It's exactly 10 solid years since our beloved country had painstakingly gone through
the darkest days of April 10th and 11th student carnage - the days that witnessed
the brutal shooting to death of 12 armless students by trigger-happy soldiers paid
to protect them. The students only  launch a demonstration against mistreatment
of their colleagues which was in line with their fundamental Constitutional rights. 

April 10th & 11th 2000 had left unforgetable trauma in our minds. The brutal and
inhumane nature of the events remain a crucial milestone for generations in the
annals of our history, thus making Its significance an active subject of
international concern that requires nothing but justice. These systematic murders of
our future leaders simply manifest a case of intensive brutality, resulting to a
total destruction of our society's social fabric. 

Even more disturbing were statements and actions taken by the government to address
illegal and unconstitutional killings. 

Instead of admitting the truth that her government's soldiers killed the 12 students
and two others, including a journalist Omar Barrow, the Vice President Isatou
Njie-Saidy blamed the demonstrators for the shootings. She was proven wrong by the
Coroner's Inquest that established that soldiers were responsible for the acts. 

It soon became clear that the inquest was a mere formality after the government
enacted a law indemnifying the killers, 

leaving victims' families with desperation and hopelessness. The questions that
remain to be answered are: who ordered the shootings and why? It's clear that the
trigger-happy soldiers must have received orders from the top, otherwise some heads
would have rolled long since. 

Both the government and its so-called security forces had woefully failed us for not
acting smartly to contain the situation in a peaceful manner, a clear violation of
both Gambian Constitution and International law. 

We are confident that the whole truth will come to light as soon as the Jammeh
regime is ousted from power. All those who played crucial role in the carnage,
especially those soldiers that fired AK 47 assault rifles on innocent school
children, will surely be brought to book and held accountable before a tribunal of
competent jurisdiction. 

As a human rights body, HUMRA remains committed to campaign against all forms of
human rights violations, especially with impunity. We will use all our available
means in this cause. We are therefore calling on the international community and our
colleague human rights organistions to exert pressure on the Gambia government to
prosecute those responsible for the heinous crime. The government also needs to
compensate all those affected by the carnage. 

We extend our heart-felt condolences to all those who were affected by the carnage,
in particular, victims' families and friends and all those maimed permanently by
gunshot wounds.  

”those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves; and, under the rule
of the just God cannot retain it.” (Abrahman Lincolm).

Yaya  Dampha  for
The secretariat- HUMRA (Sweden)