By Abdoulie John
Gambia’s Yahya Jammeh has sparked shock and anger after unleashing one of his strongest diatribes against United Nations and Amnesty International for demanding an investigation into the death in custody of youth activist Solo Sandeng.
“This is not the first time that Jammeh is directing his attacks towards the international community. This is very unfortunate and does not augur well for the country,” the Secretary General of the Dakar-based RADDHO Aboubacry Mbodji told this reporter.
In an interview published Monday by the weekly Paris-based Jeune Afrique Magazine, the Gambian leader dropped the hammer on United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and Amnesty International telling them to ‘go to hell’. This followed persistent calls made by these bodies for Gambia to investigate the violent death of Solo Sandeng,
Sandeng, an United Democratic Party (UDP) youth leader who spearheaded a protest march on April 14.
“The Jammeh regime is being increasingly isolated for not respecting human rights and rule of law. He (Yahya Jammeh) needs to end his repressives policies,” he said.
He gave example of the verdict handed down yesterday by an African Court against former Chadian President Hisséne Habré, RADDHO Secretary General warned: “It is the obligation of the international community
to address gross human rights violations by Gambian authorities. The Hisséne Habré case should serve as a big lesson for Yahya Jammeh.”
Mai Ahmad Fatty of the opposition Gambia Moral Congress (GMC) said Yahya Jammeh, by admitting the crimes of murder and torture many times in the interview with Jeune Afrique Magazine, has ‘demonstrated that he should be treated for who he is – a thug.
“Unless a denial or retraction is published, the presumption of accuracy stands,” said GMC leader in a virulent reaction posted on his Facebook page.
Mai Ahmad Fatty condemned the crimes being committed by the Jammeh regime and called on the country’s armed forces ‘to withdraw allegiance against him, without delay.
“The reference to “This time…..only one dead…” affirmed what we already knew…that usually many were killed at once under custody or interrogation. This outcast is his own witness against himself, on a day of reckoning that shall not fail,” he said.
Since April this year, the tiny West African nation is confronted with an unprecedented crisis. The killing of Solo Sandeng and subsequent arrrest of United Democratic Party leader Ousainou Darboe and dozens of his supporters continue to raise serious concerns about the respect of human rights and rule of law in the country.
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