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Food poisoning, lack of medical care, kills 63
Mile 2 Prison inmates between 2006 and 2007
Compiled and Edited By Mathew K. Jallow, Associate Editor
The Gambia was recently named one of forty predator countries by Reporters Without Borders, an international human rights organization. Under Yahya Jammeh’s regime, The Gambia has since 1994, became renowned for rights abuses. The country’s human rights abuses include government complicity in the abduction of citizens; torture, summary executions, abuse of detainees and prisoners, including political prisoners; poor prison conditions; arbitrary arrest and detention of citizens, including incommunicado detention; denial of due process and prolonged pretrial detention; restrictions on freedom of speech and press. Despite clear evidence of government impunity, Gambia’s newly appointed Minister of Justice, Edward Gomez, at a well represented African NGOs forum held in The Gambia, dismissed allegations of human rights abuses as fabrications by a Gambian media bent on tarnishing the good image of The Gambian regime. Minister Edu Gomez’s insensitive remarks shocked Gambians across the spectrum as well as the international human rights community. Below are additional proofs of human rights abuses by The Gambian regime under the brutal dictatorship of Yahya Jammeh.
In March Dodou Janneh, a police volunteer attached to the national drug enforcement agency, appealed the 2008 death sentence he received for the 2007 killing of Sheriff Minteh during a police raid in Serrekunda; the appeal was before the courts at year's end.
On April 3, the joint fact-finding team created by the UN and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to investigate the 2005 deaths of more than 50 Ghanaians and other West African nationals in the country submitted a report of its findings. The report stated that "rogue elements" in the security services were responsible for the deaths and disappearance of the Ghanaians and recommended that the government pay compensation to the government of Ghana for the killings and exhume and return the bodies of six Ghanaians found buried in the Tanji forest. On October 18, the six bodies were returned to Ghana, according to Ghanaian media reports. While the government did not provide compensation, it paid for exhumation of the bodies and provided some funds to families of the victims.
Between January and June, the BBC carried a series of reports on so-called "witchdoctors" from Guinea, who abducted up to 1,000 villagers in the Gambia during the same period, held them for several days, and forced them to drink an herbal concoction that resulted in illness and two deaths. There were unconfirmed reports that some villagers were subsequently forced to confess to being witches. Officials in the police, army, and the president's personal protection guard reportedly accompanied the Guineans, who were invited into the country after the death of the president's aunt, which was attributed to witchcraft, according to Amnesty International (AI). The Guineans, who were driven around in government vehicles, also conducted "cleansing rituals" in several government offices in Banjul, as well as in several other towns and villages.
On May 19, in Brefet, President Jammeh said he had to "bring in witchdoctors to identify and eradicate witches," who he said were responsible for underdevelopment in the districts of Foni, according to the governmental newspaper The Gambia Daily.
During an April 6 address to the National Assembly, the attorney general and justice minister denied that journalist "Chief" Ebrima Manneh, who was arrested by security forces in 2006 and subsequently disappeared, was in state custody. This was the government's first statement regarding the June 2008 ruling by the ECOWAS community court of justice that Manneh's detention had been illegal and that the government should release him and pay compensation of 2.7 million dalasi ($100,000) to Manneh's family. The ruling followed a lawsuit filed in 2007 by the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), based in Ghana. In 2007 Manneh was reportedly sighted seeking medical treatment under police supervision at a hospital in Banjul, but his whereabouts remained unknown at year's end.
There were no developments in the March 2008 stabbing by members of the police intervention unit of Amadou Sanyang; the June torture and beating of five residents of Lamin Daranka during their arrest and transfer to Yundum Police Station; and the torture over an 18-day period in September by members of the police criminal investigation division of Abdoulie Faye.
During his April trial for giving false information to a public officer, former National Assembly member Musa Suso alleged that while serving an earlier sentence (from 2000 to 2007), he was denied food and was tied and beaten for three days after a telephone calling card was discovered in his cell. On December 11, Suso was acquitted of some of the charges against him, but he was convicted of others and sentenced to 18 months in prison.
On June 30, the ECOWAS community court heard the case filed by the MFWA against the government for the 2006 illegal detention and torture of Musa Saidykhan, the editor in chief of the Independent newspaper. Saidykhan, who lived abroad in self-imposed exile, claimed that security forces applied electric shocks to his naked body during his 22-day detention; Saidykhan subsequently was released without charge. During the trial, which was ongoing at year's end, the court's three-member panel rejected the government's claim that plaintiffs first had to exhaust legal remedies at the national level before appealing to ECOWAS. The trial was adjourned until February 2010.
