our Justice system and respect for human rights.

The Gambia: The Balangbaa Uprising

(By Mathew K Jallow)

Their persistent denials rang hollow. Yahya Jammeh’s spokes-people Njogu Bah and Mahamadou Tangara towed the line prescribed by Yahya Jammeh, and in the process managed to create only doubt, yet their guilt-ridden diplomatic offensive did nothing to dissuade Gambians familiar with the regime’s pattern of lies, deceit and denials. The ugly and unimaginable slaughter of innocent and defenseless Gambians was already spreading around the world like wildfire, and Gambians both at home and abroad were left utterly dumbfounded by these egregious acts of violence. What happened on the night of Thursday August 23, 2012, is beyond description and spells the beginning of the end for Yahya Jammeh and his Neanderthal regime.  Like the students’ massacre on April 10, 2000, the mindless slaughter of nine Mile 2 Prison inmates on August 23, 2012, will forever remain etched in the collective memory of the Gambian nation. At exactly 9.30 pm on August 23, 2012, the frightening sound of heavy metal doors broke the stillness of the night. One by one, nine selected inmates were led from their dark, dingy concrete-walled cells and out under the dark open sky above Mile 2 Central Prisons. It was the last time anyone of them would see the mosquito infested cells or smell the overpowering stench of rot, death and human feaces of the dungeon each had called home for so many years. It was the last time they would lay eyes on the four fellow citizens who loitered around aimlessly and who out of despair and despondence had developed severe psychological problems and become mad inside the hellhole of Mile Two Prisons.

Today, it is almost one week since nine Mile 2 Central Prison death-row inmates faced the firing squad that cut their lives short with a hail of bullets. The nine were among forty seven Gambians and non-Gambians sitting on death row who were removed to a central holding cell after Yahya Jammeh threatened to execute them. And as they were being led away to their deaths, one of them, Lamin Darboe shouted out for all the prisoners to know they were being taken away and perhaps never to come back. And he was so right. Since Yahya Jammeh made good his threats and ordered the execution of nine inmates, international pressure and outright condemnation has severely undermined his efforts to rationalize his crime against humanity as an application of the letter of the law. The extremely un-Gambian enforcement of the death penalty and the use of the firing squad as an instrument of death for convicted prisoners and terror against the living dead, by a corrupt judicial system that had long ago lost its credibility, have put the Yahya Jammeh regime on notice. Understandably, the mass murders committed on the orders of Yahya Jammeh last Thursday August 23, overshadowed the brutal execution in Foni, of two sibling elders from the village of Kanunorr, Wuyeh Colly and Enor Colly. Their executions were carried out with a mind-bugling casualness and nonchalance that defy imagination. And today, nearly one week after the executions of nine prisoners that traumatized a nation, another inmate, Musa Badjie, collapsed and died inside Mile 2 Prisons, a testament to the brutal and harsh prison conditions.

For seventeen long years, Yahya Jammeh has tested the will of Gambians with periodic adventures into the Machiavellian world of Stalinist brutality. Since 1994, more than two hundred Gambians and non-Gambians have been murdered on orders of Yahya Jammeh, as many as thirty Gambian men and women have disappeared from the face of the earth after their arrest by regime agents, some as long as twelve years. But the executions of nine innocent prisoners last week brings to mind the brutal execution of forty-four Ghanaians nearly ten years ago, in addition to the vehicular murders of twenty children, run down by Yahya Jammeh’s speeding motorcades. And besides the witch-hunting that killed ten elderly men and women, an average of ten murders are committed each year on the orders of Yahya Jammeh. But there is still a lot we don’t know about the brutality inflicted on Gambians by Yahya Jammeh and his agents of death. Last week alone, two innocent Jola elders from the village of Kanunorr in the Fonis were abducted and murdered on Yahya Jammeh’s orders. Since then, it has come to light that Foni Jolas are under siege with frequent abduction and disappearances and of the known twenty Gambian forced disappearances over the past decade, most are Foni Jolas and include several murders in Kanilai village. Fellow Gambians, of recent, we have all been united by a deadly hatred of Yahya Jammeh, and the time to make him taste his own medicine has come. The time has come for the Gambian Diaspora, civil society organizations, the political establishment, and Gambian’s military and security services, to come together and reclaim our country. As we strategize on how to rid The Gambia of Yahya Jammeh in the coming weeks and months, we implore the military to help us make Yahya Jammeh history. The Balangbaa Uprising is coming, and must happen to free our people from bondage. The time is NOW.

Gambia says nine prisoners executed by firing squad

(AFP) BANJUL, Gambia — Gambia's interior ministry said Monday nine death row prisoners had been executed by firing squad, after President Yahya Jammeh vowed to carry out all death sentences by mid-September.

In a statement the ministry named nine people, including one woman, who were "executed by firing squad on Sunday 26th August 2012" after they were sentenced to death and all their appeals had been exhausted.

"The general public is hereby warned that the rule of law as regards the peace and stability and the protection of lives, property and liberty will not be compromised for whatever reason," read the statement.

