The Dictator has blinked
Wolof proverb:"Golo hamna fimo reeg tatam"
Amnesty International (AI) has just announced the unconditional release of its two delegates, namely Tania Bernath and Ayodele Ameen, from the clutches of Gambian Dictator Yahya Jammeh after an international outcry following their illegal arrest and detention last week. The two were accompanied by Yaya Dampha, a local newspaper reporter, on a mission to locate the whereabouts of Ousman Rambo Jatta and Kanjiba Kanji both members of the Opposition seized by the oppressive and much feared National Intelligence Agency (NIA) over nine months ago.
Until the Amnesty International team located Ousman Rambo Jatta at a Police Station in a remote village about 300 km away from the Gambian capital, Yahya Jammeh and his repressive NIA persistently denied ever holding the two prisoner.
All charges against the three have been dropped as a result of the international outcry. Both AI delegates have since departed Gambia and are due in London momentarily. However, AI has expressed concern about the security of Yaya Dampha because of his association with the human rights organization. AI has every reason to be concerned now that they have experienced first hand about the repressive and brutal nature of the Jammeh regime which we have been trying to get the international community to acknowledge without success.
Now that AI has experienced the brutality of the Jammeh regime, we expect increased pressure on Yahya Jammeh and his cronies to stop their terror tactics against a defenseless population.
Yahya Jammeh must also be required to account for the disappearances of a number of Gambian citizens including Chief Ebrima Manneh a reporter of Daily Observer who was arrested during the African Union Summit held in the Gambian capital in July 2006 and has not been heard from since.
The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has filed complaints with the US Department of State and other agencies on behalf of Chief Ebrima Manneh, Fatou Jaw Manneh and Foday Makalo among others demanding Jammeh account for their whereabouts and/or unconditional release. MDC will not rest until ALL political prisoners are released unconditionally and ALL disappeared accounted for by Yahya Jammeh.
Happy Eid el Fitr (KORITEH)
Movement for Democratic Change
Banjul, 12 October 2007