CHOGM: Letter to Kamalesh Sharma, Secretary General Commonwealth Demanding Statement on Gambia

To Hon. Kamalesh Sharma

Secretary General, Commonwealth

Marlborough House

London.

 Dear Secretary General:

 It is now just one week before the CHOGM. I write in the continued hope that there will still be a statement from your office or from the leadership of the Commonwealth in the form of the outgoing and/or incoming chairs on the Gambia and the President's widely publicised statement about killing human rights defenders.  You will recall that our request was that in the absence of any recission of his alleged statement, no invitation be issued to the Gambian President. 

 I am given to understand President Jammeh may not in fact be attending the CHOGM.  In our view this does not end the matter. The gravity of the threat remains as does the unequivocal repudiation of the fundamental principles of the Commonwealth: in simple words - a repudiation of all that the Commonwealth stands for.

 I enclose  one of the dozens of articles of  advice and comment that typify the public sentiment  that  has been voiced across the Commonwealth and on the internet on this subject to illustrate the depth of public feeling and the accompanying hope that the Commonwealth will speak out in its own defence.

 There has been some suggestion - weak though it is - that the President's statement has not been officially validated and this prevents comment by the Secretariat. I would point out that given the wide publicity it has received, the joint statements from three UN and African Rapporteurs it has engendered, and the serious and credible reactions of the African Commission which has even suggested it be moved out of Banjul, there has been no denial of the statement nor anything to suggest that it has been misinterpreted.

 This is a moment of truth, Secretary General, and I would urge the Secretariat, before or at the CHOGM itself, to strongly recommend a statement by Member States that indicates that the Commonwealth has a clear stance in defence of human rights and its promoters and protectors. This will lay to rest some of the deep apprehensions that are reverberating widely across civil society in the Commonwealth. Absence of  any challenge to his statement, reproof or protest by the leadership of the Commonwealth will leave a great deal of disillusionment in its wake, fear on the ground, and may well be construed as acceptance of the positions of impunity and violence that are clearly asserted in the President's alleged statement.

 Sincerely,

Maja Daruwala

Director, CHRI

 Please find attached the letter to Sceretary General in PDF signed by our director as well as in Word along with compilation of news story on Gambia from all over the Commonwealth notably in Trinidad and Tobago, Caribbeans and in Africa.

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COMPILATION OF NEWS STORIES ON GAMBIA
Title of Story	Country/Continent	Paper/Blog/TV/Radio
Letter to Trinidad and Tobago PM on Gambia	New Zealand	Scoop.com
Take action against president of Gambia	Trinidad and Tobago	Trinidad Guardian
BAN GAMBIA FROM CHOGM	Trinidad and Tobago	Newsday
No T&T position on Gambia controversy		Trinidad express
Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative wants Jammeh barred from November Summit	Trinidad and Tobago	Gambia Echo based in US
No problems for citizens	Trinidad and Tobago	Trinidad Express
President Jammeh out CHOGM	Trinidad and Tobago	Newsday
Gambian President not attending CHOGM:	Trinidad and Tobago	Power 102 FM
Gambia’s President stays out, but French President likely to attend summit	Caribbeans	Caribbean Daily News
Gambian President issue not over’	Trinidad and Tobago	Trinidad Guardian
Human Rights director puts Manning on a spot	Caribbeans	Carib daliy
Open Letter to Trinidad and Tobago PM on Gambia	Caribbeans	Caribbean Net News
Activists call for action on Gambian president	Africa	Africa on TV
Jammeh will not attend CHOGM meeting	Gambia	Freedom Newspaper Online
Calls to contain Yahya Jammeh gains momentum	Africa	Justice for Press blog
Gambia: President Jammeh will not attend CHOGM	Africa	Africa News
Museveni asked to rein in Gambian counterpart	Uganda	Sunday Vision
Open Letter to Trinidad and Tobago PM on Gambia		World Countries.net
Rights groups want Gambian leader banned from CHOGM		Jyoti Communicationns
Museveni Asked to Rein in Gambian Counterpart	Africa	Aaafrica.com
Action needed on Gambian president's remarks	Africa	Pambazuka
Calls for action against Gambian president intensify	Africa	Africa News
Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative writes Uganda President Museveni to complain about Gambia's leader Yaya Jammeh		Cocorioko.com based in US.
Calls to contain Yahya Jammeh gains momentum	Gambia	Freedom online Newspaper
HUMAN RIGHTS NGO CALLS FOR ACTION		Foryaa
Letter tp President of Uganda	South A frica	South Africa Radio
President Museveni Asked To Help Ban Jammeh From Attending Summit	Gambia	Freedom Newspaper

Aditi Datta

Media/Communications/Outreach Officer

Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative

B-117, Sarvodaya Enclave, Second Floor

New Delhi 110017 INDIA

www.humanrightsinitiative.org

Ph: 91 11 26528152, 91 11 26850523, Fax, 91 11 26864688

 CHRI is an independent, non partisan, international non-governmental organization headquartered in New Delhi.