Political prisoners and their trials: The case of Ballo Kanteh, Sulayman Sarr and others

The notorious Mile II prisons

This blog post is by a guest writer who prefers anonymity.  The writer has brought it to our attention that the blog post is based, in large part, on the reporting of FOROYAA newspaper (2005 edition)

We allowed this contribution because we hope it will help shed light on a vexing issue of the state of the judiciary in The Gambia where the dictatorship has successfully blurred the boundaries between the judiciary and the executive branches of government in 21 years at the detriment of those who seek justice.

We hope this will be a first in a series of articles about the Gambian judiciary and how it has been corrupted by the Jammeh regime.

Sidi Sanneh
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It was like a bolt in the blue when murder and treason convicts brazenly told the Supreme Court that their appeals were torn by a prison warden and that they filed their appeals several years ago contrary to the information on their appeals. The appellants wasted no time in exposing certain things which they felt are abnormal.

The Farafenni attackers namely, Sulayman Sarr, Alieu Bah and Omar Dampha together with Lamin Fatty, a murder convict, clarified issues when they told the Supreme Court that they had filed their appeals several years ago. Sulayman Sarr, Ballo Kanteh and Omar Dampha were convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment after they were found guilty of committing treason. Readers could recall that Sarr, Kanteh and Dampha were arrested and tried at the High Court after they were indicted for attacking Farafenni Military barracks and killing some soldiers.

However, during Monday’s sitting of the court, some of the inmates at Mile Two Central Prisons claimed that they had filed appeals immediately after they were convicted. But the information on their appeals have it that they appealed recently, and as a result, the court had to strike out their appeals because it found out that the appeals were incompetent and were made beyond the time limit set for appeals. It must be noted that most of the prisoners who were in the dock were illiterates who do not know how the courts operate. They (Prisoners) spoke local languages. However, Lamin Fatty an ex-police officer who was convicted for committing murder said his appeal was torn by a prison warder at the prisons reception.

When his case was called, Chief Justice Brobbey asked him when he filed his appeal. In his reply, the appellant said he filed his appeal in 1993. At this point, Chief Justice Brobbey told him that the information on his appeal have it that he filed his appeal in 2005. But Mr. Fatty was quick to explain the circumstances surrounding his appeal.

In his explanation, Mr. Fatty said he was convicted and sentenced to a period of three years on 17th February 1992. He said he filed an appeal at the court of appeal and was sentenced to life imprisonment.

He said he did file an appeal at the Privy Council because the Supreme Court was not constituted at the time. In his narration, Mr. Fatty said his Lawyer at the time Edu Gomez came to the prisons and told him that from here to London was expensive and his Family could not afford it. According to him, he had left everything in the hands of God and hoped a moment would come when he could pursue his case in court.

Going further, Mr. Fatty said the authorities at the prisons did inform him in the year 2004 that a Supreme Court now exists in the Gambia. He said he filed an appeal at the Supreme Court last year. He pointed out that the said appeal was torn by a prison warden who told him that the document was old and dirty and that the appeal should be on new piece of paper. He said the appeal dated 2005 was the one prepared by the prison authorities after the other one was destroyed.

The chief Justice at this juncture told the appellant that the his appeal is out of time, because the information before the court have it that  the appeal was filed in 2005.The court concluded the matter by striking out the case .However ,the appellant was advised by the court to file a notice and seek for an extension. The court also advised the appellant to state in his appeal why he has not been able to make his appeal on time.

When he entered the dock, Sulayman Sarr told the court that he was sentenced in the year 1997.At this stage the Chief Justice told the appellant that the information on his appeal have it that he filed his appeal in 2005.However this was contested by Sulayman Sarr. In his argument, Sarr told the court that he filed his appeal shortly after he was convicted in 1997.Going further, Sarr said he and his colleagues were freed by the court of Appeal, but the state rearrested them and filed an appeal at the Privy Council. Continuing his explanation, Sarr said they were waiting for the outcome of the case at the Privy Council all these years. He pointed out that they were not wearing convict uniforms all these years, noting it was march last year that they were informed by the Director General of Prisons that they should wear convict uniforms. At this stage, the Chief Justice asked Sulayman Sarr to tell the court who convicted him. In his reply, Sarr told the court that he was convicted by DPP Agim, the crowded court room burst into laughter when Sarr made this accusation.

