As we receive reports about the near completion of the work of the
commission of inquiry looking into the massacres of our children on April 10
and 11, we should be planning our next moves following the submission of the
commissioners' report. The way we see it, the logical next step is to
appoint an Independent Prosecutor and give him/her unlimited access to the
findings of both the commission and the coroner. We should not allow Pap
Cheyassin Secka to renege on his promise. We are tied of these shenanigans.
By getting rid of commissioner Touray, the government has apparently started
acting on the findings of the commission. But we are not impressed by these
token and erratic gestures. We want to get to the bottom of who gave Touray
those orders. We hope that when we do, that person will be punished in a
manner commensurate to or exceeding the way Touray was dealt with. We do not
for one moment believe the Touray ordered the shootings by himself.
Now that the time-wasters have had their say, it is about time we work
vigorously towards salvaging what is left off of the evidence that is going
to help us convict and punish someone for the heinous acts against our
children. We call upon everyone that was advocating for us to 'wait and see'
what the commission was going to do, to join us and start asking the AG to
get the ball rolling on the actual criminal prosecution of this case. It
should not be left into the hands of victims like Ousman Sabally to bring up
civil suits to recover money from the government. This matter should be
dealt with in a criminal court that can throw the book at the culprits.
I do not for one moment buy the fraud that the AG and the commission are
trying to peddle before our eyes portraying the report as critical to the
government's position. Call me a cynic, but I will only believe that the
report is critical to the government when I see it. If the questions that
were asked at the commission are anything to go by, all indications are that
the report is nothing but a whitewash. What are they going to say? That Yaya
ordered the massacre? That corporal X pulled a trigger? Well, I will be
extremely (and pleasantly) surprised if they muster the courage and come up
with such findings. On the other hand, what am expecting is for them to come
back and blame parents for letting their children go out to demonstrate
against infringements on their constitutional rights. Blaming criminal
elements and politicians for instigating the kids. Blaming the police for
overreacting; without pointing fingers at the real culprits. I sincerely
hope, for the sake of the Gambian people and prominent politicians and
lawyers that gave the commission benefit of the doubt, that the report
proves me wrong.
KB

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