Yahya Jammeh, Take These Recommendations Or Else…

By Manding Darboe

Yahya Jammeh, take these recommendation or Leave them at your own peril because Gambians will take over their Country from you by all means possible

Proffer Agreement Against Prosecution.

Yahya Jammeh, you must accept the December 1st 2016 elections results if you lose (which I think you will) and step down peacefully, and I suggest you contact coalition leadership and enter into some form of Proffer Agreement Against some Prosecution (s) (not all) for the crimes that you have committed against the people of The Gambia for 22 years, immediately before it is too late in order to avoid civil unrest or war in the Gambia, because Gambians will take over their Country from you by all means possible.

In the interest of full disclosure to your readers, I am not a lawyer. After doing extensive reading and research on this subject, I understand that In the context of criminal law, a proffer agreement is a written agreement between prosecutors and individuals under (or are subjects of very Serious) criminal investigation which permit these individuals to give the government information about crimes with some assurances that they will be protected against prosecution.
Yahya Jammeh, because you have caused too much suffering to the people of The Gambia and abused the Gambia constitution too many times for too long, for 22 years, you must note please note, in case you are intending to lie and cheat, that proffer agreements typically contain a clause allowing the government to impeach you with your proffer statement(s) in a subsequent proceeding if your testimony is found to be inconsistent with your proffer statement.
To begin with, unlike total immunity (which could only be granted by the president and or the National Assembly and ascended to by the president) please note again, in case you are intending to lie and cheat, proffer agreements do not prevent the government from making derivative use of your statements. In other words, although the government cannot use your actual proffer session statements against you in its case-in-chief, it can use the information that you provide to follow up leads and conduct further investigations. If those leads and further investigations capture new evidence, such evidence can be used to indict and convict you.
Here are the recommendations for Yahya Jammeh to implement in order to avoid war in The Gambia. (Must of these recommendations have been culled from the Human Rights Watch’s list of recommendation for The Gambia that I vehemently agree with)
(1) If you genuinely do all these proffers listed below, I think (my opinion only) Gambians might do a serious soul searching to never forget, but forgive you as the People of Ghana did to former president Jerry Rawlings!
(2) BUT if you do not do all these proffers listed below, then, this COULD BE the last election for you in power.

