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| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Momodou |
Posted - 22 Jan 2017 : 00:27:31
JOINT DECLARATION BY THE ECONOMIC COMMUNITY OF WEST AFRICAN STATES, THE AFRICAN UNION AND THE UNITED NATIONS ON THE POLITICAL SITUATION OF THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF THE GAMBIA -JANUARY 21, 2017
1. Following the Decision of the Summit of the ECOWAS Authority taken on 17th December 2016 in Abuja, Nigeria, Mediation efforts, including visits to Banjul, were undertaken by the Chair of the Authority of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government, HE President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the Mediator, HE President Muhammadu Buhari and Co-Mediator on The Gambia, HE former President John Dramani Mahama, along with HE President Ernest Bai Koroma to mediate on the political impasse with Sheikh Professor Alhaji Dr. Yahya A. J. J. Jammeh,
2. Following further mediation efforts by HE President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania and HE President Alpha Conde of the Republic of Guinea Conakry with HE Sheikh Professor Alhaji Dr. Yahya A. J. J. Jammeh, the former President of the Republic of The Gambia, and in consultation with the Chairperson of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, the Chairperson of the AU Authority of Heads of State and Government and the Secretary-General of the United Nations, this declaration is made with the purpose of reaching a peaceful resolution to the political situation in The Gambia.
3. ECOWAS, the AU and the UN commend the goodwill and statesmanship of His Excellency former President Jammeh, who with the greater interest of the Gambian people in mind, and in order to preserve the peace, stability and security of The Gambia and maintain its sovereignty, territorial integrity and the dignity of the Gambian people, has decided to facilitate an immediate peaceful and orderly transition process and transfer of power to President Adama Barrow in accordance with the Gambian constitution.
4. In furtherance of this, ECOWAS, the AU and the UN commit to work with the Government of The Gambia to ensure that it assures and ensures the dignity, respect, security and rights of HE former President Jammeh, as a citizen, a party leader and a former Head of State as provided for and guaranteed by the 1997 Gambian Constitution and other Laws of The Gambia.
5. Further, ECOWAS, the AU and the UN commit to work with the Government of The Gambia to ensure that it fully guarantees, assures and ensures the dignity, security, safety and rights of former President Jammeh’s immediate family, cabinet members, government officials, Security Officials and party supporters and loyalists.
6. ECOWAS, the AU and the UN commit to work with the Government of The Gambia to ensure that no legislative measures are taken by it that would be inconsistent with the previous two paragraphs.
7.
ECOWAS, the AU and the UN urge the Government of The Gambia to take all necessary measures to assure and ensure that there is no intimidation, harassment and/or witch-hunting of former regime members and supporters, in conformity with the Constitution and other laws of The Gambia.
8. ECOWAS, the AU and the UN commit to work with the Government of The Gambia to prevent the seizure of assets and properties lawfully belonging to former President Jammeh or his family and those of his Cabinet members, government officials and Party supporters, as guaranteed under the Constitution and other Laws of The Gambia.
9. In order to avoid any recriminations, ECOWAS, the AU and the UN commit to work with the Government of The Gambia on national reconciliation to cement social, cultural and national cohesion.
10. ECOWAS, the AU and the UN underscore strongly the important role of the Gambian Defence and Security Forces in the maintenance of peace and stability of The Gambia and commit to work with the Government of The Gambia to ensure that it takes all appropriate measures to support the maintenance of the integrity of the [Defence and] Security Forces and guard against all measures that can create division and a breakdown of order.
11. ECOWAS, the AU and the UN will work to ensure that host countries that offer “African hospitality” to former President Jammeh and his family do not become undue targets of harassment, intimidation and all other pressures and sanctions.
12. In order to assist a peaceful and orderly transition and transfer of power and the establishment of a new government, HE former President Jammeh will temporarily leave The Gambia on 21 January 2017, without any prejudice to his rights as a citizen, a former President and a Political Party Leader.
13. ECOWAS, the AU and the UN will work with the Government of The Gambia to ensure that former President Jammeh is at liberty to return to The Gambia at any time of his choosing in accordance with international human rights law and his rights as a citizen of the Gambia and a former head of state.
14. Pursuant to this declaration, ECOWAS will halt any military operations in The Gambia and will continue to pursue peaceful and political resolution of the crisis.
Done this 21thday of January, 2017 in Banjul, The Gambia. |
| 2 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Momodou |
Posted - 22 Jan 2017 : 11:19:51
Building The New Gambia
By Madi Jobarteh
The ECOWAS, AU and UN Joint Declaration is in Place!
There is some concern in many people about the joint declaration by ECOWAS, AU and UN on the political situation in the Gambia issued on 21 January 2017. Many people are wondering what is the position or role of the Barrow administration in the negotiations and that the declaration was unfavorable to the government. Some are of the view that the declaration is in favour of Yaya Jammeh instead. I have a different view. This declaration has not given Yaya Jammeh any advantage. It is for us.
In the first place this is a declaration by these three organizations and from the language, it means the Barrow administration was not involved. Hence we cannot ask the Government to tell us about the content of the declaration. What we can ask Chief Servant Barrow is what he knows about this declaration and what he agreed with ECOWAS, AU and UN on the departure of Yaya Jammeh.
