Gambia News : Amnesty Int’l urges Gambia gov’t to charge or release detained officials

Mar 16,2010 00:00 by tijan

The London-based Amnesty International (AI) on Friday has called on the Gambian government to immediately charge or release all former government officials detained during a wave of arrests over the past week, APA learns from Moscow on Saturday.

According to the Amnesty report, the detained officials, who reportedly include former Inspector General of Police Ensa Badjie and Commander of the Navy Sarjo Fofona, are also being denied visits from lawyers and family members. “The Gambian Constitution stipulates that people should be charged within 72 hours of arrest,” according to the report.

“Through this latest spate of arbitrary arrests and detentions, the Gambian authorities have once again shown their blatant disregard for human rights” Amnesty International’s Africa Programme director, Erwin van der Borght, said.

AI said it has documented many cases where people have been arrested and held without charge, often with no access to their families or lawyers. The organization has repeatedly called on the Gambian authorities to end the arbitrary arrests and detention of perceived and real opponents of the government that have intensified since the alleged failed coup attempt in March 2006.

In a report submitted to the UN Human Rights Council in February this year, the Gambian government itself pointed out that the country’s constitution protects citizens from arbitrary arrests and detention, also stating that the provision in the constitution which prohibits torture and inhuman or degrading treatment is non derogable.

“The many people that remain detained without charge, and that in some cases face torture, send a very different message,” said Erwin van der Borght. “It is high time for the government to follow its own constitution and fulfill its human rights obligations. Those arrested should either be charged with a recognizable criminal offence or released.”