DPP Agim stood and threw light on the issue. According to him, Sarr and his colleagues were sentenced to death in the year 1997. He said the death sentence passed by the High Court was later commuted to life imprisonment by the Court of Appeal.  He said the state later filed an appeal at the Privy Council and challenged the decision of the Court of Appeal. He pointed out that the state later abandoned the appeal it filed at the Privy Council. DPP indicated that the Director General of Prisons approached him sometime march last year and asked him about the fate of  Sarr and his Co/convicts..

The DPP said he read the judgment delivered by the Court of Appeal and later informed the Prison boss that Sarr, Ballo Kanteh and Omar Dampha are convicted by the Court. The Court asked the DPP whether the Appellants were informed that the state had abandoned the appeal it filed at the Privy Council.  In his reply, the DPP pointed out that he came to the Gambia three years after the appellants
were convicted. According to DPP Agim, the appellants did misconstrue the State\s application at the Privy Council to mean that they have been acquitted by Court of Appeal.

‘You can apply for an extension of time. The records have shown that you appealed in 2005 you have some points in your favour. You can go back and put your house in order’. The Court told the appellant.

The case was later struck out by the court. Ballo Kanteh and Omar Dampha also held the view that they were freed by the court but they were later rearrested by the state. The DPP later told the court that the explanation he gave regarding Sulayman Sarr applies to the case of Ballo Kanteh and Omar Dampha. The court later decided to strike out the appeals by both Kanteh and Dampha, The court held the view that the appeals filed by the appellants are out of time.

GAMBIA: The Dubai of Africa

Alhagie Professor Doctor Yaya Abul-aziz Jamus Junkung Jammeh, Balili Mansa, Nasurudeen, president of Gambia and Admiralty of the State of Nebraska has been promising Gambians that he will transform the country into the Dubai of Africa.

21-years in office, this is what Gambians get instead.  A drainage system that is both an embarrassment and a disgrace.  When rains come, the entire urban districts of the Greater Banjul area, including the capital city float in water mixed with the affluent from the sewage system threatening the health of ordinary Gambians.

All of this is happening to Gambians while Jammeh and his few cronies continue to amass wealth through elaborate corruption schemes at the expense of the rest of Gambian society.

It is time to put an end to this madness by calling for Jammeh to vacate State House at the end of his current term which ends in 2016.   If Jammeh and his group of incompetent APRC apparatchiks cannot lift The Gambia from this hell hole to the new level of progress many African countries like Sierra Leone, Liberia, Angola and Mozambique - all post-conflict countries - are experiencing, it is time to relieve him and his bunch of equally corrupt minions of their duties.  They have failed Gambia.  They have failed Africa.  

IT IS TIME FOR CHANGE

Prisoner pardon will not save Yaya Jammeh from prosecution says Amnesty International-Senegal

Seydi Gassama, Amnesty International - Senegal

The pardoning of a Senegalese death row inmate by the Gambian dictator, Yaya Jammeh will not save him from being prosecuted once he leaves office,  Mr, Seydi Gassama, Amnesty International - Senegal was quoted as saying.

Mr. Gassama, who heads Amnesty International - Senegal, asserted that the "international isolation of Jammeh is almost total" and that "pardoning prisoners will not save him from prosecution once he leaves office."

While welcoming the release of these prisoners, the Head of Amnesty International - Senegal, Mr. Gassama calls on ECOWAS, African Union and the international community to continue to apply the pressure on Jammeh,  According to Mr. Gassama, it is because of the international sanctions against the regime of Yaya Jammeh that the Gambian economy is being asphyxiated.

It is interesting to note that Mr. Gassama recognizes the important role that the diaspora Gambian communities is playing in the fight against an extremely vile regime that preys on the innocent and defenseless civilian population by suggesting that they will not rest until Jammeh is thrown out of office.  He characterized the Jammeh regime as "that was based on assassinations, forced disappearances.  People have been shot" he concluded.

The Amnesty International - Senegal boss suggested that as long as unjust laws exist in The Gambia that makes it possible to jail journalists, members of civil society among others, the prisons will be full to capacity before the end of the year.

** This story is based on a piece reported in Seneweb.com

If God took them to Mile II prisons, why are they praising Jammeh for their release

Ex-convicts "pardoned" by the Gambian dictator

The ex-convicts pardoned by the Gambian dictator, Yaya Jammeh, are seen here matching in the Banjul City Square to show their appreciation to the person who concocted charges against most of them or were jailed for several years without charge.

As a close collaborator said to me recently , "they say it is GOD that took them to Mile II" - the notorious prison facility that is listed as one of the worst in the world - "how come they are praising Jammeh for their release" instead of God.

