The Report is In! Who is Responsible for the Deaths?

The Report is In! Who is Responsible for the Deaths?

by Scott A Morgan

It was an International Incident that was not widely Reported by the Major International News Outlets. In July 2005 the Bodies of 44 Ghanian Nationals were discovered in the Tangy Forest in Gambia. It was determined that the victims were lured from Senegal to Gambia with the Promise of Transportation to New Lives in Europe. Sadly this would not be the case.

Last August a Joint Commission comprising the United Nations and ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) was set up to investigate what actually occured during this incident. When Word of this Incident initially became known the Ghanian Government stated that it felt that this was a "State Sponsored Killing." The Internal Human Rights Record of President Jammeh makes this claim Legitimate on the Surface.

So far in 2009 the crackdown against the Independent Media in Gambia continues. Six members of the United States Senate recently signed a Letter to President Jammeh regarding Freedom of the Press. The Death of one high profile Journalist remains unsolved to this day. The Wellbeing of another Journalist remains a mystery to this day as well. A Program aganist "Witchcraft" has seen Gambian Security Forces enter Senegal on more than one occasion this year.

So after several failed attempts to set up inquiries to determine what exactly happened in Tangy the UN and ECOWAS set this investigative panel. The Failure to properly determine what happened led to the souring of Releations between Banjul and Accra. So when the report was handed to the Ghanian Foreign Minister at a UN Meeting in Abuja, Nigeria there was some Optimism that finally there will be some Answers to who perpetrated this Incident.

Although the Government of Gambia was not found to be Directly Responsible A Member of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) was found to have conducted this Incident for Personal Gain. It is difficult to believe that someone in the NIA would be behind this without his superiors having any direct knowledge. In recent years the NIA have taken some actions at the behest of President Jammeh particularly the Operation against Withcraft. The Report has determined that the Gambian Government is Liable for what has happened.

The following reccomendations were also made by the Commission: The Families of the Deceased are to be Compensated by the Gambian Government. The Report left the Amount of the Compensation to be determined by the respective Governments. There is a Reluctance by the Gambian Government to pay this claim due to the Appearance that it will be seen as complicint in this Incident. The Incident was committed by an Individual on the State Payroll after all and there is evidence that the Deceased were Arrested before their Deaths.

The Bodies of the Deceased will exhumed from their current resting place and reinterred in their Homelands. This act could be the reason why there is some disagreement over the amount of the Compensation that will be paid to the unfortunate victims of this incident. But with these Questions being answered there are other questions that remained unaswered however.

If President Jammeh did not order that these people be killed then who did? Could this be an attempt by Individuals in the Jammeh Regime to Cash in on the Human Trafficking trade from West Africa to Europe? Or in a more perverse idea is this a cruel Loyalty test to the Jammeh Regime? The Major question of who was behind this incident has been answered to the satisfacation of the Ghanian Government. Will there be any follow up on this report still remains to be seen.

The Author Publishes Confused Eagle on the Internet. It can be found at morganrights.tripod.com