By Mathew K Jallow

Civil Society Associations-Gambia, a coalition of seven Gambian civil and human rights organizations spread across Europe, the United States and West Africa has been launched after a year of online meetings and dozens of conference calls between founding members. The purpose of CSAG is to challenge the impunity with which the Gambian state has subjected innocent citizens to the most egregious rights abuses, which include extra-judicial executions, murders, tortures, forced disappearances, and the pervasive arrests, detentions and incarcerations. To more effectively execute its responsibilities, a new executive was elected to manage the affairs of the organization for a period of two years. The new executive comprises:

Banka Manneh; Chairman, US

Ndey Tapha-Sosseh; Secretary General, Mali

Yaya Dampha; Treasurer, Sweden

Abdoulie Jobe; Member, UK

Alieu Ceesay; Member, Scotland, UK

Buba Baldeh; Member, Senegal

Mathew K. Jallow; Member, US

Following the election a new executive, and after extensive and exhaustive consultations, CSAG launched a website to facilitate the gathering and dissemination of information in timely manner. Readers will notice that over the past few weeks, CSAG put out press releases and public notices in line with the organization’s commitment to the restoration of the rule of law in The Gambia. So far, CSAG has sought to network with like-minded regional and international rights organizations to more broadly involve the wider international community in the effort to put the spotlight on the atrocities perpetrated by the Gambian regime. CSAG recognizes the difficult challenges confronting the Gambia and, therefore, values the working relationships so far established and continue to establish with other regional and international rights organization.

According to Banka Manneh, the purpose is to draw more attention to the exceedingly difficult challenges facing the Gambian people under Yahya Jammeh’s tyrannical regime. In light of this, CSAG also launched an aggressive campaign to educate regional and international partners about the continued assault on the civil and human rights of Gambians. To do this effectively, CSAG last week launched a new user-friendly website with a Twitter feed. Apart from providing update information about the excesses of the Gambian regime, a side column with links to Gambia’s online newspapers and radios, gives readers an easy one-stop access to Gambia’s daily newspapers. Additionally, in the effort to provide reliable information about the long history of human rights violations under Yahya Jammeh’s regime, CSAG is urging Gambians to assist in the effort to provide an accurate list of the executed, murdered, tortured, forced disappearances, incarcerated, and Gambians who fled the country for political reasons.

In the next few days, the lists of Gambia’s executed, murdered and disappeared will put up on the website and readers are urged to help provide additional names of Gambians and non-Gambians who faced similar fates over the past decade and half since Yahya Jammeh came to power. We urge the indulgence of the public in providing an accurate accounting of all the victims of Yahya Jammeh’s murderous tyranny. The CSAG website can be accessed at Google search: civilsociety-gambia.org or by linking to:civilsociety-gambia.org. To contact CSAG with information easily, readers can go to the website’sMail Bag orComments/Opinion section. Any information provided and identities of all those who write to CSAG will remain strictly confidential, reassures Mr. Manneh the organization’s chairman.