Gambia:The National Transitional Council Gambia sets up Government In Exile

Source :The Gambia News


The Gambian National Transitional Council, headed by one Sidia Bayo held a press conference this morning in the French capital Paris. According to the statement received , the CNTG  has given Yaya Jammeh 30 days to vacate power and has also published a list of names as  ministers in next transitional government. Listed Below are the names of persons chosen by the National Transitional Council.

President and commander in chief of The Gambia Armed Forces, 
Minister of Natural Resources and Energy: 
Mr Bayo Sidia Sheikh 
  

General Secretary Office of the President: Mr Ousman Jammeh 
  
  
Vice President and head of Government: Mr Jallow Babucarr 

  
Minister of Defence : Mr Mohamed Kora 
  
Minister of Interior and Home Affairs: Mr Sanyang Ablaye 
  
Minister of Justice, Equalities, National Religious affairs and reconciliation 
Lawyer Darboe Yankuba (spokesman) 
  
Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs: Mr Touray Suntu 
  
Minister of Agriculture and food production; Mr. Falai Baldeh 
  
Minister of Youths and Sports: Mr Sada Njie 
  
Minister of Tourism and Culture: Mr Landing Nyassi 
  
Minister of Media and Communications: Mr Bamba Serign Mass (spokesman) 
  
Minister of Local Governments and Lands: Mr Mahawa Cham 
  
Minister of Health, Social Welfare and Women’s Affairs: Mrs. Sarata Jabbi 
  
Minister of Foreign Affairs: Mr Darboe Manding 
  
Minister of Basic and Secondary Education: Mr Alajie Nyabally 
  
Minister of Forestry and Environment: Mr Abdul Karim Sanneh 

Source: http://thegambianews.eu

The Gambia Report On Human Rights Practices 2011 by U.S State Department

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Gambia is a multiparty democratic republic. On November 25, voters reelected President Alhaji Yahya Jammeh to a fourth term in a peaceful, orderly election that was neither free nor fair. President Jammeh’s party, the Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC), continued to dominate the political landscape. There were instances in which elements of the security forces acted independently of civilian control.

The Gambia continues downward slide on governance ladder

By D. A. Jawo

It is indeed hard for any right thinking Gambian to imagine why President Yahya Jammeh, who is already under intense local and international scrutiny over his unwise decision to execute nine death row prisoners under very cloudy circumstances, would yet still go ahead to arbitrarily close down media houses simply for not singing his praises. Any reasonable person would have thought that under the circumstances that he presently finds himself in, he would have done everything possible to deflect rather than attract more negative attention on his regime.The arbitrary decision to send NIA operatives to both The Daily News and The Standard on Friday afternoon and verbally ask them to immediately cease publication, without any court order or yet still without any document to that effect, tantamount to the worst form of arbitrariness ever seen in a country that claims to be practicing modern  democracy. That was exactly what they did to the Gambia’s most popular radio station, Teranga FM, about three weeks ago.

This action by the Gambian authorities and the crude manner it was done shows how far down the governance ladder this country has degenerated and the almost total lack of adherence to the most basic tenets of the rule of law being practiced by those in authority.  It is hard to understand how in this 21st century, any government can just send people to legally registered media outlets and verbally ask them to cease operations without any legal document to that effect. This is indeed the height of arbitrariness ever witnessed in our sub-region, and a clear manifestation of the almost total lack of regard for the welfare of ordinary Gambians.

It is now quite evident that such arbitrariness and lack of regard for the rule of law has become a daily occurrence in The Gambia, often done in complete disregard of the provisions of the law and natural justice. Just a few days prior to the arbitrary closure of The Daily News and The Standard, for instance, we had seen how two journalists were detained for more than the legal limit of 72 hours for merely applying for a police permit to demonstrate, which is quite a normal occurrence in any civilized society.
As if that was not enough violation of the law, we were also told that rather than going through the legal channels of arresting and detaining them, the two journalists were tricked into reporting to the police station when they were told that their application for permit had been approved and that they were required to report to the police for it, only to be detained when they went to report.  It is hard to imagine that a responsible government would be engaged in such amateurish behavior.

