Socialist International (SI) has blown the trumpet for the Gambia’s oppressed opposition United Democratic Party (UDP), condemning Gambian security forces for using excessive force on opposition protesters.
In a resolution adopted by a meeting of the council the SI in Geneva, Switzerland, the Jammeh government has been blamed for its violent repression on demonstrators demanding electoral reform and the right to free speech in Gambia.
SI meeting condemned the tragic and unexplained death in custody of the UDP Organising Secretary Ebrima Solo Sandeng as well as the continued arbitrarily of Lawyer Ousainou Darboe and others.
The resolution”condemns the continued use of violence and grave human rights violations perpetrated by the government against the political opposition in Gambia.” It calls for the full respect of all human rights, including the right to free speech in the Gambia. The meeting further demaned an urgent and independent investigation of the death of Ebrima Solo Sandeng, and the immediate release of Ousainou Darboe and his colleagues.
It called on competent authorities in the African Union and the Office of the United Nations Commission for Human Rights to act urgently to protect the rights of all those today under serious threat in Gambia.
The SI that demands the Gambia’s presidential election in December 2016 be free, transparent and fair, invited the wider international community and all SI member parties to denounce the conduct of the government of Gambia.
The SI extended its solidarity to the UDP, its leadership and members in advance of those presidential elections and expressed its resolve to remain engaged with the situation in Gambia. It promised to do its utmost to contribute to the realisation of the aspirations and goals of its member party and other democratic forces for the development of a society with freedoms and rights and an effective democracy.
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