BANJUL – Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, on Wednesday said the Gambian authorities have detained, incommunicado, dozens of friends and relatives of people accused of involvement in a coup attempt since January 2015.
They said in a statement issued in Banjul that those detained include women, elderly people, and a child, and that many are believed to be in ill-health.
Daniel Bekele, Africa Director at Human Rights Watch, said Gambian authorities are ignoring basic human rights standards by detaining people incommunicado, raising grave concerns of enforced disappearance.
“Because their whereabouts are unknown and necessary safeguards are not in place, they are at high risk of torture and other abuses.
He said government has refused to acknowledge the whereabouts or even the detention of many of them, effectively holding them outside of the protection of the law.
”This amounts to enforced disappearance, a serious violation of international law.
Bekele said Gambian government should reveal their whereabouts and either charge them with a recognisable offense, if there was sufficient evidence or immediately release them.
He said on Dec. 30, 2014, armed men attacked the State House in the capital, Banjul, but were repelled by Gambian security forces.
Bekele said in the days that followed, state security agents, including soldiers and plainclothes National Intelligence Agency (NIA) agents, picked up the associates, friends, and family members of people accused of involvement in the coup attempt.
“Those detained were taken to the intelligence agency’s headquarters, where most are believed to have been held incommunicado since.
“A number of family members of detainees have told Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch about the detention of their loved ones, but many are afraid to speak out,’’ he said.
Bekele said their relatives outside the country, have been threatened with arrest by state security officials, if they continue to seek the whereabouts of their relatives.
Meanwhile, the UN Special Rapporteur on torture reported in March 2015, that more than 52 people had been detained by the Gambian security forces.
He said several were released between February and May, and it was not clear how many still remain in incommunicado detention.
The rapporteur disclosed that in March, a secret military court sentenced three soldiers to death and three other soldiers to life in prison on charges of treason, desertion, conspiracy, and mutiny.
He said all concerned agencies believed they did not receive a fair trial with adequate legal representation.
“Three other men were killed in the attempted coup, and in spite of repeated requests, family members have yet to receive the bodies.
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He said on 14 Jan., President Yahya Jammeh, announced his government’s willingness to work closely with the UN, to investigate the events of 30 Dec., 2014, and on 28 Feb., 2015.
He said to date, no independent investigation has taken place. (PANA/NAN)
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