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Gambia: Ghanaians Protest Over Purported Killings
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FOROYAA Newspaper (Serrekunda)
18 March 2008
Posted to the web 18 March 2008
On Wednesday, 12 March, 2008, the families of 44 Ghanaians took to the streets of Accra to demonstrate against what they regarded as their government's lack of communication to them on issues relating to reports of the murder of 44 Ghanaians in The Gambia.
A Ghanaian who claimed to have escaped from The Gambia has alleged that 50 nationals of Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal and Togo were murdered by Gambian security forces in 2005. We regard this as an allegation until the facts emerge.
The demonstration was aimed at putting pressure on the Ghanaian government to take urgent action on the matter. The Ghanaian protestors were not satisfied with the manner in which their government has been handling the matter. They feel their government has not done enough, nor have they informed them on what actions are being taken.
The demonstration was led by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), an international NGO, and the Gambian Task Force, which was formed by Ghanaians in Ghana to deal with this matter. It commenced at the CHRI office and ended at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and NEPAD, where speeches were delivered.
According to news reports, a spokesperson of the Ministry told the families that apart from the many local and international efforts made by the Ghanaian Government, an investigative committee, comprising the United Nations, African Union, Economic Community of West African States and International Red Cross, has been established to independently investigate the allegation. This he said was a result of a meeting held in Ouagadougou under the auspices of the UN and ECOWAS. He expressed the conviction that with the investigative committee now in place, the Gambia government is expected to sit down and talk about the issue. The demonstrators are said to have worn T-shirts with inscription: "Seeking Justice" and to have held placards some of which read: "Justice Delayed Is Justice Denied", "Killers Must Be Brought To Justice".
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This reporter visited the Secretary of State for the Interior on Friday to get him to react to these press reports but he was then at the airport. Foroyaa will continue its effort to get the reaction of the government.
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