We are also told that the police had to search the homes of those two journalists, no doubt without any search warrants, and that they even had to break open the door to the room of a brother of one of the journalists, which is not only illegal but tantamount to burglary, which would have been a big scandal in any civilized society.

While the arbitrary closure of Teranga FM, The Daily News and The Standard seems to have robbed the masses of ordinary Gambians their most reliable sources of news and information, it has also rendered several people out of employment.  It is quite hard to justify the decision by this regime, which makes so much noise about its concern for the welfare of Gambians, to use their arbitrary powers to close down media houses which action has suddenly rendered so many Gambians unemployed without any justifiable reasons.
The question on everyone’s lips is whether President Jammeh indeed has any advisers or whether he listens to any advice. He does not seem to know that by using arbitrary powers to close down genuinely registered media houses, he is forcing more and more Gambians to turn to the online publications for news and information about The Gambia. There is no way that he can force Gambians to consume lock, stock and barrel the propaganda and deception being churned on a daily basis by the GRTS and his other propaganda outlets when they can easily get the correct information from other sources.
Therefore, by using arbitrary powers to deny them access to the correct information through the local media outlets, Gambians will now resort to the online media and other sources to get the information they need and there is nothing the government can do about it. We have certainly passed that stage in our country’s development when the regime can determine for the people what information they should consume as if the regime is dealing with robots.

We have all heard the defensive posture adopted by members of the regime in the aftermath of the prisoner executions, with the Attorney General even saying that he would resign if anyone showed him any errors in the way and manner the executions were carried out. However, it is hard to see how anyone can prove to him the illegality of the executions when his regime has clearly shown that they have no tolerance for divergent views and opinion. We are however now waiting to see how he and all those who were making such noises would react to this arbitrariness and lack of adherence to the basic rule of law to close down these media houses. As the legal adviser to the government, this arbitrary and illegal action is enough reason for him to resign if it is not reversed; otherwise, his own credibility as a legal luminary is at stake.

It is therefore quite an embarrassment to most Gambians to see our once peaceful dear country rapidly slide down to a bastion of mal-governance with little regard for the rule of law, and gradually transformed into the laughing stock of the sub-region.
Another big embarrassment to most Gambians is the submissive behavior of our traditional and religious leaders, who are always in a haste to rally round the regime’s actions without regard to the wishes and aspirations of the overwhelming majority of the people, apparently in return for the crumbs and other generous gifts that President Jammeh often lavishes on them on such occasions like Ramadan and similar events. Therefore, until our religious leaders, in particular, muster the courage to tell President Jammeh the truth, in accordance with their religious mandate, this country’s governance profile will continue its downward slide.

Opinion:No light at the end of the tunnel of fear in the Gambia

Extrajudicial executions betray its commitment to human rights

Alagi Yorro Jallow

NEW YORK — In the Gambia, there seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel of fear. Recent extrajudicial executions, nocturnal killings and beatings have reinforced the powerlessness of the population to fight and expose corruption and other heinous acts.

In this tiny country, democracy takes one step forward, one step back. What can we do? And what can the international community do to rescue the Gambia from chaos?Last April and May, the Gambia was host to the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights where the country’s position as an advocate for human rights was on display. Soon afterward, the government brazenly contradicted its position through extrajudicial executions in a tragic betrayal of the Gambia’s international obligations.

The Gambia is the custodian of the African Commission not only because the African Charter had been adopted in Banjul and is now headquartered there but because the Gambia’s adherence to international political and human rights norms was seen, at the time, as exemplary. It was thought that this would ensure the Gambia as a good place to serve as headquarters to both the charter and commission.

In accepting the invitation to host the African Commission, the Gambian government agreed to guarantee the conditions and sustain an environment that would enable the norms and values of human rights and democracy to flourish.

