Prominent human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana SAN has commended the Adama Barrow administration in The Gambia for embracing the rule of law unlike some governments that usually hide under the cloak of national security to justify disregard for the orders of domestic and regional courts.
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According to Mr. Falana, the process of restoring the lost glory of the country has begun with the institution of the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparation Commission, reversal of the withdrawal from the International Criminal Court, the making of a Declaration recognizing the jurisdiction of the Court to enable Gambian citizens to access the Court and payment of the monetary damages awarded by the Ecowas Court in favour of Ebrima Manneh and four other journalists while the government is currently negotiating with Musa Saidykan over the payment of the reparation awarded him by the same court.”
Mr. Falana who addressed judges and lawyers and journalists on “Decriminalisation of freedom of expression in The Gambia” reviewed a number of cases which have enhanced the campaign for freedom of expression and press freedom in The Gambia. He reminded that many victims of human rights abuse in The Gambia reached out to him to approach the Ecowas Court for legal redress when the judges in the local courts were only prepared to blow muted trumpets. Mr. Falana lauded the Supreme Court of The Gambia for annulling criminal defamation but criticised the Justices of the court for upholding the provisions of the country’s Criminal Code on sedition contrary to the clear positions of the Ecowas Court and the African Court on Human and Peoples Rights which have declared. While urging the government to repeal the sedition provisions in Sections 51 and 181-184 of the Criminal Code as well as Section 173A of the Information and Communications (Amendment) Act of 2013, Mr. Falana said “public officers who feel offended by any defamatory statement should file a civil suit and not use the instrumentality of the penal code to intimidate their opponents.”
The human rights activist urged the Gambia Press Union and the labour union to struggle for the expansion of the democratic space to ensure that the right to press freedom and freedom of expression is respected in the country and enjoyed by all citizens. According to him, “the right to freedom of expression and press freedom, like other civil and political rights, is taken for granted by judges, lawyers, journalists and human rights advocates in Africa. It is assumed that all citizens are entitled to benefit from the much celebrated human rights guaranteed in the constitutions of the respective African countries. But in actuality, the human right of freedom of expression is meaningless to millions of uneducated and hungry people in Africa.”
In order to ensure that all citizens are empowered to enjoy human rights Mr. Falana said that “In view of the right of equal opportunities enshrined in the Constitution the children of the rich and the poor are entitled to education. While the rich can afford to send their children and wards to expensive schools at home and abroad the government bears the responsibility to educate the children of the poor. Having ratified the United Nations Child’s Rights Convention the government of The Gambia must make education free and compulsory for every child. At the same time, adult literacy centres should be established all over the country for the compulsory education of illiterate adults. With determination the Barrow administration can wipe out illiteracy in this country of two million people within the next two years. After all, Cuba achieved the feat a year after the 1959 revolution led by the late Fidel Castro. Today, the little island of 12 million people has one of the highest literacy rates in the world.”
Mr Falana dismissed the official claim that the government lacks the financial resources to social amenities when he said that “I am not unaware that the government has complained of lack of funds to provide education and other social amenities for the people. With respect, the poverty induced programmes of successive governments have continued to promote poverty in the midst of plenty. Therefore, the media should lead a campaign for the liberation of the economy of The Gambia. The restoration of democracy in the country must be extended to the economic front. The government should realise that the Gambian people did not vote for the control of the national economy by the International Monetary Fund and other foreign economic interest groups. To that extent, the government should hasten to educate and empower the Gambian people to control and manage the abundant natural resources of the country.”
Mr. Falana who commended the traumatised people of The Gambia for ending the 22-year repressive misrule of former President Yayah Jammeh urged them to be prepared at all times to defend their hard won democratic rights.
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