On the content of this declaration, my view is that it is in favour of the government and the Gambian people. The declaration has not placed any obstacles on the government from doing what it should do to protect the fundamental rights and freedoms of Gambians or pursue and protect national interests. Secondly the declaration has not put any obligations on the government more than what are in fact the obligations of the government. In the declaration, it makes reference to only the Gambian constitution in terms of anything the Government should or must do. This is in place because our government must act according to the constitution. So it is just reminding the government of its obligation to be law abiding.
The declaration has given no special treatment to Yaya Jammeh or his associates in anyway. It recognizes their fundamental rights and dignity and their safety and to be treated fairly. This is in place. Yaya Jammeh has rights and those rights must be respected and protected. He is a citizen and no one can deny a human being his or her nationality. He has the right to return to the Gambia. The declaration merely said that he is leaving temporarily to allow the transition to take place because of his own unconstitutional actions. So he caused his own departure. His lawful properties must be protected because he has the right to property as per our constitution.
But the declaration did not fail to recognize that there might be a need for justice for acts that are human rights violations. Hence when the declaration states in paragraph 13 that Yaya Jammeh is at liberty to return to the Gambia ‘in accordance with international human rights law’ it is directly speaking not only to his right of return, but every other issue connected to him in terms of human rights. When states ratify international human rights instruments they are take a commitment to respect and protect the rights of their citizens. Hence as a citizen, Yaya Jammeh has rights based on those instruments, which the Government of the Gambia ratified and is bound to respect and protect. But also the victims of Yaya Jammeh are also Gambians for whom the Gambia Government also has an obligation to respect and protect their rights. Hence what I read from this paragraph is that the responsibility is now with the Gambia Government to protect both the rights of Yaya Jammeh and his victims at the same time. So yes, he can return. But also he can be prosecuted for violating the human rights of citizens.
Even where the document made mention of his status as a citizen, party leader and former president among others, it did not say that he cannot be prosecuted. The declaration has stated the right thing when it said he and his associates should not be subjected to any witch-hunt or intimidation or harassment. That is also in place. No one should be unfairly treated.
A very important point to also note is that this document is a declaration, which means it is not a legal document that is binding on any party. This is why the document continuously states that ‘ECOWAS, the AU and the UN commit to work with the Government of The Gambia’ or urge the government to implement or abide by the provisions. This means these bodies can only make the Gambia Government implement this declaration only through cordial working relations and diplomacy. But nothing is legally binding.
Thus in my view this declaration is in favour of the Gambia. All we have to do now as citizens is to organize ourselves to document and prepare to pursue Yaya Jammeh on the basis of international human rights law and our constitution. We can campaign to pressure the government to open an investigation on Yaya Jammeh and any other person. We can also come together as individual or group victims or supporters of victims to take cases of violations to the court to seek the prosecution of Yaya Jammeh and his associates. The ball is our court. Let’s play.
God Bless the New Gambia. |
| Momodou |
Posted - 22 Jan 2017 : 10:14:01
ON THE JOINT DECLARATION AND THE CARGO PLANE
By Mai Ahmad Fatty
Understandably overwhelming number of our citizens are very angry for three reasons: (1) allowing Jammeh to "escape" (2) allowing Jammeh to export his "loot" (3) "signing" an impunity deal with Jammeh. For many Jammeh is the winner and we let him get away with everything after taking the country hostage and driving us to the wire. The amount of "frustration" out there is too much. This is also understandable.
I can only state that the previous information placed out there on the matter by me is nothing but the truth. We did not participate at any forum where the "Joint Declaration..." was discussed. We only knew of its existence when it was made available to us yesterday afternoon by the Senegalese side. The President rejected it outright and communicated the same with President Sall of Senegal and Marcel Dasouza, ECOWAS Commission President who met him. We were informed that it was a "draft" for our input and our position was that it was a non-starter. We shared the same position with the Qatari Envoy sent by the Emir of Qatar to the President apparently to pave way for Jammeh to go to Qatar.
I was very shocked to learn from Facebook that the document we had rejected was already posted at the websites of both ECOWAS and the AU. There is no reason on earth to embellish the facts. We will seek formal clarification from ECOWAS on why this was so, without our approval or knowledge, and we will share their explanations publicly with our citizens. What matters here is that President Barrow rejected it when it was presented to him, and for us The Gambia will neither respect nor honour what was contained in that joint Declaration. We don't consider it legally binding on us.
On the so-called export of Jammeh's loot, we were not aware of the presence of an aircraft to ship things out. Again, I learnt it from Facebook, with shock like most of you. We assumed the airspace was closed afar Jammeh's departure as ordered. We were told that the aircraft had already landed before the order of closure. It must be understood that like many, we sacrificed and risked our lives in the country for twenty two years to rid our nation of dictatorship. We parted with most of our personal fortune for this, deprived families of life of comfort to invest in the liberation out of love of country. We won together as a people. Let us govern together. We have serious business at hand: to reconstruct a nation totally destroyed. Let us focus our energies on that. There will be some mistakes. We will not get everything right at the start, but we will not shy away from taking responsibility if we go wrong. That is not to say that we will give in to pressure if it is not right to do so. We can take the heat. The facts are as I had provided them are accurate. Some will believe, others won't. Those who will believe and understand will do so. There will be those who will not. Its just a reality I will have to live with as a public figure, but will not sway us from forging ahead.
The conversation must continue with our citizens, and expressions of bitterness and frustrations have lessons we could learn from. We are now moving on beyond this. Those who wish to pursue further have the right to do so. Welcome to the New Gambia. Long live the New Gambia. |
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