Unfortunately, Gambia is not a place where democracy and human rights are upheld. Over the years, President Yahya Jammeh has become ever more dictatorial—some might even say, crazy. DeWayne Wickham, a columnist for USA Today, rightly pointed out that “Yahya Jammeh could well be Africa’s biggest psychopath.” Jammeh’s regime currently has 47 people on death row, and dozens serving life sentences. Officials confirmed the execution of nine inmates on August 24, the first in the Gambia since 1985. Although Gambia reinstated the death penalty in 1995, shortly after Jammeh took power in a military coup, no prisoners are believed to have been executed until recently.

The nine prisoners were reportedly dragged from their prison cells without warning. They were not allowed to say good-bye or given the opportunity to have their last meals and prayers. They were lined up and shot by a firing squad; and now the remaining 38 are at risk of the same fate.

Family members claim they were not aware of the executions until they heard the news broadcasts. They do not know when the killings took place, how they were killed, where they are buried and whether they were buried according to Islamic rites.

Speaking in a televised broadcast to mark the Muslim festival of EID, Jammeh said, “All those guilty of serious crimes and who are condemned will face the full force of the law. All punishments prescribed by law will be maintained in the country to ensure that criminals get what they deserve; that is, those who killed are killed—by the middle of next month, all the death sentences will have been carried out to the letter.” Jammeh vowed to execute them, and swore that, if they were not executed, he would “drink alcohol and eat pork,” in violation of Islamic law.

In the days that followed 18 were killed in a second round of brutal executions. President Jammeh had announced during August that all prisoners on death row would be executed by mid-September to tackle a rising crime rate and to dissuade people from committing “heinous crimes.”

Before Jammeh’s takeover, the Gambia was viewed as an “exception” on a continent where authoritarianism and military regimes have been the norm since the colonies gained independence. Apart from an aborted coup in 1981, the Gambia had enjoyed relative peace and stability since it attained independence in 1965. Unfortunately, all of that changed in July 1994, after the coup led by Jammeh. Most Gambians genuinely fear the 45-year-old autocrat, and there is little opposition to him.

Jammeh’s government has tortured and killed journalists and forced into exile those who dared criticize him. He has cowed the rest into self-censorship. The Gambia’s prisons are filled with political prisoners, and rivals to the regime often disappear or turn up mysteriously dead in the night.

With the recent executions, we find ourselves asking anew: Is it possible to act courageously as a citizen in the Gambia today? Perhaps, although it is surely true that our experiences have taught us that there are limits to what Gambians are able to endure, especially when we are not able to truly speak out against the madness and anarchy that prevail. As years of intimidation build, stress finds less and less relief as every possible effort to push on, report and publish is exhausted. And when, time and time again, those efforts are foiled by government intervention, when personal safety is threatened, perhaps only the courage to seek another way, from another place, can become the force of change. Until that time there is little hope; no light at the end of the tunnel of fear.

Alagi Yorro Jallow is the founding managing editor of the banned newspaper, Independent, in the Gambia. He was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University and holds a masters degree from Harvard’s Kennedy

Gambia: Ecowas, AU Must Stop Jammeh's Human Rights Abuses

BY NANA SIKABA KING, 14 SEPTEMBER 2012

OPINION

On 22 July, Gambia celebrated its so-called "Freedom Day" - a day introduced by Gambia's President of 18 years, Yahya Jammeh. "Freedom Day" marks the anniversary of Jammeh's rise to power through a military coup in 1994. What it neglects to reflect, however, is the subsequent deterioration of the human rights of Gambia's people under President Jammeh's regime.

The "Freedom Day" has therefore been turned into the "Global Day of Action" for Gambia by civil society organisations in order to highlight the lack of political freedom in Gambia and to draw attention to the widespread human rights violations in the country. Since his rise to power, President Jammeh has issued a series of decrees which has systematically removed all human rights provisions from Gambia's laws, resulting in the restriction of freedom of expression. Shortly after coming to power, he re-introduced the death penalty - on paper to begin with.

