Gambians Remember April 10-11, 2000, Student Massacre  

In remembrance of the April 10 and 11 massacres of innocent Gambian students by President Yahya Jammeh’s authoritarian regime, the New York headquartered Movement for Democracy and Development under the stewardship of veteran politician and human rights crusader, Saihou Mballow sends out the press statement below to help galvanize support for the victims and rekindle the crusade to bring the utterly criminal regime of President Yahya Jammeh to book. Read on:

 

In Commemoration Of April 10 AND 11 Student Massacre In The Gambia:

It’s been 9 years ago today since the 10 and 11 April Incident. Yet people of conscience and justice will never forget this historical tragedy. Today the United States based Gambian’s Movement for Democracy and Development Organization (MDD) a Pro-Democracy, Human Rights and Justice organization commemorates and mourns the events that happened on April 10 and 11, 2000.

Thousands of unarmed, innocent student demonstrators to express their grievances following the torture and death of a fellow student, Ebrima Barry and rape of a schoolgirl, Ms. Binta were confronted by security forces that shot and killed 14 students and a Red Cross volunteer in broad daylight. See names of Victims:

Reginald Carrol, Karamo Barrow, Lamin Bojang, Ousman Sabally, Sainey Nyabally, Ousman Sembene, Bakary Njie, Claesco Pierra, Momodou Lamin Njie, Wuyea Foday Mansareh, Bamba Jobarteh, Momodou Lamin Chune, Abdoulie Sanyang, Babucarr Badjie and Omar Barrow. Several others sustained serious injuries and some of them have been maimed for life. This massacre was followed by another wave of brutal crackdown in the provinces, followed by arrest of numerous pro-democracy activists and some journalists who were out to cover and document the massacre.

The only crime these students have committed quoting James Madison and Thomas Jefferson, “the crime of creating a model of the status of Liberty, killed for the crime of wanting their God-given right to liberty”.

Nine years have passed since then and the future of The Gambia and its people continuous to be bleak. President Yahya Jammeh’s disregards for the Constitution of the country and his no sign of respect for ECOWAS States and the International Community, as a whole is well known. He has repeated his call for the “whole world to go to Hell” but cannot tell him what to do.

Presently people of conscience are shocked over the allegation that President Jammeh ordered the killings of 50 West African immigrants including 44 Ghanaians. Gambians and Ghanaians have always lived in harmony and as brothers and sisters until when this unfortunate APRC regime of Terror, tribalism and nepotism came to being through a coup d’etat in July 1994.

We want to express our disgust against the cold-blood murder of these school children and Red Cross Volunteer. We condemn the blanket immunity that President Yahya Jammeh accorded to these criminals in military uniforms. It is a serious case of gross injustice to the families of the victims and an insult to human dignity that such a heinous crime will go unpunished.

We urge Gambians, and families of those victims to never forgive or forget about this incident and keep in mind that however long it takes, justice will come. All of us witnessed what happened to Charles Taylor, Al Bashir of Sudan and Jammeh would follow the same. He cannot escape the train of democracy.

We call on all democratic Governments and Human Rights Organizations to come to our aid and take concrete steps to put an end to the continuous terror on Gambians by President Jammeh’s regime.

Today, in remembering the atrocities of April 10 and 11, 2000, we take this opportunity to pray for the victims and pledge our solidarity with the families of the victims.