Amnesty International reported the execution of the nine prisoners on Saturday, a day before the government said it took place and just days after an African Union envoy urged Jammeh to renounce his plans to execute all 47 death row prisoners.

In a televised address to mark this year's Muslim feast of Eid al-Fitr on Sunday Jammeh said: "By the middle of next month, all the death sentences will have been carried out to the letter.

"There is no way my government will allow 99 percent of the population to be held to ransom by criminals."

One of the men executed, Dawda Bojang, had been convicted for murdering British tourist Ronald Stanley Ford in 2002.

Two of the prisoners were Senegalese, one of them a woman, Tabara Samba, convicted in 2007 of murdering her husband by pouring hot cooking oil over him after he took a second wife.

Three of the dead were soldiers who were convicted in 1998 of treason and murdering two fellow soldiers.

While the last official execution took place in 1985, AFP's correspondent in Banjul said that executions in Gambia, a sliver of land wedged into Senegal, have continued unofficially with the most recent taking place in 2007.

Jammeh, a former military officer who seized power in a 1994 coup, brooks no dissent in a country often blasted by rights bodies for abuses.

Many top officials have found themselves charged with treason, often related to coup plots which observers have said are a sign of paranoia by Jammeh, who won a fourth term in office in November 2011.

Last year eight military top brass, including the former army and intelligence chiefs and the ex-deputy head of the police force, were sentenced to death for treason.

The European Union on Monday condemned the executions and demanded they stop.

"I demand the immediate halt of executions," EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said in a statement.

"I recall the (Gambian government's) international commitments, as well as the commitments concerning the respect of human rights contained in the Cotonou Agreement, which governs relations between the European Union and The Gambia."

She added: "In light of these executions, the European Union will urgently consider an appropriate response."

Gambia: It makes no sense, Jammeh at it again

By Abdoulaye Saine
Against a backdrop of mounting international ostracism and suspension of much needed financial assistance from the EU - the consequence of a poor human rights record, Jammeh’s threat to execute forty-seven inmates by September was designed to attract attention from Western media and human rights organizations. He has consistently courted media attention with outrageous comments and acts when things are not going well at home. This, to deflect attention from failed policies, which are too many to recount here. Did he not claim to have “discovered” the cure for HIV/AIDS, hypertension, infertility and diabetes, to name a few? Did Jammeh not orchestrate a so-called “witch-hunt” to supposedly purge the country of witches?

Yahya Jammeh’s threat to carry out death sentences of “death-row” inmates is simply outrageous! It makes no sense at all! But Jammeh’s rule and decisions have hardly made sense to most right-thinking individuals. Did he not defy religious and cultural sensibilities when he announced his threat to a group of religious elders on Islam’s most sacred Holiday- Eid-ul-Fitr? Who in their right mind would issue such a threat on a day of forgiveness and goodwill other than to attract attention?  This time, it is not a threat against gays but “criminals.” Perhaps, a more interesting question is, why the threat(s)?

Jammeh’s most recent threat may well be another attempt to cover his failings- both personal and national. This odious threat to hang “death-row” inmates is/ was intended to douse dissent in a population already fatigued by mounting economic hardship and subdued by extra-judicial killings. Whether Jammeh carries/ carried out his threat or not (I pray he did not) is now immaterial, as he has already achieved his intended goals- deflecting attention from a country and people gripped by famine and soaring food prices, and perhaps more importantly, attracting media coverage, including worldwide attention and condemnation. Each time Jammeh makes a threat, or announces a  medical “discovery,” Western media houses and rights organizations fall for it, which they should, as he has killed enough already. Yet in the same vein he manipulates them for self-serving purposes.

Jammeh’s so-called medical “discoveries,” “witch-hunts” and threat to execute forty-seven inmates are/ were simply outrageous and sure to get his name in the news. Yet Jammeh thrives on the outrageous, as he has accomplished little of distinction in his personal life, or eighteen-year rule. Did he not want to be crowned king or emperor of Gambia?  Does he not insist on being called professor, Dr., Sheikh- all unearned titles and awards?

While I am not a psychiatrist, I suspect Jammeh suffers from a mental disorder called “Histrionic personality disorder” (HPD), which according to the American Psychiatric Association “is defined as a personality disorder characterized by a pattern of excessive emotionality and attention seeking, including an excessive need for approval and inappropriately seductive behavior, usually beginning in early adulthood. These individuals are lively, dramatic, vivacious, enthusiastic, and flirtatious http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Histrionic_personality_disorder ,August, 24, 2012).

Jammeh must come to his senses and stop toying with the lives of so-called death-row inmates like Dr. Amadou Janneh, whose only “crime” is saying “No” to his madness- a disorder that must be taken seriously.

 Gambians the world-over join the AU, EU, the US and all right-thinking individuals and condemn Yahya Jammeh’s threat to execute of so-called “death-row” inmates. It would be wrong, unjust and cruel.

Abdoulaye Saine

Oxford, OH