Now that the commission has been Gazetted, I wonder how far this has taken
us in terms of getting to the bottom of who ordered the gunning down of our
children and who carried out those orders on April 10 and 11. As I indicated
before, the lack of publication in the Gazette is neither here nor there.
This does not make the existence of the commission null and void. What has
the commission and the inquest achieved so far? They have established that
our children were gunned down on April 10 and 11. The deaths resulted from
bullet wounds. Live ammunitions were used. Am sure there might be one or two
other items I missed. But what is significant is what these proceedings did
not do and are incapable of doing. Literally,  a few days after these
fateful days, Ebou Colly and others on the List saw the lies this government
was trying to peddle and is still peddling in the commission, that criminal
elements other than the police and soldiers shot the fatal bullets. The
government was also saying that rubber bullets were used by their armed
forces. All these blatant lies and many more were vigorously pursued here on
the List and people pointed out how absurd these stories were (with solid
facts). So even though you still have government officials going to the
commission and maintaining that their armory was broken into, every honest
citizen knows that that is a blatant lie. Yet this lie was repeated in front
of the chief justice few days ago. I look forward to seeing how the chief
justice is going to tackle that in his report. I will repeat that no one has
been pointed out as being a trigger-man; hence the chief justice's question:
'did the shooters come from the moon'. One does not have to be an expert
forensic scientist to know that the most important thing in a criminal
investigation / trial is safeguarding the integrity of the evidence (both
physical and oral). List members living in the U.S. might be familiar with
the Jean-Benet Ramsay case. The main reason that case might never be solved
is that the crime scene was not protected right after the murder occurred.
As a result, the evidence was contaminated and even tough scientists like
Henry Lee and lawyers like Barry Schek cannot help break the case. My point
is, when you have a crime, you have to move swiftly and gather evidence you
can use in a trial. That was not done here. On the contrary, silly
commissions were set up to allow government officials to doctor the evidence
and also know the type of evidence that will be used in trial against them.
Like I said before (even without seeing Provision 6. (1) from the Gazette)
strict rules of evidence do not operate in commissions of inquiry. Therefore
some of the oral testimony that is being taken now can be thrown out of
court later on, because for instance, they violate hearsay rules. So both
the oral evidence and the physical evidence these bodies are capable of
unearthing could be very useless in the final analysis. I ask the supporters
of the commission to tell us how they are going to challenge that lieutenant
that came in the other day to say that he checked all the arms and
ammunitions and nothing was awry or challenge the blatant lies uttered by
Ousman Badgie. How do you reconcile that testimony with evidence that
someone died from gunshot wounds where these men operated. An easy way would
have been to take control of those guns the day after the massacre. Am
almost confident that none of the arms and ammunitions used on those days
were inventoried after the fact. Starting from my first posting on this List
on April 18, 2000 (in response to a posting by Foroyaa), I was advocating
for the appointment of an independent private prosecutor. Am convinced that
that is the only way we can get close to what happened on April 10 and 11. A
dedicated prosecutor would have jealously guarded the evidence in this case.
Clearly the inquest and the commission did not do it for us. All the things
they revealed can only be big revelations to gullible people. We on the L
and ordinary Gambians not bent on supporting Yaya at all cost know all along
that rubber bullets were not used. We knew that criminals did not break into
the armory and stole the guns to go shot the kids. We knew that the students
did not break the armory to steal guns to go shot fellow students. We knew
that Yaya gave the orders to shoot the kids. We know a lot of things that we
do not need a bogus commission of inquiry to tell us. The commission would
only succeed in destroying the evidence in this case. So the commission is
Gazetted. Big deal. We urge the concerned Gambians to join us and demand
that the AG stick to his word and appoint a private prosecutor to try and
salvage some of the evidence in this case so that we can have a trial to
punish the culprits in this case. We owe it to the slain children that died
trying to make Gambia a better place for all of us. In that spirit I pledge
$500.00 from my personal funds towards traveling expenses of a prosecutor
from abroad to go to The Gambia to prosecute this case. If the AG is
agreeable, we will raise the funds necessary for the return airfare of such
a prosecutor. We will contact people like lawyer Abdoulie Swareh (Washington
DC) and renown criminal defense attorney Pa Idi Faal (L.A.) to aid in
getting a prosecutor. We will introduce that prosecutor to Gambian lawyers
like Ousman Sillah and the team currently working with the families of the
slain children. We are committed to salvage the little that is left in this
case. Even if we do not have convictions at the end of the day, our slain
children in heaven should know that we tried.
