>Gambia's Military Tyranny >This article ran in The Metro Herald and other newspapers in July 1995: > >One Year of Military Tyranny in the Gambia > >Richard E. Sincere, Jr. > > >On July 22, 1994, the unexpected occurred: In a raw power grab, a small >group of junior military officers overthrew the democratically elected >government in the Republic of the Gambia, ancestral home of millions of >African-Americans. > > The officers, led by 29-year-old Yahya Jammeh, stealthily used the >cover of a joint military exercise with U.S. Marines to surround the State >House in Banjul, and, brandishing their weapons, forced President Sir Dawda >K. Jawara to take refuge on a U.S. warship that was in port that day. >Within 24 hours, the officers had consolidated their control of the >government and Jawara went into exile, where he now works to restore >Gambian democracy. > > In many ways, the Gambia had been a model for all of Africa. For 30 >years, it was governed by a multiparty, authentically democratic system. >Jawara, a devout Muslim with a keen desire for peace and stability, had >been instrumental in creating the Human Rights Commission of the >Organization for African Unity. Respected and admired by world leaders >throughout his tenure, President Jawara retains that respect and admiration >today. > > A year is a long time in international politics. Yesterday's friends >are often forgotten, and yesterday's enemies sometimes become today's pals. >One would expect that in a year, Jammeh and his military junta would have >begun to make friends on the world scene. Not so; in fact, President Jawara >is far more influential in his diplomatic efforts than Jammeh has had in >trying to gain recognition by other politicians. > > In recent weeks, President Jawara has met with heads of state and >foreign ministry officials in a number of countries, making his case for >support. He has twice met with Senegal's President Abdou Diouf in Dakar and >has also visited Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, and Nigeria. In early July, he met >for the second time with French foreign ministry officials, and in February >he visited Washington and New York, where he met with key members of >Congress and with United Nations Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali. > > Under President Jawara, the Gambia's economy grew at a rate of 5 >percent per year, due to an openness to new investment and trade that made >it, as one observer noted, "an embryonic Hong Kong." Since the coup, in >contrast, the economy has shrunk by 5 percent per year. The U.S. State >Department estimates that Gambian trade fell by 85 percent in the past >year. > > While in office, President Jawara was a beacon of responsibility >when, elsewhere in Africa, political leaders turned a blind eye from graft >and corruption in their midst. When corruption was brought to his >attention, reported one British expert, Jawara would "pick up a broom and >sweep out the cupboard." The military government, on the other hand, has >been up to its neck in scandals: sacked government ministers have died in >prison, another minister was decapitated in a mysterious car wreck, and >journalists have been arrested and deported for reporting the news. > > Most recently, Jammeh issued Decree 45, which curtails the right of >individuals to be secure in their own homes and gives Jammeh and his >underlings the capacity to arrest people without warrants. It gives the >National Intelligence Agency sweeping powers designed to deter political >dissent, saying, "An officer may search, arrest, or detain any person, or >seize, impound, or search any vessel, equipment, plant, [or] property >without a warrant." > > Internationally, the inexperienced Jammeh has strengthened the >Gambia's ties to Libya's terrorist government, and he has allowed smugglers >to use the Gambia to carry guns to anti-government rebels in Senegal and >Sudan. He confused the diplomatic scene when on July 13 he restored >official ties to Taiwan without renouncing ties with China. It seems Jammeh >wants to play both sides of the fence -- a precarious position for a tiny, >resource-poor country. > > President Jawara states that he seeks only to restore democracy in >the Gambia. He intends to go home to oversee new elections for Parliament >and the Presidency, but he himself will not be a candidate for President >again. As soon as democracy is back in place, he will step aside and live >quietly in retirement. > > Representative Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) has drafted a congressional >resolution decrying the Gambian military regime. Once passed, his >resolution may impel the international community to take concrete action on >behalf of human rights and democracy in the Gambia. > > Let us hope that President Clinton, Secretary of State Christopher, >and leading members of Congress remember the tragic anniversary of the coup >that toppled a friend of the United States and a crusader for human rights >and democracy. The world needs reminders of the quiet but bold heroes like >Sir Dawda K. Jawara, who struggle for freedom of speech, of the press, of >conscience, respect for the dignity of the person, and free enterprise. >President Jawara deserves our attention and our prayers to commemorate that >dark day in Banjul a year ago. > >* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * > > Richard Sincere writes widely on African economic and political >issues. > >Back to "Africa" Menu > >Back to Main Menu _________________________________________________________________ MSN 8 helps eliminate e-mail viruses. Get 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/virus ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~