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Interior Minister
Cletus Avoka |
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The Gambian government has been found
liable for the mass murder of some 44 Ghanaians and natives
of other West African countries, a joint UN and ECOWAS
investigative team has disclosed.
The deceased,
mostly immigrants, were found dead, 2005, in the Tangy
forest in Banjul in what the Ghanaian government said was
state sponsored killing.
After years of near
diplomatic row between the two countries dotted with several
failed commissions of enquiry, the UN and ECOWAS
investigative team say the Gambian government should be held
accountable.
The Government was not found directly
responsible for the murders, but it failed to protect the
lives of the immigrants in its jurisdiction.
By
international law, countries must take responsibility for
protecting the lives of its residents.
In a detailed
report handed to Ghana's Foreign Minister Alhaji Mohammed
Mumuni in Nigeria, two persons, one Captain Taylor and
Gambian resident, Laminu Tunkara must be hunted and
prosecuted for their role in the murders.
The two
allegedly lured the victims from Senegal to Gambia with the
promise of providing a vessel to ferry them to Europe, but
that turned out to be a scam.
The stranded victims
were arrested, later released but were found dead in the
Gambian forest in a murder suspected to have been carried
out by some gang element.
The committee has
recommended the Gambian government pays compensation to the
families of the victims. The two governments must however
agree on the amount to be paid.
The bodies are to be
exhumed and given a befitting burial in their native
countries.
Ghana's Interior Minister Cletus Avoka
told Joy News he is satisfied with the recommendations even
though there are still some unanswered
questions.
According to the Minister, the Gambian
government has expressed reservations over payment of
compensation claiming that that will amount to complicity in
the murders.
Story by Nathan
Gadugah/Myjoyonline
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