Fellow Colleagues

The amendment to the The Indemnity Act 1982 heralds
the death of human rights protection for all those who
got massacred by the security forces of the APRC
regime.
It is quite surprising to see that the actual
perpetrators like Ousman Badjie to use the National
Assembly to pass this law. If one remembers in August
1981 when this bill was originally introduced in
parliament.The passing of such bill was under the sole
control of then Attorney General Alh. M.L Saho.
According to convention, laws of such nature be it
good or bad  require the full participation of the
Attorney General. The mere absence of the current
Secretary of State for Justice and Attorney General Mr
Joseph Henry Joof speaks volumes. On that note it is
mockery to see Secretary of State for the Interior
Ousman Badjie  who is held responsible for failing to
take necessary step in averting the riots at
National Assembly introducing such amendment
Moreover, this bill was originally introduced at time
when the Gambia was under a State of Emergency and in
addition several provisions of the 1970 Constitution
were derogated. It is therefore unfortunate for the
APRC to equate the situation of July 30 1981 to that
of April 10/11, 2000.
Furthermore, the Indemnity Act 1982 manifest that no
one should ever trust Yahya Jammeh. He initiated the
setting up of a Commission of Inquiry and upon
realising that the facts were damaging to his
government relied on obnoxious law to protect HIMSELF

 Should we be surprise? Not really, it was all in the
making. If one looks at the way this Act was passed,
it is without doubt that the sole idea of passing the
Bill was to undermine the civil case of Ousman Sabally
vs the Attorney General and others. For a Government
like APRC to wait till a year and asked for indemnity
clearly gives us the utmost belief that they are
scared for their political survival. It is also sad to
see 21 MP to vote in favour of this bill, I am not
surprised to see the least, one consolation is the
decision of the 2 nominated members ie Mr Ahmed Kebbeh
and Mrs Cecilia Cole to abstain from voting. Though
their actions were not enough to kill this bill, their
decision to abstain gives us the impression that
despite being nominated by the President, they allowed
their conscience to prevail. For the remaining 21 MPs,
they have betrayed the Gambian people, and their
respective constituents should be lectured about their
actions. They certainly don't deserve to be re-elected
judging by my own standards.

Pa Samba Jaw

I totally support your suggestion. A letter of protest
should be written to them.

On that note, lets keep up the struggle, once again
the moron has showed us his true colours. As elections
are round the corner, the opposition parties should
begin discussing the prospects for a united
opposition.

Thank you

Sanusi



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