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Gambia: Police Open Fire On Protestors Two Shot Dead
By Yankuba Jallow And Louise Jobe
Two protestors were shot dead when police opened fire on protestors yesterday morning at Faraba Banta, West Coast Region.Bakary Kujabi, alias Seffo, and Ismaila Bah died during the incident. Reports further indicate loss of lives and serious injuries sustained from gunshots between the PIU and villagers. At least four other civilians sustained injuries and ten PIU personnel are reported injured in clashes between PIU personnel and protestors. They have been rushed to the hospital for medical treatment.
Yesterday morning when some trucks came to the mining site at Faraba Banta, they were intercepted by the villagers who insisted that mining must stop because it is not in the interest of the community but the vehicle drivers proceeded to the Site. Early in the morning of Monday, the villagers realised that there were some vehicles that came and mined.
Our reporters who visited the scene, indicate that some youths gathered on the highway in order to stop ‘Julakay’ Company’s trucks from entering and leaving the village, loaded with sand. PIU Officers stationed in the village, approached them to calm their nerves, only to see reinforcement of more PIU Officers who arrived and started shooting at them. The youth who spoke to our reporters indicate that they were armed with only sticks and stones to defend themselves from the live bullets of PIU Officers, who shot at point blank range and killed two of their own.
According to the youth protesters, this is what broke the camel’s back; that the fighting ensued for several hours amid chasing, stone throwing and firing of live bullets, leaving two people dead, one in a critical condition and three others seriously injured.
“We were sitting on the road leading to the site and we were even chatting with the PIU officers stationed there. We were chatting and talking with them nice without any problem until they brought reinforcement. When the reinforcement arrived, they didn’t ask or talk to us instead they began firing at us life bullet that caused the instant dead of two youths. We weren’t armed and we came there peacefully to sit on the way going to the site and not to create any problem but the police opened fire at us” they said.
These reporters saw the charred remains of three trucks and two mechanised shovels commonly referred to as bull dozers. The newly constructed house for PIU personnel was razed to the ground by the rampaging youth of the village. Several compounds of alleged collaborators were all burnt to ashes, by the rampaging youth.
Meanwhile Momodou Drammeh, the Public Relations Officer at Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital (EFSTH), confirmed the death of Bakary Kujabi and Ismaila Bah, both youth protesters from Faraba Banta village. PRO Drammeh disclosed that they received four people who are seriously injured but have been hospitalised. The PRO said he only knows of four people injured as at the time he was talking to our reporter.
“It might be more than this and they might be taken to various hospitals in the Kanfing Municipality or Brikama,” he remarked. The two corpses were taken to the mortuary at the time he was talking to this reporter.
Families of the victims were seen at the hospital in their numbers, speaking openly against what happened. Blood stains marred the floor of the accident and emergency room.
At the gate of the mortuary, family members of the victims openly wailed and wept for the loss of their dear ones as the mortuary attendant confirmed to this reporter, that he received only two corpses. In a related development, a journalist by the name Pa Bojang who works at a radio station in Brikama, is said to have been arrested by officers of the PIU, during the protest and taken to the Brikama Police station for questioning. These reporters can confirm seeing him at the Police station in Brikama, though they were being denied access to him.
Wounded environmentalists include Sainey Sonko, Pa Jammeh, and Sheriffo Touray.
The incident occurred in the wake of refusal by villagers to accept ‘Julakay’ Company mining sand in their lands before the National Assembly’s Select Committee complete their investigations and make final recommendations to Government. Villagers who spoke to these reporters indicate that the NA Select Committee on the Environment who visited them less than two weeks ago, did not complete their investigations and final report to Government. ‘Julakay’, however, proceeded to advertise and re- commence sand mining in Faraba Banta.
4 Comments-
SMH @ our people being killed over sand.
If you want to go into a community and economize their natural resources, you must,
– Call a meeting with the elders, rulers, etc.
– Ask the people what they want
– Cut a deal with the people so that the community will be on board.It doesn’t appear that Julakay followed this protocol.