Our response is: remember most of these "pardoned prisoners" were members of the repressive security apparatus that has kept the dictatorship in power for 21 years by carrying out atrocities against a defenseless civilian population.  They were responsible for the maiming, killing, forced disappearances, extra-judicial executions, raping and torturing of many Gambians and non-Gambians alike to instill fear in a country where FEAR RULES, according to Amnesty International.

To complete the "humiliation parade", Jammeh will force them to spend the rest of the rainy season at his home village farm of Kanilai where they will be used as indentured laborers.  What a shame.

The unraveling of Jammeh's prisoner pardon scheme

Mrs. MacDouall-Gaye

When the Gambian dictator announced the release of "over two hundred and something", to quote his Interior Minister, the euphoric reaction immediately dissipated after details, or lack thereof, started to unravel.

We have written a great deal since last week on the topic, and to date the story line keeps changing, confirming our initial suspicion that the scheme was prompted by the country's precarious financial position which is the driving force behind the abrupt u-turn on the prisoner  release.  Gambia needs financial resources and the quickest way of alleviating the budgetary pressure is the release of the blocked EDF funds by the European Union.

We have also highlighted the discrepancies and imprecision of the number of prisoners affected.  Several figures have been banded about, from the precise number of 235 prisoners to the Interior Minister's vague reference to an approximation of 'two hundred and something.

Today, at the match pass ceremony, both Gambia's foreign minister, Neneh MacDouall-Gaye and the vice president have augmented the figure to "about three hundred" which is further proof that our demand for a comprehensive list of ALL affected prisoners with personal details - for the purposes of identification - is imperative.  We demanded it previously.  We are repeating the demand here.

Of course, for all of this to be official, the names of all of the prisoners MUST be gazetted in the Government Gazette for all of this to be official.

In reaction to the loud and incessant criticism about the apparent tribal preference favoring Jammeh's minority Jola tribe that represent a disproportionately higher number of those released, even when the crime for which they were accused of are more serious or the same as those left behind most of whom are Mandinka tribe, nine more prisoners, comprising of the other tribes, to respond to the tribalism charge.

The speeches at the match pass ceremony, especially from the foreign minister, is further evidence that the decision was reached to entice the donor community to release the much needed development assistant, particularly the EDF funds.  She announced a diplomatic charm offensive that will start with next Tuesday's meeting with members of the diplomatic corps whose nationals were among the prisoners pardoned who will express their gratitude and appreciation to the regime, according to Mrs. MacDouall-Gaye.

It appears that the Jammeh regime was expecting a much more upbeat rather than the lukewarm reaction from the recent U.S. State Department contained in the form of a  Press Statement, thus the need to ramp up the diplomatic campaign.  Presumably, the American (although no known Americans were among the released prisoners), British, Dutch, Senegalese, Nigerian and Ghanaian Ambassadors will be invited to the meeting.  Those resident in Dakar (Dutch and Ghanaian Ambassadors) will have to make the trip to Banjul.

Nothing seem to be going in the regime's favor. Even the much publicized prisoner match pass was greeted by torrential rains that lasted an entire day which was poorly attended if it weren't for the vale threat to civil servants who were instructed by the Head of the Civil Service for all to participate in the event.  Those who fail to attend without justifiable reason risk being dismissed or sent to jailed.

The scheme which was a propaganda ploy which was expected to turn the tables in the regime's favor and against the dissident communities in America and Europe is now developing into a diplomatic nightmare for the regime.

The speech by the foreign minister appeared rather defensive for the occasion which tried to assure Gambians that the prisoner pardon scheme was all the idea of Jammeh and that the regime was under no pressure to act the way it did; which may be true.  But when your economy is in such shambles with mounting budget deficits, difficulty meeting payroll of civil servants' on the eve of an election year, no external pressure is necessary.  The donors will sit back and watch you twist slowly in the wind, Watergate style.

Open Letter to Chairperson of Africa Union Commission

                       HE Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Chairperson of the Africa Union Commission  

                      

H.E.  Dr Nkoszana Dlamini-Zuma
Chairperson, Africa Union Commission
Addis Ababa,
ETHIOPIA   

                                                 
Dear Dr. Dlamini-Zuma,

There is a discernible shift in attitude among ordinary citizens across our continent, specifically concerning the current state of African governance that relates to the new trend employed by some African Heads of State, of changing the rules midstream, in a blatant attempt at extending their stay in power for an indefinite period of time.  Every effort must be made by the African Union in collaborations with regional political organizations to stop this trend from becoming a permanent and acceptable fixture in the African political landscape.