The indemnity act continued to prevent victims from seeking redress in torture cases related to official actions taken by military personnel during military rule from 1994-96. The army requires victims to file formal complaints with the courts regarding alleged torture that occurred at other times. However, there were no known prosecutions in civil or military courts of security force members accused of mistreating individuals during the year. At the closing ceremony of a civil-military relations seminar in 2007, the chief of defense staff publicly announced a zero-tolerance policy for military abuse of civilians, and some reports indicated such abuse may have declined.
Prison conditions were poor and cells were overcrowded, damp, and poorly ventilated. Inmates complained of poor sanitation and food. Unlike in previous years, there were no reports that guards were reluctant to intervene in fights between prisoners. Local prisons were overcrowded, and inmates occasionally slept on the floor; however, prior to conviction, detainees were allowed to receive outside sources of food.
Prisoners at the Mile 2 Prison died during the year as a result of poor food and inadequate medical care. On March 6, Benedict Jammeh, the former police inspector general, testified at Musa Suso's trial that inmates at Mile 2 Central Prison were fed with meat that resulted in the deaths of several prisoners; a committee of senior police officers subsequently confirmed the report. On May 8, David Colley, the director general of prison services, testified in the same trial that 23 inmates in 2006 and 40 in 2007 died in prison, primarily as a result of chronic anemia, abdominal pain, and food poisoning. Pretrial detainees were occasionally held together with convicted prisoners. At year's end, there were 780 inmates in the country's prisons. The government permitted limited independent monitoring of prison conditions by some local and international human rights groups and diplomatic missions; however, neither the media nor the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) was granted access to detainees or prisoners during the year.
The Constitution and law prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention; however, there were numerous instances of police and security forces arbitrarily arresting and detaining citizens. The armed forces are responsible for external defense and report to the minister of defense, a position held by the president. The police, under the interior minister, are responsible for public security. The National Intelligence Agency (NIA) is responsible for protecting state security, collecting intelligence, and conducting covert investigations; it reports directly to the president. The NIA is not authorized to investigate police abuses, but during the year the NIA often assumed police functions such as detaining and questioning criminal suspects. Security forces frequently were corrupt and ineffective. On occasion security forces acted with impunity and defied court orders.
The law requires that authorities obtain a warrant before arresting a person; however, in practice individuals were often arrested without a warrant. Periods of detention generally ranged from a few to 72 hours, the legal limit after which detainees must be charged or released; however, there were numerous instances of detention surpassing the 72-hour limit. Detainees generally were not promptly informed of charges against them. There was a functioning bail system; however, the courts occasionally released accused offenders on bail only to have police or other law enforcement personnel rearrest them as they were leaving the court. Detainees were not allowed prompt access to a lawyer or family members; convicted prisoners were generally permitted to meet privately with their attorneys. Indigent persons accused of murder or manslaughter were provided a lawyer at public expense.
Military decrees enacted prior to the adoption of the constitution give the NIA and the interior minister broad powers to detain individuals indefinitely without charge "in the interest of national security." These detention decrees were inconsistent with the constitution, but have not been subject to judicial challenge. The government claimed that it no longer enforced the decrees; however, there were several detentions during the year that exceeded the 72-hour limit. Security forces arbitrarily arrested journalists during the year. Security forces arbitrarily arrested and detained civilians and members of the military during the year.
On November 21, security forces arrested former chief of defense Lieutenant General Lang Tombong Tamba and six of his close associates and friends. Those arrested were Brigadier General Omar Bun Mbye, former military director of training and operations; Lieutenant Colonel Kawsu Camara, commander of the military camp in the president's home village of Kanilai; Captain Modou Lamin Bo Badjie, former NIA director general; Commissioner Momodou Gaye, deputy inspector general of police; private businessman and customs clearing agent Alhaji Kebba Touray; and real estate developer Abdoulie Joof. All were held without charge beyond the 72-hour limit. Kebba Touray, who was held at NIA headquarters, was released on December 15; however, the other six detainees remained in Mile 2 Prison without charge at year's end.
