Saul, thanks again for your telling revelations. Interesting that you noted
that students are afraid to come before a toothless commission of inquiry to
identify murder suspects and given the right circumstances, these witnesses
will testify. This just goes to vindicate the point we have been making for
months on the G-L and the opinion held by the overwhelming majority of
Gambians. Why would one want to risk ones life and testify on a life and
death issue affecting a brutal regime, knowing full well that ones testimony
would not succeed in putting the culprits in jail? This is simple common
sense. If the commission had powers to punish culprits and witnesses were
confident that justice will be dispensed fairly, the witnesses will come
forward to give evidence. I hope your revelation will help galvanize the
opposition to call for the appointment of an independent prosecutor to try
this case like the common crime it is. Yeah, I remembered the testimony of
Ousman Sabally about that Mboob vermin and how the coward (Mboob) denied
that he was at Saint's. You are right, there were some inconsistencies in
their statements and Mboob should certainly be one of the accused persons
for the lesser crime of wounding people as opposed to murdering someone. It
is pathetic how people like that inspector can come to the commission and
tell blatant lies with impunity.
Your rendition of events leading to the demonstration is also the absolute
truth. It makes a lot more sense than the lies the government is trying to
peddle. No one except Yaya, his cabinet and those cowards that pulled the
triggers should be blamed for the massacre of April 10 and 11. Not parents,
teachers, students, opposition politicians or criminal elements. Your
statements are corroborated by other eye-witnesses' statements.
Well Badjie will also have to explain who gave him those irrevocable orders
to shoot the children. I hope an independent prosecutor will have more
success with the pathological liar than the commission did. It must have
been painful sitting at the commission watching people like nonentity Badjie
come with that air of arrogance and tell blatant lies.
I also share your fear that evidence will be destroyed. Together with the
ones you noted, we also fear that the guns that were used will be tampered
with.
Again Saul, thank you for coming forward with this information. I hope you
follow your name-sake (Saul Khan) and join our side of the struggle and
continue to fight this illegal regime we have back home. Don't underestimate
the power of this medium and your brilliant contributions. It will go a long
way towards ensuring that justice is dispensed in the massacre of our
children on April 10 and 11. I don't know about other people but this is the
first time someone came forward and categorically state that students are
reluctant to testify because of fear for their lives. I always suspected
that, but had no proof. And when I saw prominent Gambians bill the
commission as the next best thing that happened since sliced bread, I began
doubting myself and thought that real evidence was being discussed there. As
you pointed out, the real witnesses are waiting for their day in court. We
again call upon the Gambian people to stand up and demand their day in
court. We owe it to our children that were slaughtered on April 10 and 11 by
Yaya and his gang.
KB



>From: sulayman jobarteh <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: RE APRIL 10 AND 11
>Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2000 18:57:00 PDT
>
>Ebrima
>
>I would like to thank brother KB for his searching questions. I agree with
>him entirely that establishing the truth about April 10 and 11 is
>essential.
>
>There are quite a number of students who recognise security officers that
>are responsible for the shootings around the red cross and mobile traffic
>area. But because they fear for their lives, they are not prepared to come
>before the commission to say so. In between the adjournments of the
>commission, you will often hear students claim that given appropriate
>circumstances, they can name some people responsible for the killings. For
>instance, St Augustine's students, through Mr Sabally, identified one Gorgi
>L Mboob as being responsible for the shooting that wounded three of their
>colleagues IN THE SCHOOL'S HALL. What more provocation do you need than
>this? But being the liars they are, Gorgi Mboob, testifying before the
>commission, denied ever setting foot at St Augustine or even knowing the
>school even though he lives at Old Lines barracks! Interestingly, Inspector
>Omar Darbo, in charge of operation at that time around the school,
>testified
>that Mboob was among his men that went to Saints! Darbo, a paramilitary
>inspector was the one who claimed he does not know an AK 47!
>
>Every one knows that student reps held several meetings with the
>authorities
>to address their concerns. Meetings were held with the PS and SOS
>Education,
>SOS Interior, Chief Fire Officer, IG Police and up to the level of the Vice
>President(this meeting incidentally did not take place). The students
>demands were no given proper consiideration. Infact the Chief Fire Officer
>lambasted the students as trying to hold government to ransom and that they
>have no right to make demands to government! Is this also not provocative.
>Every one in The Gambia knows this as it was always in the news. Also
>outcomes of all the meetings were reported to the students. As a last
>report, the students applied to the IG for a permit to demonstrate but that
>was denied. Later the liars claimed no application was ever made. They
>probably might have destroyrd all evidence of the application by now.
>Instead a very threatening statement from the IG was read over GRTS a
>couple
>of days before the march as the students have decided to march anyway.
>
>On the day, the students gathered at GTTI with banners and placards, with
>messages like "WHO KILLED EBRIMA BARRY". "WHO RAPED OUR SISTER"' "WE WANT
>JUSTICE", etc. Everything was ruly until the stupid paramilitary people
>charged into the crowd. The students replied with stones, bottles, etc.
>From
>what I know of the events, I can swear that no opposition element incited
>the students. It was purely an event organised and staged by the students
>themselves. When Jammeh met with student reps, they told him in no
>uncertain
>terms that nobody instigated them and anybody who suggests otherwise is
>insulting their intelligence. They also left him in no doubt that if action
>is not taken, they would not hesitate to stage another demo.Infact I saw
>people like Sidia Jatta on the street trying to calm students. Student
>leaders also told SOS Badji to withdraw the paras and they too will calm
>the
>students but Badji said that the order has already been given and it would
>not be revoked. The deaths actually took place before police stations were
>burnt. On my first outing when I was going to school, the army chief of
>staff was around. He calmed the students down and decided to walk with them
>to the mobile traffic via dippa kunda, kairaba avenue, post office road and
>kanifing. It was on arrival at the mobile traffic that the paras opened
>fire. In his testimony before the commission, the chief os staff said he
>had
>to dive and crawl on his belly to the safety of the CBMC building. Surely,
>he too could recognise the shooters. If the students meant evil, couldn't
>they have harmed the chief of staff? So it is totally untrue that criminal
>elements were released to go and kill those who released them. It makes
>more
>sense to kill your tormentor than your saviour.
>
>The university extension was run by St Mary's University, Canada.
>Professors, books, etc were sent from canada to teach the courses in The
>Gambia. It just made use of the facilities of MDI, GTTI and the College. At
>some point there was some sort of rivalry between those institutions and
>the
>university. Thre is no new campus and there are no plans to build one.
>Since
>last January, the government took over and is now called The University of
>The Gambia. There are a lot of problems it faces, i.e, no textbooks,
>scholarships(up to the timr I left), etc.
>
>Thanks a lot for your questions and welcoming me to the list.
>
>Saul
>________________________________________________________________________
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