Surveys conducted by the Interuniversity Consortium for Political and Social Research [ICPSR] support the existence of a clear trend in, and a growing impatience with, African leaders who perpetuate themselves in power - a trend that can only threaten the peace and stability in those countries where the problem is more pronounced i.e. in countries where current leaders have already spent 10 years and more in power.

Generally, these countries are where there are no constitutional provisions to the effect.  And in countries where term limits exist, it didn't prevent the immediate past president and the current president of Burkina Faso and Burundi respectively, from attempting to change the electoral provisions with varying degrees of success.

In both cases, a lesson learned in tampering with the Constitution or applying a convenient and self-serving interpretation of the Constitution is the idea is not a very good one, and as president Barack Obama said, "it risks instability and strife" not only nationally but regionally.

The American president's recent visit to the AU headquarters offered you, Your Excellency, the opportunity to take the lead, and set the tone, for a conversation with African Leaders in general and those category of leadership who have been in power for over twenty years and above, in particular, that will allow them to gracefully relinquish power.

As a Gambian, I am respectfully recommending that President Yahya Jammeh of The Gambia be among those Heads of State who must not be encouraged to remain in power beyond their current mandate.  In the case of the Gambian president that should be in October/November 2016.

We are pleased to note that ECOWAS has already taken the lead by proposing a presidential term limit for its Member States.  Fourteen of sixteen of the regional organization's Members supported the proposal.  The Gambia and Togo were the two Member State that opposed to the idea which, though unsuccessful, was a significant first step under the Chairmanship of President John Mahama of Ghana.

We would encourage the African Union to collaborate with the current Chairman of ECOWAS, president Macky Sall of Senegal, who, we hope, will try a second time, in an attempt to get a consensus on the issue.

Meanwhile, we trust, under your leadership, the African Union, will take the necessary steps to (i) lend support to the ECOWAS Initiative on term limits and (ii) start the conversation with countries that do not have presidential term limit provision with the view to embracing term limits as the new norms. Ordinary Africans are yearning for the change that is long overdue.

Please accept, Your Excellency, the assurances of our highest consideration.


Yours sincerely



Sidi M. Sanneh
On behalf of Gambian dissidents everywhere

More evidence emerge that Jammeh's prisoner pardon is a propaganda ploy

Yaya Jammeh at Arch 22 in July 2015

Over the weekend, and after the release of some of the "pardoned" prisoners by the Gambian dictator, the Office of the President issued a short, misleading and highly self-serving press release "informing the general public that all those convicted before July 1994 during the P.P.P regime have also been duly pardoned by His Excellency the President Sheikh Professor Alhaji Dr. Yahya Jammeh Babili Mansa", end of quote.

But who are these so-called pre-July 1994 prisoners and what were the specifics of their cases including the circumstances surrounding their incarceration.

It is important to note that the total number of prisoners affected by this presidential action is three, namely Omar Manjang, Lamin Fatty and a third person - whose name is unavailable as we go to press -  all police officers stationed in Brikama.   They were accused of torturing to death a suspect in Brikama, and subsequently sentenced to 3 years in prison.

The government appealed the conviction because the prosecution argued that it was a case of murder and not manslaughter.  The Appeals Courts later found them guilty as charged and they were sentenced to death, a sentence later commuted to life.  This was in 1992/93.  So the three were in prison for only several months before Yaya Jammeh and his band of misfits seized power illegally the following year.  This case was a subject of the U.S. State Department's Human Rights Report of 1992/93.

For the next 21 years, these three policemen where locked up in Mile II under the watchful eye of Yaya Jammeh.  Simply going by the press release, it gives the general public the impression that these so-called pre-1994 were numerous in number and that they have been in jail for the better part of the 30-year administration of  Sir Dawda Jawara when the opposite is the truth.

The three have been in Mile II only for several months under Jawara and the rest of the 21 years under Jammeh who could have released them, as he has done in the cases of Musa Sanneh and Amadou Badgie, both of whom were Kukoi Samba Sagnia men imprisoned on treason charges as a result of their involvement in the 1981 coup d'etat.  They were both sentenced to 20 years in 1988. There is also no proof that they are all alive and have been released.  The regime must show proof.

This is one more evidence that Jammeh and his regime are using the prisoner release as a propaganda tool to score points locally by their continued attempt to cast the Jawara administration in a bad light, with the hope of deflecting from their horrendous human rights record.  It is also a ploy designed to convince the donor community, particularly the European Union, into releasing the much needed development assistant funds to his financially bankrupt regime.