22nd October 2002 started out like any other day for Muhammed Lamin Sillah alias, Ndongo.
It was a warm, sunny and a busy day in the office for the Amnesty International’s representative in the Gambia, who was due to give interviews to local journalists regarding the conduct of the presidential elections in the Gambia a few days earlier, which was won bigly by President Yahya Jammeh.
Sillah had granted an interview the day before to the BBC Focus On Africa Programme in which he condemned the the indiscriminate arrest and detention of over 60 opposition United Democratic Party (UDP) supporters by security officers.
He told the BBC that the country’s human rights situation was unsatisfactory and needed improvement.
Without fear, he said, “There is too much congenital injustice, demonic oppression, ruthless dictatorship, and agonizing poverty in this country today. Until these destructive vices of governance are uprooted from this country, continuous imprisonment or even threats of assassination will not deter me from the people’s cause.”
The Gambian regime of Yahya Jammeh, that had ruled the Gambia with an iron fist, took offence to Sillah’s criticisms and ordered for his arrest by the feared National Intelligence Agency (NIA) now defunct, which used to single out journalists, right defenders and opposition sympathisers for harassment and intimidation. The NIA was created to protect state security, collect intelligence, conduct covert investigations, among other responsibilities,
Sillah, who was also president of a coalition of human rights defenders at the time, was detained incommunicado at the agency’s headquarters in Banjul for five days during which he was forced to sleep on the bare floor of a mosquito infested cell. He said his conditions in detention amounted to mental torture
“I was not even allowed to put on my shoes… my cell was infested with mosquitoes and other insects,” he told the BBC.
Sillah was later released with a charge on bail of US$18,000 (300,000 Dalasis) after his case was brought to the High Court for a habeas corpus hearing. The NIA accused Sillah of “inciting genocide and confusion and attempting to overthrow the government”, an accusation he flatly denied.
To many observers, the NIA wanted to silence him for being in the forefront of the human rights movement at a time when the majority of Gambians were afraid to talk or refused to talk out of selfishness or self-preservation.
Alagi Yorro Jallow, former managing editor of The Independent Newspaper that was closed by the Jammeh regime, who had worked closely with Sillah d,escribed him as among a few Gambians who paid the ultimate prices that gave birth to democracy and allow those who were denied their freedoms and liberty to exercise their God-given rights in the modern Gambia.
He added: “Ndongo was one of the very few who not only openly criticized the human rights abuses of Yahaya Jammeh and his henchmen, but he spearheaded many campaigns to expose the brutality of the regime. His favorite slogan was “no to impunity.” This was a critical period for human rights activism.
“He was the face of Amnesty international in the Gambia and at the forefront of the Coalition of Human Rights Defenders. Ndongo was selfless and was faithful to the cause of human rights.
Jallow,
who now resides in the US after escaping assassination attempts on his life by security agents said: “For those of us who worked and collaborated with Ndongo, he is not one of those ones who will ask, “where were you”? I can tell you were Ndongo was. He was certainly not a hypocrite nor an enabler.
“The struggle against Yahya Jammeh was long and arduous, but Ndongo Sillah was a pioneer. As Yahya Jammeh began turning against his own supporters and henchmen who hitherto had ridiculed Ndongo and his human rights friends for being “losers and irrelevant,” Ndongo would tell them most humorously” the revolution is consuming its own children.”
“Ndongo was there on the ground since day one. He did not join the bandwagon. He was the bandwagon fighting oppression and impunity. He is a torture survivor and a democracy hero.
I listened with disgust to the testimony of Dr Mariatou Jallow.
Let’s agree that, many chose to bury their heads and souls in the sand unlike Ndongo. We all, at some level understand why. The principle of self preservation. No blame here.
But YJ is gone, and this woman can’t give straight answers to simple questions about her role in the sham HIV treatment that Jammeh illegally forced on poor Gambians.
Dr Mariatou Jallow: Accept what the entire country now knows.
1. You worked for Jammeh.
2. You benefited professionally and financially by working for Jammeh.
3. You were occasionally present at Jammeh sham evil public display.
4. You actively participated in massaging “ one or two “ patients.
5. You chaired the discharge session of a sham treatment program.
6. You never once condemned what you knew was wrong and deadly.
In our profession you are complicit if not actively involved in malpractice and therefore responsible for the unnecessary deaths of HIV infected patients.
Why not just accept responsibility and tell us the details of what happened.
We all know the entire medical community indeed the whole country was under duress.
Stop being defensive and combative. Makes you look unprofessional.
It’s might mitigate whatever is left of your good name to be CONTRITE!
My suggestions is take this opportunity to make a public statement and ask Gambians to forgive you for the role you played in this horrible tragedy.
Ndongo is an Angel in the same country in the same time.