The URD incident - a question of morality The Independent <http://www.qanet.gm/Independent/independent.html> (Banjul) June 26, 2000 by D.A Jawo Banjul - Wonders really never cease in this country, particularly when it comes to dealing with members of the opposition. It is therefore not only an irony but it appears to impinge on morality for the police to have detained the UDP leader Ousainou Darboe and about 80 UDP members when they were said to have actually requested for police protection after they were allegedly ambushed by APRC supporters during their tour of the Upper River Division. This is indeed not only unusual but very interesting. At least, it would have been expected that for the sake of morality, when the UDP asked for protection from the police, they should have been given that protection instead of being given the false hope that they were being offered protective custody only to be detained under such harsh conditions for about four days. While President Jammeh is going around giving the entire world the impression that he is a peace maker, it is quite unfortunate that people acting in the name of his regime can be seen to do things that could compromise the peace and security of this country, apparently just to score political points against the opposition. The police and all those responsible authorities in the URD need to thoroughly investigate the circumstances that led to the clash between the APRC supporters and the UDP tour party before apparently shifting the entire blame onto the UDP people. If it is indeed true that the UDP, prior to the commencement of their tour warned the police about a possible attempt by the APRC militants to disrupt their tour and yet the police failed to do anything to prevent it, then it would be quite wrong for the police to turn around and treat the UDP members as trouble makers and criminals. At least if not for anything else, it is the duty of the police to provide security to everyone in this country regardless of political affiliation or other social consideration. It is therefore very hard to understand why the police would not normally provide the UDP with security cover while they are travelling in the countryside, just as they do for the APRC. It appears that we are beginning to see the emergence of our own version of the Zimbabwe War Veterans, with the power to harass and intimidate opposition supporters, apparently with both the overt and covert support from members of the regime and its agents. There are allegations for instance that the vehicles used by the APRC supporters when they allegedly ambushed the UDP tour party were provided and fuelled by the Basse Area Council and the URD commissioners office. Therefore, I hope the police would not deliberately ignore all those significant details when investigating the case. Unless the police and the authorities are seen to take the most appropriate and impartial action on the matter, then the very credibility of the regime as well as whatever name President Jammeh may have already earned himself as a sub-regional peace maker would have been thrown to the dogs. It may also send the wrong signals to the APRC supporters that they have the power and licence to do anything and behave anyhow they like and nothing would come out of it. Many people are no doubt surprised by the speed and velocity that the police have taken to identify and charge the suspects in this particular case. The public is also still waiting for the police to come up with the slightest clue as to what caused the mysterious death of a former finance minister Ousman Koro Ceesay exactly five years ago this month. There is also the alleged torture of some UDP militants at the headquarters of the NIA in June 1997 for which no one has ever been apprehended, even though the victims said they can identify the perpetrators of that heinous crime. There are several other unsolved cases of similar magnitude for which no action appears to be taken, apparently because the victims happen to be members of the opposition. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------------