On December 30, NIA director Ousman Sowe was fired, arrested, and held incommunicado for several days. There were reports that he was accused of "delaying a document of national security interest." Sowe was being held without access to his family or lawyers at year's end.
On January 4, authorities released brothers Lamin Marong and Ebrima Marong, who were arrested in 2008 and held for three months without charge.
Bakary Gassama, the former Financial Director of the NIA, remained in detention at year's end. In December 2008 Gassama was released after three months in detention for alleged abuse of office, but was immediately rearrested.
During the year Gideon Adeoye, who was arrested in December 2008 for allegedly "spreading false information" about the country's military, was released.
Information surfaced on the incommunicado detention of four citizens. On June 10, Kemo Conteh, army Staff Sergeant Sam Kambai, NIA officer Kebba Seckan, and Samsudeen Jammeh were brought before a magistrate in Brikama, along with 12 Senegalese nationals from the southern Casamance region; the four citizens had been held for two to three years incommunicado on terrorism charges in an unknown location. Their trial, which began on August 27, continued at year's end.
Two of the detainees held after the disclosure of the 2006 abortive coup plot--Alieu Lowe, nephew of the fugitive coup leader and Abdoulie Njie--were still being held at Mile 2 Prison without charge, but their families were allowed access to them during the year. The trial of a third detainee, Hamadi Sowe, who was charged with concealment of treason, was ongoing at year's end.
Backlogs and inefficiency in the justice system resulted in lengthy pretrial detentions. Approximately 30 inmates in the prison system were in pretrial detention, and some had been incarcerated for several years awaiting trial. Several long-term detainees were released without charge or pardoned during the year.
The constitution and law provide for an independent judiciary; however, the courts, particularly at the lower levels, were corrupt and subject to executive pressure. AI noted that the presidential power to remove a judge, nominally in consultation with the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), impeded judicial independence. During the year the president removed two high court judges without consulting the JSC. Judges presiding over "sensitive" cases who made decisions not considered favorable to the government risked being fired. For example, on June 8, the president dismissed Chief Justice Abdoukarim Savage without explanation. On June 23, the president also terminated the appointment of Justice Haddy Roche, regarded as an independent thinker in legal circles; Roche had been dismissed from the bench twice previously. Several judges were dismissed under similar circumstances in 2008. Government and security forces often disregarded court orders to release suspects and rearrested them to provide the prosecution more time to prepare its case.
During the year there were credible reports that the government held civilians based on their political views or associations, and some were held incommunicado for prolonged periods. United Democratic Party (UDP) supporter Kanyiba Kanyi, who was arrested by men believed to be state security agents and held without charge shortly before the 2006 presidential elections, remained in prison at year's end. The government has not permitted access to Kanyi by international humanitarian organizations or his lawyer. In May 2008 Kanyi's lawyer, who maintained Kanyi was being held by the NIA, filed an application to force the state to comply with the 2006 high court rulings to free him. On July 29, the judge presiding over the case returned the case file to the office of the chief justice in an apparent attempt to recuse himself from the trial; the judge provided no explanation for the return of the case file. Kanyi was reportedly sighted by a relative in March 2008 at the Royal Victoria Hospital, where he was being escorted by wardens from Mile 2 Central Prison. The whereabouts of Chief Ebrima Manneh, who was also arrested without charge in 2006, remained unknown at year's end. The government denied Manneh was in its custody.
Security forces arbitrarily arrested and detained numerous journalists during the year. On February 2, Pap Saine, co-proprietor and managing editor of the independent newspaper the Point was arrested and subsequently charged with publishing false information; Saine reported on the transfer of diplomat Lamin Sabi Sanyang from NIA headquarters to Mile 2 Prison and on the appointment of former minister Neneh Macdouall-Gaye to an ambassadorship. The High Court withdrew the charge on July 29.
On March 8, police arrested Halifa Sallah, a former presidential candidate and co-publisher of the newspaper, Foroyaa, for allegedly trying to incite people to challenge "a lawful order of the president to screen witches"; Sallah had criticized the government-backed abduction of alleged witches during the year. On March 19, the Director of Public Prosecutions announced that all charges were being dropped "in the interest of peace and justice."