Unlawful arrest and detention of perceived and real opponents, in particular since the March 2006 failed coup attempt, are common practices in Gambia. Detainees are rarely informed of their rights or the reason for their arrest or detention and are often held for more than 72 hours without charge, in violation of the country's Constitution. Torture has been reported to be used routinely both to extract confessions and as punishment. Other incidences of human rights violations include enforced disappearances, extrajudicial executions and unfair trials as well as deaths in detention and unlawful killings.

Gambia is described as "one of the most repressive countries for journalists in Africa" by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), with three independent radio stations banned and the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) involved in extrajudicial detentions and torture of journalists. Many journalists and human rights defenders have been harassed, threatened (including death threats), unlawfully arrested and detained, if suspected of providing information to on-line news sources or foreign journalists or publications.

Dr Amadou Scatred Janneh, a former Gambian Information Minister, who also used to work as the political and economic affairs officer of the United States Embassy in Banjul, was sentenced to life imprisonment for plotting to overthrow President Jammeh - a claim that raised serious doubts amongst human rights defenders. In June 2011, Dr Janneh was arrested for possessing T-shirts bearing "End Dictatorship Now" slogans. Two Gambians and a Nigerian were convicted and sentenced, alongside Dr Janneh, to six years imprisonment with hard labour. It is widely believed that the harsh punishments for Dr Janneh and his co-defendants were politically motivated.

President Jammeh has vowed to turn his tiny West African nation into an "economic superpower" over the next five years by "wiping out almost 82% of those in the workforce" who are 'lazy". His instructions to the security forces in May 2012 to "shoot first and ask questions later" to rid the country of all criminals, including "armed robbers, drug dealers, paedophiles and homosexuals, etc" as part of the so-called "Operation Bulldozer" give yet another reason for concern.

But Jammeh seems to think that he is above the law. In an exclusive interview with BBC's correspondent, Umaru Fofana, at the end of last year, the President stated that his critics could "go to hell" because he feared "only Allah". And maybe he is right, since he has not had to put up with any real obstacles to his de-facto dictatorship. For how much longer will the international community, and in particular, Gambia's West African neighbours stand by and watch Jammeh's "in your face" - displays of disrespect of human rights and his own people?

Gambia has signed up to the African Charter on Human and People's Rights and the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. President Jammeh can, and should, therefore, be held responsible for violating these international laws. Even more so as the African Commission on Human and People's Rights (ACHPR) is located in Gambia's capital, Banjul. What an ironical circumstance. Jammeh's blatant neglect of the circumstance is cynical - but it also shows that he does not have much to fear from the Commission. No wonder none of the manifestations of his dictatorship and human rights abuses has so far resulted in any fruitful action by the ACHPR. And for that matter, by any other international body. Instead, Jammeh feels so immune that on August 16, he had Taranga FM, an independent radio station, shut down, a few days after it had aired the opposition leader's statement that the President had a worse human rights record than his predecessor. The radio station, which had broadcast news in local languages from independent English language newspapers, used to generate a lot of attention from the mainly illiterate public.

Then, in a televised broadcast on this year's Muslim feast of Eid-ul-Fitr on August 19, Jammeh announced that by the middle of September, 2012 all those who have been sentenced to death will be executed. This would have left less than three weeks for the international community and in particular the ACHPR to wake up and meet its obligation to prevent further human rights obligations. But just to prove that he can, Jammeh decided to speed up things and already had nine (of the 47 persons on death row) prisoners executed one week later by firing squad!

It is high time the Ghanaian Government, in its role as the leading beacon of democracy and peace in West Africa, together with the members of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the African Union (AU) and the International Community finally stood up and helped put an end to the outrageous human rights violations which took place, and continue to occur, right under their noses. Jammeh's brutal human rights abuses with impunity must be stopped immediately. Let's re-install the rule of law in Gambia and allow the call of Dr Janneh to be heard worldwide: "End Dictatorship in Gambia Now"!

The writer is the Programme Officer, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, Africa Office.