Appeal to The U.K Immigration Authorities Not To Deport Abdoukarim Sanneh

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN
Re: Abdoukarim Sanneh

- The undersigned members of the Gambian community in the United States submit this petition on behalf of our countryman, Mr. Abdoukarim Sanneh, who is currently held by UK Immigration authorities and is under the threat of being deported back to The Gambia.

- We urgently testify that should he be forcibly returned to The Gambia, Mr. Sanneh will be at great risk of being killed by the brutal regime of President Yahya Jammeh of which he has been a vehement critic over the years.

- Mr. Sanneh was a reporter and columnist for the Daily Observer newspaper and has, since his flight to the UK, been a vehement and relentless critic of the regime of President Yahya Jammeh

- Since he seized power in a military coup on July 22, 1994, former Lieutenant, now Rtd. Col. Yahya Jammeh has grown increasingly brutal in his dealings with opponents and perceived opponents and critics of his regime. From then on, The Gambia has found itself under the iron grip of a ruthless dictator who is now widely believed to be mentally unstable. Suggestions of Mr. Jammeh's insanity started growing after he started claiming, two years ago, that he was capable of curing HIV-AIDS, cancer, hypertension, impotence, asthma, and infertility, among other diseases.

- In 1996, two years after his coup, Jammeh and his henchmen in the military council appeased local and international opinion by retiring from the military and conducting elections, which were not considered free and fair. He has been in power since then.

- Jammehs retirement from the military made absolutely no difference as far as respect for human rights and the rule of law is concerned. Over the past dozen years, The Gambia has fallen from a country with a relatively decent human rights record to among the worst violators of human rights in the world.

- Jammeh has proven to be a ruthless dictator who is paranoid in the extreme and who is absolutely intolerant of dissent. During the intervening years between 1994 and 2009, scores of real and perceived opponents of his regime have either disappeared or been murdered in cold blood.

- Among the most bloody milestones of his regime are the November 11, 1994 summary execution of an unknown number of alleged coupists (, the murder and incineration of former finance minister Ousman Koro Ceesay in June 1995; the summary execution of former Jammeh henchman Lt. Almamo Manneh in broad daylight after an alleged foiled coup plot; the death in custody of former military ruling council member Lt. Sadibou Hydara also after an alleged coup plot; the massacre by security forces of a dozen peacefully demonstrating school children and one journalist on April 10, 2000; the drive-by shooting to death of Deyda Hydara, former editor of The Point newspaper and Gambia correspondent for Reporters Without Borders and the French news agency AFP; and the disappearance of five alleged coupists including former secret police chief Daba Marena after another alleged coup plot in March 2006. Many other summary executions by Jammehs killing squads and personal militia go unreported in the press.

- Most of us are on political exile in the United States. Those of us who were journalists or memebrs of the opposition parties, or even relatives of journalists and opposition leaders in The Gambia had to flee the country because of continuous harassment, arrests, and incommunicado detentions without charges or trial.

It is clear from the above examples that opponents and perceived opponents of the current Gambian dictatorship have to choose between exile, persecution, or death.

- As a journalist and vehement critic of the Gambia government, Mr. Sanneh certainly has good reason to fear for his life should he return to The Gambia.

- We therefore urgently appeal to the UK Immigration authorities not to deport Abdoukarim Sanneh because should they do so, they would most certainly be sending him to his death.

Thank you for your consideration in this matter.