Says Halifa Sallah
Speaking to reporters at a press conference held on Tuesday, 10 February, 2009, at Churchill Town, Mr. Halifa Sallah, the NADD Candidate in the 2006 Presidential Election and Director of the People’s Centre for Social Science Research, Civil Awareness and Community Initiative, said he wanted it to be noted as a fundamental truth that the violation of Rights anywhere should be the concern of people everywhere.

Mr. Sallah said that this is the only way in which Fundamental Rights, Peace and Security can be guaranteed. He said the Press Conference was purposely convened in order to acquaint the nation, as a whole, and humanity, at large, about certain developments that are taking place in the country, which must and should stop.
According to Mr. Sallah, he was approached on Sunday by one Mr. Dodou Sanyang, from Essau, who was literally in distress, who informed him about the disappearance of his septuagenarian mother on Thursday, 5 February. He said Sanyang explained to him how his mother, who winnows groundnut shells at the GPMB depot in Barra to get nuts to eat and sell for a living, was picked up by some men in red garments, the so-called witch doctors, while on her way home to Essau after a day’s work.
Mr. Sallah, however, emphasised that what these so-called witch doctors are doing to people tantamount to ‘abduction’ which, he said, amounts to a violation of the Rights of People to their freedom of movement. He said the old woman was initially not allowed to even answer to nature’s call and was saved by a woman who lives close to where the bus was parked. She allowed her to use their toilet before she was forced to get into a bus and taken to the ferry for crossing to Banjul. He said Dodou Sanyang told him that since that fateful Thursday, the family could not know her mother’s whereabouts and that this was why Mr. Sanyang had decided to come to him for fear that if he goes around looking for his mother, he might as well land himself in custody. He said the woman was going home and was forcefully abducted and taken to an unknown destination.
“The action I took was to call the vice president for her to tell the president about these violations of Rights of People and to arrange a meeting with the National Security Council so that he would convey the facts he had gathered regarding the abductions taking place in the country so that the government would put a stop to it,” disclosed Sallah.
He said he was later called to be told that the meeting is no longer necessary and that the information has been noted for further steps. He said Dodou is on his way to inform him that the mother had been released on Monday and had been sharing her horrible ordeal with them,
‘I want the citizens to understand what is happening so that it will be put to a stop. A group of people dressed in red and others posing as military people went around homes abducting people and giving them concoctions to drink. The State must intervene to stop these gross violations, which have happened in Jambur, where the Imam expressed his disapproval of this practice”, said Mr. Sallah.
He said that eye witnesses and victims narrated the ordeal and humiliation that they went through at the hands of these so-called witch doctors, who are accompanied by armed men giving them the cloak of State legitimacy, taking them to a grave yard and slaughtering a chicken and goat as part of the witchcraft rituals. He said the Imam’s son is reported to have been asked to recite a Sura from the Quran 17 times and beat a drum seventeen times before a ritual was performed. Sallah asked whether such a practice was in line with the religious belief of the Imam’s son.
Mr. Sallah quoted Section 32 of the Constitution of the Republic of The Gambia which states:
“Every person shall be entitled to enjoy, practise, profess, maintain and promote any culture language, tradition or religion subject to the terms of this constitution and to the condition that the rights protected by this section do not impinge on the rights and freedoms of others or the national interest, especially unity.”
Sallah said the constitution entitles every person with the right to enjoy and practice one’s belief without hindrance but that no one should also be forced to practice what you do not want to.
He said that there are hallucinogenic drugs that can make a person behave like someone who has gone mad; adding that it would be a criminal act if one is forced to drink something that leads to hallucination.
Mr. Sallah, therefore, stressed the need for the fluid (concoction), being given by the ‘men in red’, to be examined by chemists and laboratories to determine whether it is a drug that has hallucinogenic effect and that if it is proven to be so, then the people responsible should be considered criminals who deserve to be prosecuted.
He said it was even confirmed that video recording of the humiliating rituals affecting abducted people was taken which, according to him, would constitute a criminal offence if shown anywhere.
‘I am talking as a Pan-Africanist, who is appalled by seeing Black people subjecting their fellows to such horrors and calling them witches and putting a stigma on them,” pointed Mr. Sallah.
He said the happenings are a stain on Africa and the African identity; that the practice used to happen in ancient times in Europe but has ceased in modern times.
He called on the State to immediately put a stop to this outrageous and oppressive practice and safeguard the fundamental rights of citizens. Sallah cited Section 19(1) which states:
“Every person shall have the right to liberty and security of person. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention. No one shall be deprived of his or her liberty except on such grounds and in accordance with such procedures as are established by law.”
“These people were abducted on the basis of which law?” asked Mr. Sallah.
He continued: ‘To force a person to drink a hallucinogenic drug, to subject people to humiliating rituals, is oppression of the highest magnitude. The treatment is unconstitutional.’ He indicated that this constituted a violation of section21 of the constitution which states “No person shall be subject to torture or inhuman degrading punishment or other treatment.”
He also cited the actions of the green boys and girls, in going into the compounds and living rooms of people in Essau to force them to come out to the village “Bantaba, as a violation of Section 23 which states “No person shall be subject to interference with the privacy of his or her home.”.
Mr. Sallah reminded reporters of what was heard on television about those people who were convicted after having been accused of using the president’s name and spreading rumours. He, therefore, called on the State to denounce and put to a stop to all these gross violations of the rights of the people. Mr. Sallah said if the State fails to act to protect the rights of its citizens, then the matter will be forwarded to the ECOWAS, AU and the United Nations to inform them about these gross human rights violations for them to protect the people.
He went on to make this declaration: “I have told my colleagues in Foroyaa that if these violations continue, I will resign from Foroyaa and set up a Human Rights NGO to documents all the violations of the rights of the people and call for redress”.
Questioned as to what steps can be taken if the government refuses to comply, as in the case of Chief Ebrima Manneh, whose immediate release was ordered together with payment of compensation by the ECOWAS Community Court, Mr. Sallah responded that, for his part, he is only performing his duty in his country and to humanity in the context if his time. He added, ‘It is left for the State, ECOWAS, AU and the international bodies to perform their own roles. If they fail to do so, it is left to them and history.’
Mr. Dodou Sanyang, who was also present at the press conference, narrated to reporters the ordeal and humiliation that his mother and other villagers were subjected to by these witch doctors.
He also disclosed that the mother was released on Monday and that they are expecting the others abducted with her to be freed by their captors. Mr. Sanyang praised the resilience of his mother in being able to survive the horrible treatment they were subjected to, as they were sleeping on the bare floor and that she even refused to eat the food and drink prepared for them. He said the Alkalo of Barra, Kenbugul Faye, was also among those abducted and taken to a place called Baba Jobe’s compound in Kololi.