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The United Democratic Party has condemned the use of tear gas and “disproportionate force” by police against supporters of the APRC faction known as “No-to-Alliance Movement” on Sunday at the Tallinding Buffer Zone recreational park.
A statement from the party leader Ousainu Darboe issued last evening read: “The UDP has learned with great dismay of the disruption, using disproportionate force, of a civilian event organised by the splinter group of the APRC also known as No To Alliance with five elected National Assembly Members serving in the legislature.
“UDP calls on the IGP to unreservedly apologise to the organisers of the event and to compensate for any harm and or damage caused to life or property; and to the nation in general that on the most solemn day in the republic’s calendar, The Gambia police would resort to tactics reminiscent of the brutal dictatorship our nation is transitioning away from.
“It is baffling to witness that a day after the long-awaited national dialogue to sanitise Gambian politics that the Gambia Police Force uses tear gas to disperse a peaceful assembly of citizens on independence day no less. A ‘national dialogue’ is meaningful only within the context of democratic pluralism where all organs and agents of state act within the ambit of the constitution and guided by the rule of law…
“Furthermore, UDP has noted with grave concerns that since the appointment of the speaker and deputy speaker of the National Assembly in 2022, the APRC politics of weaponisation of state institutions have made a comeback including arbitrary arrests, detention and state violence forms of intimidation that dictator Jammeh practised extensively to stifle dissent but failed to cow opposition to his tyrannical government…
“UDP respectfully urges the security forces and public servants to honour their oaths of office and to faithfully serve the constitution and laws of The Gambia without fear or favour, ill will or affection. Mindful of the necessity to disobey unlawful orders where those orders violate the human rights of citizens. The mantra of the TRRC “Never Again” must mean that ‘injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere’.
“Therefore, it is our collective responsibility to safeguard the state and to secure all life liberty and equal protection of the law. As a nation we cannot say we shall engage in dialogue with a view to cleansing our politics and immediately thereafter attack a rival political group with tear gas.”