Recommendations to President Yahya Jammeh and the Government of The Gambia
· Make sure that the election on election day and the counting of the ballot is done freely and fairly by the Independent election commission under the election laws of the Gambia
· Honor the will and verdict of the Gambian electors or voters in the coming elections! (that means if you are the winner, you stay, but if you are the loser, then you go peacefully and gracefully)
· Release immediately and drop any charges against all those detained for exercising their rights to peaceful assembly or to freedom of expression or association.
· Quash the convictions and order the release of all those convicted for engaging in peaceful protests (especially Ousainou Darboe and all those who risked their freedoms and life to protest and were arrested for these unnecessary and illegal arrests in our country)
· Allow visits to all places of detention by: representatives of independent human rights and humanitarian organizations, lawyers and medical professionals.
· Ensure access to appropriate medical treatment for all prisoners.
· Establish a credible, independent and impartial inquiry into the treatment in custody of all protesters arrested before April 2016 and those arrests after April and May 2016 demonstrations.
· Establish a credible, independent and impartial inquiry into; all disappeared Gambians and foreigners, including the deaths of all innocent Gambians by state security forces; such as Lt. Basiru Barrow and other civilians; especially the deaths of students demonstrators by army and security forces, the deaths Kanyiba Kanyi, Deda Hydara, Bassy Jammeh and brothers, Ebrima Manneh, Baaba Jobe… Solo Sandeng and Solo Krummah and the long list goes on and on.
· Appropriately prosecute all officials, regardless of title or rank, implicated in any wrongdoing.
· Publicly affirm the rights of all political parties, the media, and civil society organizations, including the rights to freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly.
· Issue a clear and public statement to all government officials and state security forces that any acts violating the rights of the general public, rights of members of opposition parties, journalists, and members of civil society organizations will be promptly investigated and those responsible shall be appropriately disciplined or prosecuted.
· Publicly instruct Gambia Radio and Television Services to allow full, open reporting and commentary on all issues of public interest, including political, accountability and transparence matters.
· Publicly instruct Gambia Radio and Television Services to ensure the voices of opposition parties are heard before the official election campaign begins and are provided equal access during the campaign.
· Ensure that state resources are not used for the purpose of political campaigning, including by: Prohibiting political parties from using state buildings or vehicles for campaigning;
· Ensuring state funds are not used for the purposes of campaigning by the president and the ruling party, and;
· Prohibiting civil servants and security forces from participating in political rallies while on duty and in uniform.
· Return all landed properties that you have confiscated from Gambians to their rightful owners
· Publicly apologize(contritely and genuinely) to the Gambian people (in the manner that former president Jerry Rawlings of Ghana did to the people of Ghana) and match it up with some form of compensation from you declared weather that you claimed in the past to have amassed plenty of money; during your misrule for 22 years.
· Publicly apologize (contritely and genuinely) for all unnecessary and illegal witchcrafts arrests of Gambians, (especially to Halifa Sallah and all those who risked their freedoms and life to protest and were arrested for these unnecessary and illegal witchcraft arrests in our country) and for all other unnecessary and illegal arrests, and exiles of Gambians and all sufferings caused by your misrule for 22 years.
· Finally, Publicly apologize (contritely and genuinely) to the Families of late Hon. Alhagie Bubacarr Baldeh and to the family of late Alhagie Bunja Bayo and all those families that you have denied burial rights to the Gambia soil (these were abhorrent abominations that only you who committed them against these families can make it right for them)
Just in case Yahya chooses not respect The Gambia’s December 1st election results if he losses:
To The Gambia National Assembly
· Repeal or amend all legislation infringing upon the rights to freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly, including:
· The Public Order Act requirement of permits for public assemblies, which should be amended to require only notification to the authorities of planned public assemblies;
· The Criminal Code offenses of sedition (section 52), criminal libel (section 178), spreading false information (section 181);
· Provisions of the Information and Communication Act of 2013 that include censorship of online expression (section 173A).
· The Gambia constitution be thoroughly revised by the constitution revision committee/commission and presented to The Gambian people to give them the chance to vote in a referendum to do away with the idea that the president should have absolute powers such as power to remove elected officials (fire Chiefs alkalolu and area councilors) and power to appoint instead of elect Chiefs alkalolu and area councilors. (We remember this was done through constitutional provision approved by National Assembly after 2001 election which allowed the president to do this hiring and firing through a bill very dubiously crafted by Baba K. Jobe essentially codifying political oppression, suppression of Gambian citizens’ constitutional rights such as freedom of speech and political association)
· The constitution revision committee/commission and or the National Assembly must restore second round of voting that was removed from the constitution. (We remember that presidential term limit was removed, and media commission bill was also enacted by National Assembly after 2001 election which limits press freedom and freedom of speech)
Just in case Yahya chooses not respect The Gambia’s December 1st election results if he losses:
To the Gambian Police
• Allow peaceful public events and rallies, including by opposition parties, even if the organizers have not complied with the Public Order Act requirements on police notification or permission.
• Process requests to obtain a permit for public assemblies or for use of a public address system in a timely manner for all protests.
• During public gatherings, abide by the UN Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials.
• Ensure that persons taken into custody are treated with full respect for their basic rights, promptly brought before a judge, and held only in official places of detention; and ensure that all detainees are provided with immediate and regular access to family members and legal counsel.

Just in case Yahya chooses not respect The Gambia’s December 1st election results if he losses:
To the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the African Union, the United States, and the European Union
• Consistently publicly condemn serious human rights violations in Gambia, and raise concerns with government officials at all levels.
• Ensure any election monitors deployed for the 2016 elections have a mandate to document and publicly report on human rights violations.
• In the absence of substantial human rights improvements in Gambia, consider imposing sanctions, specifically: o Suspending Gambia from all ECOWAS decision-making bodies under article 45 (2) of the ECOWAS Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance; o Imposing travel bans, asset freezes and other targeted sanctions on officials responsible for serious human rights abuses. To the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR)
• Consistently publicly condemn serious human rights violations in Gambia, and raise concerns with government officials at all levels.
• Make clear to the government that should it fail to comply with Commission resolution and requests, including those relating to opposition freedoms, the Commission will consider referring Gambia to the African Union Executive Council for non-compliance.
Just in case Yahya chooses not respect The Gambia’s December 1st election results if he losses:

To UN Human Rights Council Member Countries
• In the absence of substantial human rights improvements in Gambia, adopt a resolution to establish regular monitoring, reporting, and interactive dialogue on the human rights situation.
• To relevant UN Special Rapporteurs, including on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions and Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association
• Consider requesting visits to Gambia to examine human rights violations committed against political opposition, journalists and other dissenting voices.

Ends