Parents Of April Victims Threaten To Sue Government The Independent (Banjul) January 5, 2001 Alhagie Mbye Banjul Some parents of the victims of the 10 and 11 April student demonstrations have bitterly condemned and rejected the report submitted by the commission of inquiry looking into the tragedy of the incident and threatened to sue the Gambia Government if the "report is not revisited." The concerned parents who recently approached The Independent noted that the report was a "provocation and needed to be revisited." They stressed that they were totally disappointed about the matter as everyone was totally aware of what happened on the ground and therefore the "commission's report is not accurate and tantamounts to provocations." Rohey Sillah, a step-mother to one of the student's killed during the demonstration who also approached The Independent in May demanding the Coroner's report be made public, complained that the anguish in the hearts of the parents cannot be compromised. She outlined that she was fully prepared with other parents to sue the Gambia Government for "failing to live up to expectation." Ms. Sillah in a sad mood, noted that the issue of the student demonstrations and their subsequent killing "should not be politicised." She added that "this is not the political issue. Justice should be seen to be done and not only through word of mouth. "The stones are still not turned even an inch, so we must go to court," she declared further. Samba Gai an artist and Maudo Jobarteh, who also during the setting of the commission expressed little faith in it stressed that they were outraged to hear about the content of the commission's report. Mr. Gai, said that at first he did not believe what was reportedly stated in the report but that later when he saw the facts, he was totally upset. He intimated that he is aware that the victims' families cannot change the content of the report now but vowed to take "legal action and challenge its validity." Modou Njie, also called on President Jammeh to allow justice to take its course and bring those responsible for the killing of the students "in broad daylight" to book. He added that Gambians are more interested to know and identify those who murdered the students and not a "mere report without any substance". However in the report submitted about four months ago by the commission chaired by the Chief Justice Felix Lartey, some members of the Police Intervention Unit (PIU) led by ASP Momodou Ceesay, other security functionaries and the leadership of the Gambia Students Union were blamed for the deaths and injuries that resulted from the April unrest. The report also declared that security officers who tried to stem the tide of the student protest were found to be "largely responsible" for the deaths and injuries which followed. It also added that the student leaders who took the decision for students to demonstrate would not go unblamed for the tragedy. So far no action has not been taken since the report was submitted to President Jammeh in September. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html You may also send subscription requests to [log in to unmask] if you have problems accessing the web interface and remember to write your full name and e-mail address. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------