GAMBIAN JUSTICE UPDATE: GOOD AND BAD NEWS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BANJUL 000653 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR AF, AF/W E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/20/2016 TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM GA SUBJECT: GAMBIAN JUSTICE UPDATE: GOOD AND BAD NEWS REF: BANJUL 475 AND PREVIOUS BANJUL 00000653 001.6 OF 003 Classified By: Poloff Menaka M. Nayyar for Reasons 1.4 (b and d) ¶1. (U) SUMMARY: High-profile detainees and trials continue to create headlines in The Gambia. Some long-term detainees, such as former journalist Malick Mboob and former National Assembly member Duta Kamaso, have been released. Other detainees continue to languish in jail awaiting trials that are repeatedly delayed, including the various trials and court martials of suspected March 21 coup plotters. There are frequent reports of opposition activists, such as Dudu Kassa Jatta, a staunch United Democratic Party (UDP) supporter, being detained for unknown reasons and then released. One of the alleged coup plotters stated in his testimony that his public confession was made only after he had been subjected to "severe torture." And "disappearances" continue unsolved. END SUMMARY. -------------- "INFORMANTS" FREE ON BAIL -------------- ¶2. (C) Malick Mboob, a former journalist and former Communications Officer at the Royal Victoria Teaching Hospital, had been detained by the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) since May 24 accused of being an informant for the U.S.-based online journal "The Freedom Newspaper" which has been relentless in its criticsm of President Jammeh's regime. Duta Kamaso, a former National Assembly member, was officially held on "political and economic matters," but it is believed that she too was detained on suspicion of being an informant for "Freedom." Access to the online paper through domestic Internet portals has been blocked. Both Mboob and Kamaso were released on bail on October 9. Mboob is reported to be in good health, but Kamaso, who suffers from diabetes and other ailments and was rumored to have died from lack of medical attention while in custody, is under medical care. -------------- -------------- JOURNALIST AND OPPOSITION ACTIVIST: WHEREABOUTS UNKNOWN -------------- -------------- ¶3. (C) "Chief" Ebrima Manneh, a reporter for the pro-government "Daily Observer" newspaper, has been missing since July. It is unclear whether he is in detention, has fled the country, or "disappeared." ¶4. (C) Kanyiba Kanyi, a UDP activist, has not been seen since he was taken from his home by plain-clothes security officers on September 18, four days before the presidential election. His family has been told that he was being held at various police stations, but they have been unable to locate him. On the afternoon of October 17, the High Court ordered his unconditional release because the State had failed to file charges against him, but the order was not delivered to the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and Police Intervention Unit (PIU) until the next morning, and three days later the security forces have still not honored the court order. -------------- JATTA BROTHERS IN JEOPARDY -------------- ¶5. (U) Dudu Kassa Jatta, a UDP supporter, was held for several hours on October 5. He was arrested at the Kanifing Magistrates Court, where he had gone to answer to previous charges of threatening violence and obstructing a police officer from carrying out his duties. He claims that the arrest was politically-motivated. Meanwhile, his brother, Ousman "Rambo" Jatta, a UDP councilor charged with making public statements detrimental to the peace and security of the State, has been denied access to his lawyer, UDP presidential candidate Ousainou Darboe, and, in defiance of a court order, has not been produced in court by the prosecution. The presiding magistrate threatened to strike out the case if Rambo was not produced by October 16, but on the 16th he simply adjourned the case to November 1 since neither the prosecution nor the defense counsels were present. A High Court order for Rambo's unconditional release was issued to the NIA and PIU on October 17 along with Kanyiba Kanyi's, but, as in the Kanyi case, no action has yet been taken on the order. -------------- TREASON TRIAL SPLIT -------------- BANJUL 00000653 002.4 OF 003 ¶6. (U) The prosecution of suspects in the March 21 coup plot took an unexpected turn when the cases of the ten military suspects were transferred to a military court martial at Yundum Army Barracks. On October 17, Captain Yaya Darboe was