By Bubacarr Drammeh
The new Government — like its predecessor — continues to deny permits, arrest and kill protesters
The continued denial of permits, the arrests, prosecutions and killings of peaceful demonstrators in the New Gambia fortify the structural barriers in the country’s path to becoming a respectable democracy. While the recently released Freedom House’s 2018 Freedom in the World Index elevates The Gambia’s status from “Not Free” to “Partly Free,” the country’s freedom rating still dips in the aggregate score of 41 out of a possible 100. A year and a half into the administration of the self-acclaimed Messiahs’ deliverance of a democratic dispensation with good governance and rule of law for oppressed Gambians, the Barrow Administration scored 4.7/7 (on a scale from 1 Most Free to 7 as Least Free). The report which accounts for developments from 1 January 2017 through 31 December 2017, rates The Gambia 5/7 (1 is Most Free whiles 7 is Least Free) on Civil Liberties for its citizens.
The Gambia’s undesirable performance in the Civil Liberties category is due in large parts to the Government’s refusal to grant permits for peaceful demonstration
and assembly, couple with its repressive crackdowns on peaceful protesters. Freedom House states that “Permits from the police Inspector General are required for protests, but the Public Order Act requiring this has come under increasing public scrutiny after the denial of a permit to opposition leader Mama Kandeh, and the death of one citizen during unregistered protests in Kanilai, who was shot by security forces.” The aforementioned was sufficient to give The Gambia a bad score as it posed imminent threats to civil liberties. The potential threats of requiring permits for peaceful political assembly materialized when the youths of Gunjur were arrested and detained in May 2018. If there were any doubt left that after the murderous suppression of the Kanilai protest on June 5, 2017, the arrest of Dr. Ismaila Ceesay in February 2018, and the arrests of an opposition councilor-elect in Mankama Kunda n April 2018, Monday’s killings of Bakary Kujabi and Ismaila Bah in Faraba Bantang might now be sufficient to convince apologists of the Barrow’s Administration that The Gambia has returned to business of political repression which it never really abandoned since Jammeh was removed from office.
Since President Barrow’s inauguration in January 2017, his administration continues to deny permit requests for peaceful political assembly, citing the draconian Public Order Act as a justification for doing so. More than fifty people have been arrested and charged on different occasions for “unlawful” assembly and for protesting, according to several newspaper reports. At least four people have been brutally killed by security forces and more than a dozen people severely wounded.
The repression of the Barrow’s administration is universal as was under its predecessor, the Jammeh’s regime. No one is spared, and not even its own allies and supporters. On Monday at Faraba Bantang village, journalist Pa Modou Bojang who is an unapologetic supporter of President Barrow was assaulted, detained by Police Intervention Unit, and later sent to the Brikama Police Station for enhanced interrogation. The Gambia Press Union (GPU) has since released a statement condemning in “the strongest terms the assault on journalist Pa Modou Bojang.” According to the press release from the GPU:
“Chaos erupted in the village Monday morning when villagers clashed with police over mining activities . . . Journalist Bojang went to the scene in the morning for news coverage when he came under attack. He was physically assaulted before he was arrested and taken under six hours of detention at the Brikama Police Station. He was released from detention at about 6PM without charge. He, however, could not recover his audio recorder from the police. He would undergo a medical checkup to determine the extent and complications of the injury. GPU is deeply concerned by the trend of attack on journalists on duty in recent times.”
Alioune Tine, Amnesty International’s West and Central Africa Regional Director, said “Barrow’s government should ensure that Gambians will always be able to express their opinions or [criticism] of the government without fear of recrimination.” Any objective analyst would admit that these remarks and concerns by right activists are not any different from concerns expressed by international organization against former President Yahya Jammeh for his callous repressions of political and press freedoms. In essence, if anything has changed for a short aberration, it is now a return to business as usual.
The effective ban on political assembly — currently under President Barrow’s administration — beyond official election campaigns is not limited to citizens and activists, but also include bona fide political parties. In August 2017, the country’s main opposition party was denied permit to hold a political rally in one of the country’s biggest cities, Brikama. According to Adama Manjang, National Campaign Manager of the Gambia Democratic Congress ( GDC):
“We underwent all the screening processes. After 3pm, we were told to go the Inspector General of Police (IGP). Upon entering his office, I met the IGP ready to go home. He said ‘the file is in my office. We are on the process. You can go home. We have your contact numbers written in the file, you will hear from us later.’ We did not hear from them the whole day on Saturday, no call from the police.”
Political oppression of the Barrow government, as under the Jammeh regime, is not limited to assembly but also includes even citizens’ obeying the law. In May 2018, six youths from Gunjur were arrested and charged with incitement of violence after they submitted a request to obtain a permit for a demonstration and insisted on carrying on with their planned protest irrespective of it being approved.
Several Gambian’s including Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) within and outside the country expressed concerns that the recent activities of the Barrow Administration is a signal that the government is returning to the status quo it was elected to obliterate from the Gambian political milieu. It’s clear that the Barrow’s government is not living up to its promises to respect “Fundamental Rights” of Gambian citizens.
The killing of protesters, denial of permits, and the arresting and charging of protesters contradict the statement President Barrow made to Amnesty International’s delegation in a meeting held on 31 March 2017, when he promised “zero tolerance” for human rights violations.
We call on the government of The Gambia to repeal and replace the Public Order Act and respect the fundamental rights of the people to peaceful assembly and protest. The Gambian people voted Jammeh out in the last Presidential election because of his disrespect for the fundamental human rights of Gambians and nationals of other countries. During his inaugural speech, President Barrow told Gambians:
“This is a victory for the Gambia. Our national flag will now fly high among those of the most democratic nations of the world. We could now become the architect of a democratic republic that is built on the pillars of good governance, rule of law, and respect for fundamental freedom.”
In light of President Barrow’s poor human rights records, our national flag will not fly high among those of the most democratic nations of the world, albeit during this transitional government. This may be the harbinger of things to expect were he to remain in office beyond the three-year mandate — he asked for during the presidential election and was — given to him by the Gambian electorates.