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Momodou
Denmark
11634 Posts |
 Posted - 16 Oct 2009 : 15:13:35
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STOP PRESS
African Commission’s Demands
In a resolution passed by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights in Dakar, Senegal on 11 October 2009, the Commission has called on the African Union to change the venue for its forthcoming session “in the event that His Excellency the President of The Republic of The Gambia does not withdraw his threats and the Government cannot guarantee the safety and security of the members and staff of the African Commission and the participants...”
The resolution was passed after its 7th Extraordinary Session held from 5 - 11 October 2009 in Dakar, Senegal in which it deliberated on the “deteriorating human rights situation in The Gambia among various other agenda items”
In the opinion of the Commission, expressed in their press release, the President of The Gambia in his speech on 21 September 2009, which was broadcast on television, he (the President) is alleged to have threatened to kill human rights defenders and their supporters. The release goes on to say that the Commission has written to Government with a view to securing guarantees for the safety of human rights defenders but is yet to receive any response.
In its Dakar resolution the Commission called for the following:
(i) CALLS on the African Union to intervene with immediate effect to ensure that H.E. President Sheikh Professor Alhaji Dr. Yahya A.J.J. Jammeh withdraws the threats made in his statement;
(ii) FURTHER CALLS on the African Union to ensure that the Republic of The Gambia guarantees the safety and security of the members and staff of the African Commission, human rights defenders, including journalists in The Gambia, and all participants in the activities of the African Commission taking place in The Gambia;
(iii) REQUESTS the African Union to authorize and provide extra-budgetary resources to the African Commission to ensure that the 46th Ordinary Session is convened and held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, or any other Member State of the African Union, in the event that His Excellency the President of The Republic of The Gambia does not withdraw his threats and the Government cannot guarantee the safety and security of the members and staff of the African Commission and the participants of the 46th Ordinary Session;
(iv) REQUESTS the African Union to consider relocating the Secretariat of the African Commission in the event that the human rights situation in the Republic of The Gambia does not improve;
(v) URGES the Government of the Republic of The Gambia to implement the recommendations of its previous Resolutions, in particular, Resolution No. ACHPR/Res. 134(XXXXIV)2008, adopted during the 44th Ordinary Session held in Abuja, Nigeria, from 10 to 24 November 2008, and to investigate the disappearance and/or killing of prominent journalists Deyda Hydara and Ebrima Chief Manneh.
When three rapporteurs express concern about the safety of human rights defenders and participants, Foroyaa attempted to get the reaction of state house through the press officer without any response. We will make a second attempt.
Source: Foroyaa Online
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A clear conscience fears no accusation - proverb from Sierra Leone |
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