the first defendant to testify in the court martial. Newspapers reported that Darboe testified that his confession to involvement in the coup plot was obtained only after he had been subjected to "severe torture." Four of the men being court martialled -- Captain Yaya Darboe, Captain Wassa Camara, Captain Bunja Darboe, and Second Lieutenant Pharing Sanyang -- are charged with four counts: counseling or procuring of persons, conspiracy to cause mutiny, conspiracy to commit treason, and mutiny. Others to be brought before the court martial on counts of failure to report mutiny and concealment of treason by failing to make other reasonable means to prevent mutiny are Captain Abdoukarim Jah, Captain Pierre Mendy, Lieutenant Momodou Alieu Bah, Corporal Samba Bah, Lance Corporal Babou Janha and Private Alagie Nying. All ten have pleaded not guilty. ¶7. (U) The trial of Tamsir Jasseh, Alieu Jobe, Omar Faal and Demba Dem, the four civilians charged with treason in connection with the aborted coup attempt, resumed on October 18 before a new High Court judge. After hearing arguments regarding who can represent the defendants, given that three of the four counsels for the defendants had previously withdrawn from the case, and regarding whether or not, since there is a new judge, the case should be continued or started anew, the new judge adjourned the trial until October 25. Jasseh and Jobe are both charged with an additional count of aiding and abetting the escape from justice of Colonel Ndure Cham, the alleged mastermind of the coup plot. -------------- OTHER TRIALS AND INVESTIGATIONS STALLED -------------- ¶8. (U) The trial of Lamin Fatty, a journalist for the now-defunct "Independent" newspaper who has been charged with publishing and broadcasting an article the State considered to be "false and malicious," has been postponed several times and is due to resume some time this month. The presiding magistrate has declared that further delays due to missing counsels or witnesses will result in Fatty's acquittal. ¶9. (U) The trial of the six former NIA operatives -- Baba Saho, Alieu Singhateh, Abdoulie Kujabi, Ngor Secka, Foday Barry, and Kemo Balajo -- charged with theft, abuse of office, and criminal trespass against the State was adjourned on October 2 due to the absence of the prosecution's witness. A date for resumption of the trial has not been set and there have been no subsequent developments in the case. In the interim Musa Dibba, former Director of Finance at the NIA, was released without charge after being held well beyond the 72-hour limit. ¶10. (U) There have also been been no developments in the cases of former Chief of Defense Staff Vincent Jatta, Sergeant Buba Mendy and Corporal Ebrima Joof, all of whom have been charged with concealment of treason. The trial of Hamadi Sowe, the only civilian to be charged with concealment of treason, is due to begin on November 8. ¶11. (C) The government has made no further attempt to investigate the fate of the five alleged coup plotters who reportedly escaped while being transferred between prisons. None of the "escapees" -- Daba Marenah, Lieutenant Ebou Lowe, Second Lieutenant Alieu Ceesay, Warrant Officer Alpha Bah, and Staff Sergeant Manlafi Corr -- has surfaced and they are widely believed to be victims of extrajudicial killings. -------------- A BROKEN JUSTICE SYSTEM -------------- ¶12. (C) COMMENT: It was indeed good news to learn of the release of Mboob and Kamaso, but other developments -- or lack of developments in the case of repeatedly delayed trials -- are disheartening. The Gambian justice system is clearly dysfunctional at best and downright corrupt at worst. Missing witnesses and lawyers for both the prosection and defense are common occurrences that regularly delay and impede the judicial process. Detentions, no matter how short-lived, for reasons ensconced in mystery are all too frequent. The testimony by one of the alleged coup plotters that he was subjected to severe torture only makes more credible the view held by man*y that the "disappeared" will never be seen again. ¶13. (C) Clearly, the hoped-for detente in the political BANJUL 00000653 003.6 OF 003 atmosphere following the presidential election has not materialized. Media, law practitioners, and human rights activists report that an underlying climate of intimidation continues to permeate political life in The Gambia. However, there is hope, faint though it may be, that the new Attorney General/Secretary of State for Justice, whenever s/he is appointed, will inject a greater measure of fairness into the Gambian system of justice. END COMMENT ALSUP