Warner tells T&T gov't clear the air on Gambian leader

Jack Warner wants the government of Trinidad and Tobago to state its position on whether Gambian President Yahya Jammeh would be welcome at this month's Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Port of Spain.

And they have appealed to Commonwealth leaders, including Trinidad and Tobago's Patrick Manning, to ban the Gambian leader from attending the Port of Spain summit.

The Caribbean Centre for Human Rights (CCHR) and the Indian-based Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative CHRI have both been highly critical of statements attributed to Gambian President Yahya Jammeh who is reported to have threatened (via Gambian television) “to kill anyone” who wanted to “destabilise” his country.

Read the story: Rights groups want Gambian leader banned from CHOGM

In a media release Tuesday Warner said since the calls have been made the PNM has sheltered under a roof of silence on this important issue while it remains "preoccupied in the temporary physical beautification of the CHOGM Village".

He said despite calls from the CCHR for action against the Gambian leader, the government is engaged in the superficial stepping up of security and the cosmetic removal of the homeless and tons of other political aesthetics while it has failed to account to the nation on the concerns raised by the rights organization.

The opposition foreign affairs critics added, "The deafening silence from the Government on such a brutish and violent outburst from the leader of a country who has been a member of the Commonwealth since 1965 is itself a snub on the virtues of democracy and the promotion of our individual and collective liberties and freedoms."

He said, "It is an indictment on our own Government, which itself has been criticized for stifling impartiality, judicial independence and political fair-play."

Warner said in an environment of a Draft Constitution which postulates on an Executive President, Government’s failure to condemn Jammeh’s threats presents a frightening picture for our very future.

"PM Patrick Manning must now say whether he supports such forms of violence in coping with opposition in a civilized democracy.

"It is instructive to note that both Trinidad and Tobago and Gambia are signatories to the Harare Declaration signed in 1991 and which seeks to promote international peace and the rule of international law," Warner pointed out.

He noted that the Declaration reiterated the belief in the liberty of the individual under the law, in equal rights for all citizens regardless of gender, race, colour, creed or political belief, and in the individuals inalienable right to participate by means of free and democratic political processes in framing the society.

"Given T&T’s and Gambia’s joint and mutual recognition of this Declaration, one would think that the CHOGM host would have called for a retraction and apology to the peoples of our land who have been duly offended," the Chaguanas West MP said.


He said Manning and Foreign Affairs Minister Paula Gopee Scoon must clear the air on whether the controversial Gambian President will participate in CHOGM 2009.

"They must indicate whether in the face of an international outcry they are prepared to afford State courtesies to a leader who has threatened murder on those who are perceived to be opponents to his Government," he said.

He added, "They must state publicly whether such tactics have received their support and whether in fact they intend to raise it openly at the CHOGM 2009 as a fundamental and flagrant breach of the Harare Declaration and scores of other international Peace Treaties."