The Gambia: Regime Survival versus National Security

      By Baba Galleh Jallow

Time and time again, we are bombarded with allegations of threats to national security perpetrated by the media and political opponents of the Gambia government. Over the past few years, opposition politicians including PDOIS’s Halifa Sallah, NRP’s Hamat Bah, NDAM’s Waa Juwara, UDP’S Ousainou Darboe and Kemeseng Jammeh, PPP’s Omar Jallow and several supporters of their individual parties have been arrested and detained on allegations of threatening national security.

The point we are making here is that claims of national security are meaningless in the face of so many unresolved arson attacks and murder cases.

The private media has not been spared either. The arrest and detention of editors and reporters working for private media houses such as Foroyaa, Gambia News and Report, The Point and The Independent are a common occurrence in The Gambia. So are arson attacks against media houses such as the burning of The Independent’s press in 2004 and the attempted torching of The Independent’s offices and Citizen FM radio a year or so earlier. As at the time of writing, Lamin Fatty, a reporter for The Independent, has been in jail over three weeks and as far as we know, have not been charged with any crime. The Independent newspaper’s offices remain sealed and under police guard since March 27.

But even more pertinent to our current subject is the fact that over the past decade since President Jammeh came to power, many people - mostly opponents or alleged opponents of the government - have been murdered, often in broad daylight. In spite of all the government’s screaming about their resolve to ensure the security of the Gambian people, none of the perpetrators of these murders or arson attacks have so far been arrested or brought to justice.

In May 1995, barely a year after the then Lt. Jammeh and his fellow officers overthrew the government of Sir Dawada Jawara, Ousman Koro Ceesay, a civilian minister of Finance serving in the new military government, was brutally murdered and incinerated in his car. His car was abandoned by a roadside with nothing but a handful of ashes left of Koro’s body. To this day, no one has been arrested and charged for the murder of Ousman Koro Ceesay. On April10 and 11, 2000, security forces opened fire on peaceful student demonstrators, killing 11 students and one radio journalist, Omar Barrow. A commission of inquiry and coroner’s report indicated that members of the Gambia’s paramilitary forces were responsible for the deaths. No one has been prosecuted for those killings. On December 16, 2004, Deyda Hydara, managing director and editor of The Point newspaper and Banjul correspondent for Reporters Without Borders and the French news agency AFP, was shot to dead in a drive-by shooting. No one has been arrested or charged with Deyda’s murder. Other unresolved cases include the death of an unknown number of soldiers after an alleged coup attempt on November 11, 2004.

The point we are making here is that claims of national security are meaningless in the face of so many unresolved arson attacks and murder cases. The most basic concept of national security references the security of individuals from murder and other bodily harm. If a state is unable or unwilling to protect its citizens or track down and bring to justice the perpetrators of such heinous crimes, that state should make little noise about its commitment to national security.

In the case of The Gambia, it seems that national security has become synonymous to regime security. Where the perceived security of the state is concerned, the security apparatus displays a remarkable level of efficiency. But when it comes to the security of individuals, particularly individuals expressing opinions and views contrary to those of the state, the security agencies become impotent and useless. A recent case in point is the alleged escape from custody of five alleged coupists in March 2006.

According to the Gambian authorities, the five men were being transported to Janjangbureh prison, about 400 miles from the capital Banjul when their vehicle almost somersaulted and the five men ran off into the bush. Now this explanation is clearly lame. How five men, including an obese old man, could run away and escape young armed soldiers, is inconceivable. The case of Daba Marenah and the rest of the men is bound to go down the path of the cases of Koro Ceesay, Almamo Manneh and the alleged November 11 putschists.

Ultimately, therefore, for the government of President Yahya Jammeh, regime survival takes precedence over national security. This, clearly, is unacceptable and dangerous. Regimes come and go, however long it takes for that to happen. Nations, however, are here to stay and must therefore be given pride of place in terms of security considerations. It is imperative that such a distinction be clearly understood.