AND DISMISSALS IN THE CIVIL SERVICE

PRESS RELEASE        5^th February 2009

GMC is keenly observing the on-going case of journalist Pape Saine of The Point Newspaper, and request all Gambians and Friends of The Gambia to join and take practical actions regarding our call for an end to the persistent persecution of journalists. While expressing our support and solidarity, we acknowledge and commend the efforts of The Gambia Press Union and the International Federation of Journalists in this regard.

The Gambian Press has the legal right to exist and to legally operate freely. GMC applauds Gambian journalists for their heroic service to our country under suicidal conditions. We are very proud of you as ‘Africa’s legitimate children’.

GMC is appalled by the politics of fear being peddled as the exclusive currency of governance by the administration, especially against freedom of speech and association. The administration exploits fear which is the most powerful enemy of reason. Edmund Burke wrote that “No passion so effectively robs the mind of all its powers of acting and reasoning as fear.” Only a free and vibrant press can assist a nation cope with fear as Thomas Jefferson avers that “error of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left free to combat it.” A free press is supposed to function as democracy’s immune system against gross errors of fact and understanding.

When the operations of government are open to full examination by its citizens and subjected to vigorous discussion and debate, the wrongful misuse of public power for private gain becomes difficult to conceal. If the rule of reason is the standard by which every use of official power is evaluated, then even the most complex schemes to violate the public’s trust can be uncovered and policed by a well-informed citizenry.

If the forum, which is a free Press, is not fully open, those who control access become gate keepers. Great ideas in the minds of those who are denied admission to the public forum due to oppression are no longer available for consideration. When their opinions are blocked, the meritocracy of ideas that has always been the beating heart of democratic theory begins to suffer damage. The conversation of democracy then becomes elusive to the rule of reason and can be manipulated.   Like Thomas Jefferson, GMC views open communication as the key to the success of the democratic experiment. There lies the vitality of an independent free press.

Jefferson states that “Which we trust will end in establishing the fact, that man may be governed by reason and truth. Our first object should therefore be, to leave open to him all the avenues to truth.” This doctrine is supported by Justice Hugo L. Black who wrote in a landmark decision : “Only a free press and unrestrained press can effectively expose deception in government.” We concur.

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Jefferson’s doctrine sufficiently articulates GMC’s approach to freedom of expression as a government in waiting. The current administration on the other hand, turned the fundamental presumption of democracy on its head. A perilous situation has now been consolidated where the enjoyment of power inevitably distorts the judgment of reason and perverts its liberty in our country. This renders the role of an independent, free Gambian press even more crucial in our society.

It is the legitimate province of journalists the world over to expose assault on liberty. As Winston Churchill once put it, “The power of the executive to cast a man into prison without formulating any charge known to the law, and particularly to deny him the judgment of his peers, is in the highest degree odious, and the foundation of all totalitarian government whether Nazi or Communist.” Protecting this entrenched right is now perennial international standard practice.

GMC therefore invites the international community, including those accredited to our country, to assume resourceful interest and take practical actions on matters relating to violations of international law in The Gambia, as a shared obligation in assuring that government’s treatment of its citizens is in line with accepted international democratic norms, and good governance practice.

Violations of international laws, particularly those bordering on domestic actions of state actors, as in The Gambia’s case, should attract definite consequences. In the absence of effective monitoring, consistent engagement and strict enforcement mechanism, The Gambia government continues to intensify its institutionalisation of impunity, and render the collective will of the international community nugatory. This culture of wilful international defiance must not continue to be tolerated by the international community. Use of the carrot and stick require decisive action.

In a related development GMC learnt with utter dismay the unfair dismissal of Dr. Suso as a Lecturer of the University of The Gambia. Following consultations, we were able to determine that Dr. Suso’s dismissal was made in violation of his rights to procedural justice.  We therefore consider Dr. Suso as a victim of human rights abuse. Like you, we consider any dismissal without procedural fairness as in the case of Dr. Suso, palpably unjust and unacceptable.

GMC asserts that this case is emblematic of the general failure of the governing system regarding security of tenure in civil and public services, and represents the tip of the iceberg. It is very troubling that such unacceptable phenomenon has now been extended even to educational institutions, setting a very calamitous precedent. GMC has officially written to the relevant authorities, and is actively considering other legitimate options in support of defending and sustaining this principle.

We call on the University authorities, including President Jammeh, as the Chancellor of the University as well as SoS for Research and Higher Education, to rescind the wrongful termination of Dr. Suso, in the national interest, and in compliance with the rules of procedural justice.

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Dr. Suso’s dismissal on alleged political reasons is disingenuous, considering the evidence that some known political defenders of the APRC in the university are allowed to operate unfettered. The decision is discriminatory and repugnant to the equal protection clause guaranteed under The Gambian Constitution. It violates United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, ILO Treaties, African Charter of Human and Peoples Rights, ICCPR, ECOWAS protocols, etc.

The Gambia is a signatory to these international legal Instruments which imposes binding legal obligations on The Gambia Government under international law, to respect the full rights of Dr. Suso, and other Gambians. Compliance by the government with these multilateral Instruments is not a matter of choice, but one of unequivocal international legal duty, if the government wants to be regarded with a modicum of respect from the international community and Gambians.

GMC fully supports lecturers and students of the University of The Gambia, in their bid to ensure unfettered academic and intellectual excellence in the university system, free from marauding political siege. GMC expresses its serious concern about the atmosphere of intimidation and rabid fear under which both lecturers and students operate within the university system. We strongly condemn this wholesale organised suppression of freedom of speech, and the destruction of the intellectual potential of Gambian students.

We demand for consistency and synergy between rhetoric and actions as the declaration of Vice President Isatou Njie-Saidy indicated “a nation cannot compete internationally when 20% – 50% of its population is intellectually compromised.” She acknowledged that “the greatest national resource of a nation is the intellectual power of its people, not natural or physical resources.” While commending the Vice President for stating the obvious, we strongly urge her to marshal enough courage by advising the President to lift the dark cloud of intimidation he mushroomed over our educational institutions, in the interest of developing “the intellectual power” of Gambian youths, like she said.

This recent statement made by Vice President Njie-Saidy on the launching of TCB/Gam/3202D is the exact opposite of what obtains in practice by her government. The pervasive atmosphere of intimidation, threats and fear perpetrated against lecturers, teachers and students is killing our “greatest national resource.” Gambians and the international community will measure the strength of sincerity based on concrete actions, not mere rhetoric.

The unfair dismissal of Dr. Suso is gravely injurious to the University’s interests and poses a dangerous threat to the building of competent, national human resource capacity for effective national development and self reliance. We demand full respect for the autonomy of the University of The Gambia on matters within its jurisdiction as enshrined in the statute establishing the university system.