I understand that my open letter to the Attorney General of The Gambia has
not yet reached Gambia-L. Although it is more than a week since I wrote it -
nothing has changed. Dumo Sarho is still after 16 days "in-communicado" and
the A/G has not yet replied. I had an appointment with him on Monday 3rd
July but he failed to come and promised to write. I'm still waiting.
Here is the letter, for your information:
OPEN LETTER TO THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE GAMBIA
Dear Sir,
Allow me to draw your attention to the case of my husband, Mr Modou (Dumo)
Sarho, who was abducted from his family compound at Sanchaba Road in
Serrekunda London Corner on Saturday 24th June around 3.30 p.m. At the time
Mr Sarho was sitting with some friends outside the compound when an
ash-coloured BMW (Reg.No BJL3716A) drove up to his gate and he was called.
He went to answer and begged to be allowed to talk to his mother which was
granted after some discussion among the men in the car. When entering the
house he was then escorted by one of the men in the car. This man has later,
by witnesses, been identified as one Mr Alhagie Moor alias Alhagie Jobe, son
of late Mr Peterson Jobe.
Mr Sarho informed his mother that he was being arrested and he was said to
be taken to Banjul.
When I arrived to my home after work on Saturday, I was informed about the
arrest and started by calling the Police Headquarter in Banjul. They assured
me that they did not have my husband in their custody and I was advised to
try the NIA. Two of my husband’s brothers personally went to the Banjul
Police HQ, only to receive the same negative answer. I managed to get a
telephone number to NIA, but all through the evening as well as the
following day no one answered that phone.
During the weekend I alerted Boka Loho – Together we can in Sweden as well
as other friends and organisations abroad that I believed would be
interested in knowing about the abduction.
On Monday 26th I and Mr Mustapha Sarho (brother of my husband) went to the
NIA quarter at Moammar Khadaffi Road in Banjul. We were not allowed to enter
or to see any commanding officer but the gate-keeper assured us that no man
by the name Mr Modou Sarho was kept there. After about two hours with the
same negative answer, we decided to go to the Banjul Police HQ and report my
husband as missing after his abduction.
On Tuesday I alerted Amnesty International in Bakau and other local human
rights organisations as well as the local press, still with the hope that my
husband would appear during the day since it would then be 72 hours after
his arrest, or – at least – that he would be able to contact his family.
This did not occur however.
When I am writing this, more than 5 days have passed and my hope is that you
will be made aware of the situation and act accordingly.
As I understand, my husband was working very closely with you during the 70’
s, when you were busy forming the then National Liberation Party. I know
that both of you suffered political arrests during the Jawara regime, and I
would have expected you, as a lawyer and with personal experience of
political persecution to use your present power to safeguard human rights
and make sure that the respect for the Gambian law is maintained and not
violated, even by the state.
Mr Sarho spent 9 years (1985-1994) as a political refugee in Sweden, but
always with his heart in The Gambia and tirelessly trying to find ways of
supporting the development in his motherland. In 1991, we – some Swedes and
Gambians - formed an organisation BOKA LOHO – TOGETHER WE CAN, intended to
work for development in The Gambia. In 1993 a sister organisation The Boka
Loho Organisation of The Gambia was formed here and registered as a local
NGO. In December 1995, Mr Sarho and I came to Gambia to work as full time
volunteers with this organisation.
Since then, the well being, progress and survival of this organisation has
been Mr Dumo Sarho’s main occupation and interest. During these years, many
have approached him to engage in politics. Most of his former political
comrades since the time of MOJA-G, have decided to join the ruling party,
while he chose not to. He has always claimed to be a MOJA at heart and saw
no reason to change that belief. He has a great personal integrity and would
never betray his ideals. As a man of the people he would not dream of
entering politics again without the strong support of a party. Hence he has
kept himself out of the Gambian political arena.
I again appeal to you, both in your present position as The Attorney General
of The Gambia and as a former political comrade of my husband, to
investigate this case and act according to the laws of The Gambia.
June 29th, 2000
Annika Renberg
(Co-founder and volunteer of Boka Loho, wife of Mr Sarho)
By the way, I have a feeling that this is just the beginning - that we will
see similar cases in the future. I have suggested to some human rights
organisations here that we should set up a fund that can help to cater for
costs for legal aid to victims of human rights violations in The Gambia. Any
comments?
Annika
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