Falana SAN Commends Gambian Government For Obeying Court Orders

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.

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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