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PIU = Police Intervention Unit
This ‘police unit’ seems to be very confident about it’s actions:
A day after killing the two unarmed protesters they put a journalist into detention and beat him, leaving him with head injuries*. I could’nt find out, what kind of organisation this PIU is. It does not seem to be the ‘normal’ police, since that is the Gambia Police Force. I’d really want to believe that these investigations lead to Justice.-
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2018/06/gambia-fully-investigate-anti-mining-protesters-deaths/
Gambia: Fully Investigate Anti-Mining Protesters’ Deaths
20 June 2018, 06:47 UTC
Inquiry, Officers’ Arrests Positive First Steps
The Gambian authorities should thoroughly investigate the alleged excessive use of force by police causing the deaths of two anti-sand mining demonstrators on June 18, 2018, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said today.The Gambian government should accelerate the reforms needed to ensure that government security forces have the supervision, training, and equipment needed to police demonstrations in accordance with international human rights standards.
Witnesses said that police fired live ammunition at demonstrators in the village of Faraba Banta, killing local residents Bakary Kujabi and Ismaila Bah, and wounding at least six others. President Adama Barrow issued a news release the same day stating that he had opened an investigation and that all mining in the area had been suspended. The government also said that five police officers involved in the shooting were in police custody and will be suspended while investigations are conducted.
The alleged excessive use of lethal force by the security forces has conjured up painful memories from Gambia’s recent past
Sabrina Mahtani, Amnesty International West Africa researcher
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“The alleged excessive use of lethal force by the security forces has conjured up painful memories from Gambia’s recent past,” said Sabrina Mahtani, Amnesty International West Africa researcher.“The government’s promise to investigate is a positive move. Gambians should be able to hold demonstrations safe from disproportionate and excessive use of force by the security forces.”
Members of Gambia’s Police Intervention Unit (PIU), a police paramilitary force, clashed with residents of Faraba Banta, 50 kilometers south of the capital, Banjul, after local residents blocked mining-related traffic.
A journalist who observed the protest told Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, “As soon as [police reinforcements] came out of the vehicle they started firing live bullets. They did not issue a warning or alarm.” Another journalist in the village, Pa Bojang, said that police officers detained him for six hours, slapped him, and confiscated his voice recorder.
Witnesses told Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International that protesters threw stones and burned vehicles, injuring more than a dozen police officers. Gambia’s police chief, Landing Kinteh, said in a June 18 media statement that police leadership, “did not authorize the use of firearms” by police in responding to the protests.
Several protesters arrested on June 18, including those injured, remain in police custody, and face possible charges for destruction of property. Injured detainees should receive medical attention and a court should promptly review the necessity of their continued detention. Those responsible for destroying property or committing other offenses should be prosecuted in accordance with international fair trial standards.
A May 26 protest in Faraba Banta against sand mining, which provides sand for construction, had also led to clashes between local residents and police, with officers firing tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse at times violent demonstrators. Faraba Banta residents say that sand mining will damage the rice fields they rely on for food and income. The Police Intervention Unit had maintained a presence in the village following the May 26 clashes.
The United Nations Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials state that the intentional lethal use of firearms by security forces “may only be made when strictly unavoidable in order to protect life.” Furthermore, “in the dispersal of violent assemblies, law enforcement officials may use firearms only when less dangerous means are not practicable and only to the minimum extent necessary.”
The Guidelines on Policing Assemblies in Africa, adopted by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, state that, “firearms must never be used to disperse an assembly” and that intentional use of lethal force is prohibited “unless it is strictly unavoidable to protect life.” Where force is used, law enforcement officials must ensure that medical assistance is rendered to any injured person.
Gambia’s Police Intervention Unit has a history of using excessive force against demonstrators, and escaped censure during former President Jammeh’s abusive rule
Jim Wormington, West Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch
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“Gambia’s Police Intervention Unit has a history of using excessive force against demonstrators, and escaped censure during former President Jammeh’s abusive rule,” said Jim Wormington, West Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch.“The Gambian government needs to show that it can conduct credible investigations and appropriately discipline or prosecute those responsible for abuses.”
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thank you for proving my belief wrong! very relieving!!
Meda ase!
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