On June 15, seven journalists were arrested for their role in the publication of a statement by the Gambia Press Union (GPU) responding to remarks by President Jammeh on the 2004 killing of newspaper publisher Deyda Hydara; the GPU characterized the president's remarks as un-Islamic, inappropriate, and provocative. They added that such statements would not exonerate the government from involvement in the killing. On June 18, the court charged the journalists with three counts of sedition and seditious publication. On July 27, the court discharged one of the journalists for lack of evidence. On August 5, the remaining six journalists were convicted on all six counts and sentenced to two years in prison plus a fine of one million dalasi ($37,037); failure to pay the fine would result in an additional two years' imprisonment. On September 3, the six journalists were released following a pardon by President Jammeh, who said the gesture was in honor of the Muslim month of Ramadan.
On June 22, reporter Augustine Kanjia of the Point newspaper was arrested at Kanifing court for allegedly taking pictures of the six journalists charged with sedition and defamation. On June 24, Kanjia was released on bail
On August 6, authorities arrested Abdoulie John, the deputy editor in chief and French language columnist of the progovernment Daily Observer, on charges of refusing to recognize the appointment of a new managing director of the paper; John was released the same day without charge.
The trial of Today proprietor and editor Abdul Hamid Adiamoh, arrested in July 2008 following the publication of a story about school children who skipped classes to salvage scrap metal, was ongoing at year's end; Hamid Adiamoh was charged with publication with seditious intent.
Political activist Fatou Jaw Manneh, a U.S based Gambian journalist who was convicted in August 2008 on sedition charges, departed the country after her family paid the 250,000 dalasi ($9,260) fine.
Foreign missionaries David and Rachel Fulton, who in December 2008 pled guilty in a magistrate court in Banjul to advocating the violent overthrow of the government, remained in jail at year's end serving a one-year sentence with hard labor. The two also were fined 250,000 dalasi ($9,260) each, or in default to serve a further 18 months in prison. The Fultons had been under surveillance by court order, and were arrested in November 2008 for publishing "negative articles" and sending "negative letters" about the country and its government to individuals and organizations.
Journalist Lamin Fatty of the Independent newspaper, who in 2007 was convicted for publishing "false news" and fined 50,000 dalasi ($1,850), went into self-imposed exile early in the year. He appealed his conviction, and the appeal was pending in the courts at year's end.
In some cases journalists from certain independent newspapers were denied access to state-sponsored events and press conferences due to official disapproval of their editorial stance. Last week, the Speaker of the National Assembly, Mrs. Elizabeth Renner, denied access to National Assembly proceedings to two journalists; Isatou Bittaye of Foroyaa Newspaper and Baboucarr Senghore of The Point Newspaper. No reason for their expulsion from the National Assembly was given.
The opposition UDP reported that police did not issue permits for a July 26 meeting in Serrekunda or an August 8 meeting in Bakau; the August 8 meeting was conducted without police permission. On October 24, Femi Peters, the UDP campaign manager, was arrested after his party held a rally in Serrekunda without a police permit. On October 26, Peters appeared in court on charges of "control of procession and control of loudspeakers." Peters refused to make a plea in the absence of his lawyer, and the case was ongoing at year's end.
The president often spoke against corruption, and leading political and administrative figures faced harsh sentences on charges of corruption and wrongdoing. The financial intelligence unit, which was established during the year, is responsible for combating corruption. During the year the government prosecuted some officials accused of corruption. For example, on November 6, Lieutenant Colonel Gibril Bojang, former commander of the presidential guard, was convicted on charges of theft and sentenced to two years' imprisonment and a fine of 1,110,086 dalasis ($41,100). Bojang, who pled as charged, said the money was not used for personal gain but for the welfare of his unit.
On November 4, six judiciary officials, including judicial secretary Haruna Jaiteh and high court judges Nguie Mboob-Janneh, Amie Saho-Ceesay, and Saffie Njie were suspended without pay on allegations of embezzlement of court fines, forfeitures, and auctions. The officials, who also included junior clerks Pa Modou Njie and Momodou L. Sonko, were charged with embezzlement totaling 4,232,000 dalasis ($157,000).
Under the guise of fighting corruption, public officials continue being arrested and detained for activities that Yahya Jammeh has been complicit in over the years. And as the trials of military officials for alleged involvement in an attempted overthrow of the regime of Yahya Jammeh continue, the mutilated body of one of the accused, Momodou Sowe, a native of Sare Gallo, in the North Bank, washed up on the beach in Barra Town across the sea from Banjul. Gambia’s Minister of Justice, Edward Gomez may consider eating his words after reading this irrefutable evidence.
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