KB


>From: foroyaa <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: THE CORONER'S INQUEST AND COMMISSION OF INQUIRY
>Date: Fri, 16 Jun 2000 12:13:52 +0100
>
>Ansumana,
>
>Your opinion is respected. We don't argue with opinions that are not
>substantiated. We take them into consideration. I will take you on certain
>points to show you that we are a different breed and we know exactly what
>we
>are doing and how to do it. You are occupied by a personality. We are
>occupied by a Gambian people, in particular, African people, in general and
>humanity, at large.
>
>
>For your information, the Commission of Inquiry is now gazetted. The
>content
>goes as follows:
>
>"COMMISSION OF INQUIRY INTO THE PUBLIC DISTURBANCES OF 10TH AND 11TH APRIL
>2000.
>
>"IN EXERCISE of the powers conferred on the President by section 200 of the
>Constitution of the Republic of The Gambia 1997, this Commission is hereby
>issued.
>
>"1. The Commission shall consist of-
>
>"(a) Justice Felix Michael Lartey, who shall be the Chairperson of the
>Commission;
>"(b) Mr Joseph Henry Joof;
>"(c) Reverend Titus Pratt;
>"(d) Mr Bai Ndongo Faal;
>"(e) Mr Momodou Ousman Njie;
>"(f) Alhajie Ousman Jah;
>"(g) Mr james M.B. Abraham;
>"(h) Mr Kebba Sarr; and
>"(i) Mrs Ndey Kumba Sosseh.
>
>"(2) The Commissioners shall, from among themselves, elect a Vice
>Chairperson.
>
>2. The Commission is authorised to inquire into the causes of the breakdown
>of public order on 10th and 11th April 2000 and to-
>
>"(a) determine the extent to which any individual or group of individuals
>directly or indirectly contributed to it;
>"(b) assess and quantify the material loss occasioned by the breakdown of
>public order on 10th and 11th April 2000; and
>"(c) make recommendations as to how a recurrence of such a breakdown of
>public order can be avoided.
>
>"3. (1) The Commission shall -
>"(a) make a fully and impartial investigation into the causes of the
>breakdown of public order on 10th and 11th April 2000; and
>"(b) furnish in writing a report on the results of the inquiry, including a
>statement of the reasons leading to the conclusions of the Commission.
>
>(2) The Commission shall have all the powers, rights and privileges of a
>judge of the High Court at a trial in respect of-
>
>"(a) enforcing the attendance of witnesses and examining them on oath,
>affirmation or otherwise;
>"(b) compelling the production of documents;
>"(c) issuing a commission or request for the examination of witnesses
>abroad; and
>"(d) making of interim orders.
>
>"4. The Secretary-General shall appoint a Secretary to the Commission.
>
>"5 (1) The Chairperson shall preside at sessions of the Commission and in
>the Chairperson's absence, the Vice Chairperson shall preside and in the
>absence of both, the members present shall appoint one of their number to
>preside.
>
>"(2) The quorum for a session of the Commission is five commissioners.
>
>"6. (1) The Commission is not bound by the rules of evidence applicable to
>a
>court of law and may receive in evidence any material evidence it may deem
>necessary for arriving at a decision.
>
>"(2) The Commission shall prescribe its own procedure.
>
>"7. In the conduct of its inquiry the Commission shall be independent and
>shall not act under the direction or control of any authority.
>
>8. (1) A Commissioner shall not be liable to any action or suit in respect
>of any matter or thing bona fide or omitted to be done in the performance
>of
>his or her functions as a Commissioner.
