Saturday, April 11, 2015

April 10th - 11th Washington protests, biggest ever

According to organizers of the protests against the dictatorship of Yaya Jammeh and in support of the student victims of the April 10 -11, 2000, toady's were the biggest ever organized.

Protesters came from New York, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, Georgia, Virginia and several other states.

Now that the notorious Gambian dictatorship has finally gained the attention of the international press arena, many news agencies and human rights organizations are in Washington to cover the events.

According to Coach Pa Samba Jow, a prominent human rights activist and a leader of DUGA, the British Guardian, Vice news and Texas Monthly Magazine and the Washington Post staff writer were also around to report on the protests. newspaper.  Among the human rights organizations present were Jeff Smith of the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights and Human Rights Watch and Freedom House.

These protests are part of a larger campaign to demand justice for those killed and the survivors of the deadliest day in the history of the Gambia.

These school children were murdered by police and security elements of the dictatorship at the order of Yaya Jammeh, the Gambian dictator, who uttered the words "kill the bastards" from his Havana hotel where he was on a state visit.Upon his return, he immediately indemnified the killers and ignored the survivors, some of whom eventually sought asylum in neighboring Senegal. 

These protests are organized by a group of Gambian human rights activists and allied organizations from New York, North Carolina and Georgia to draw the attention of the international community, and especially to the Obama Administration, to the plight of the surviving students who have been neglected, and some exiled, by the very regime that killed colleagues and maimed others.

At the time of going to press, the protesters were moving towards the front of the White House which has been on alert due to some emergency.  We will continue to keep you abreast of developments as the protest continue.