Activists seek legal redress for Gambia's torture victims afrol News, 8 January - Though the seat of the African Commission on Human and People's Rights, The Gambia has over the years been known for its dwindling human rights records, in particular torture by security forces. But the purported torturers will soon be challenged at the international legal courts, a clandestine activist group reveals.
Right activists fear to speak boldly against violations of human rights in the country, as most of them have become victims of abuse. As a result, most of them have been forced to go into exile, while those who remain in the country, continue to live in a state of fear. And following an assassination attempt on the life of a renowned Gambian human rights lawyer, Ousman Sillah in 2003, the Coalition of Human Rights Defenders has become ineffective.
Another problem of Africa's smallest mainland country is its weak civil society culture. This dates back to 1962, when a vibrant trade unionist, the late Dr Lamin Saho, was appointed Minister of Justice. This followed enactment of laws aimed at gagging trade unionism in the country.
However, with the belief that time has come for torturers to be confronted with legal redress, some Gambian activists formed a clandestine group called Concerned Rights Defenders (CRD). "Gambians should not allow criminals like this to go on feeling they can continue with such atrocities without any fear for punishment and retribution," an anonymous official of CRD told 'Gambia Journal'.
The new group said it has been keeping "a meticulous record of crimes against humanity" since President Jammeh came to power in a 1994 coup and that time had come for these crimes to be challenged.
The group said it is planning several measures to bring the torturers to face justice at the international courts - ECOWAS, Arusha, The Hague, Brussels, Madrid and Paris. "We will try all possible channels of bringing these murderers to face the music," said the CRD official, defending why they should operate clandestinely.
"We would end up murdered like they did to Deyda [Hydara, an editor assassinated by the Gambian secret service]. We want to fight but we also want to survive to keep on fighting. We are not only hiding from government, but also from family members who would otherwise be over-worried. You know the family pressure here."
The group is appealing to international media to help them in their fight to chase atrocities in a country previously described as number one champion of human right in Africa. "We do not need money or material assistance, all we need is information, representation, etc."
By staff writer
© afrol News
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