>"(2) A witness before the Commission shall be entitled to the same to the
>immunities and privileges as if he or she were a witness in proceedings
>before the High Court.
>
>"9. The Commission shall be assisted by Counsel appointed by the Attorney
>General, and such other investigating officers as it may from time to time
>require.
>
>"10. The Inspector General of Police shall assign such police officers to
>attend upon the Commissioners of the Commission, to preserve order, serve
>summonses on witnesses and perform such other functions relating to the
>Commission as the Commission may direct.
>
>"11. (1) The Commission shall complete its inquiry within five weeks of its
>first sitting-
>provided that if in the opinion of the Commission it is necessary to
>continue its inquiry beyond five weeks then it may request the President
>for
>an extension of time to do so.
>"(2) The Commission shall cease to exist on the date that the Commission
>submits its report to the President.
>
>"DATED THIS 22ND DAY OF MAY, 2000.
>
>"YAHYA A.J.J. JAMMEH.
>"President of the Republic of The Gambia."
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: Ansumana Kujabi <[log in to unmask]>
>To: <[log in to unmask]>
>Sent: Friday, June 16, 2000 8:32 AM
>Subject: THE CORONER'S INQUEST AND COMMISSION OF INQUIRY
>
>
> > I must say that Mr. Ebou Colly and Mr. Dampha are prudent intellectuals
>who
> > have not only accurately pin-pointed the major weaknesses in the
>writings
>of
> > Foroyaa, but also vividly exposed the disorganized nature and dishonesty
>of
> > the writings in talking about the Coroner's Inquest and the so-called
> > Commission of Inquiry. Colly put it best: "Sometimes when they want to
>talk
> > about a spot in the moon, they would first take you on a ride at
>different
> > spots in the surrounding stars until you sometimes end up being totally
>lost
> > in the galaxy." This description of Halifa Sallah's writing is a fair
> > characterization. Halifa Sallah is a very "dry Intellectual" who is
> > sometimes dishonest in presenting his views on a particular issue; and
>this
> > kind of approach tends to throw readers off. Ever since I was in high in
>the
> > 1980s, when Foroyaa was at its highest point in shaping the political
>debate
> > in the country at the time, I could hardly consolidate or even
>understand
> > what they were highlighting about the Jawara Administration. Foroyaa's
> > writings sometimes resembles a day-dreamer's dream, which is solely
>based
>on
> > images cultivating in the mind and not realities.
> >
> > His(Halifa Sallah) writings are absolutely weird, with a weird name hair
>and
> > look and personality, no wonder his organization and arrangements of
>ideas
> > are also weird. And in writing about the Coroners Inquest and the
>so-called
> > Commission of Inquiry, Halifa took a may-we-go-round before coming to
>the
> > central question. What I don't understand is the weirdness in the
>writings
> > of an intellectual like Halifa, someone whom to my judgement is also fit
>to
> > run for the highest Office of the Land; but yet, judging by his recent
> > writings, it seems as if he is indirectly campaigning for the monster
>child
> > murderer President. Is Halifa being paid by the child murderer, or is he
> > just advancing his honest ideas? That should be a course of concern for
>all
> > Intellectuals in the Country. Or should we put forward the question that
> > there is vacancy for prudent and seasoned Intellectuals in the Country?
>I
> > don't so. We only happened to have the "Dry Intellectuals" like Halifa
>who
> > only gives us empty bones in their writings, instead of giving us meat.
>I
> > think, taking into account the prevailing precarious circumstances in
>our
> > beautiful country, The Gambia, we humbly deserve honest,
>well-thoughtful,
> > well-organized and seasoned intellectual contributions, and not a sheer
>dry,
> > pathetic and bizarre writings. In conclusion, I do however commend every
> > body, including Halifa for their valuable contributions. Keep Hope
>Alive.
> >
> > Ansumana Kujabi
> > Concerned citizen
> > ________________________________________________________________________
> > Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com
> >
> >
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> > Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
> >
> >
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> >
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