Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06BANJUL653
2006-10-20 17:11:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Banjul
Cable title:  

GAMBIAN JUSTICE UPDATE: GOOD AND BAD NEWS

Tags:  PGOV PHUM KDEM GA 
pdf how-to read a cable
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DE RUEHJL #0653/01 2931711
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P 201711Z OCT 06
FM AMEMBASSY BANJUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7068
INFO RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE
RUEHLMC/MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORP
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)

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