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RR RUEHPA
DE RUEHJL #0222/01 1001719
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 101719Z APR 06
FM AMEMBASSY BANJUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6562
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RUFGAID/USEUCOM AIDES VAIHINGEN GE
RUEHLMC/MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORP

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BANJUL 000222 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DAKAR PASS RAO, DAO, AND ODC 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/10/2016 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINS CASC ASEC PHUM KMCA GA SG
SUBJECT: THE GAMBIA: LATEST DEVELOPMENTS FOLLOWING FOILED 
COUP PLOT 
 
REF: A. BANJUL 212 AND PREVIOUS 
     ¶B. BANJUL 188 
     ¶C. BANJUL 206 
     ¶D. BANJUL 209 
 
BANJUL 00000222  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
Classified By: AMBASSADOR JOSEPH STAFFORD, REASON 1.4 (B AND D) 
 
SUMMARY 
-------- 
 
¶1. (C) President Jammeh continues his efforts to demonstrate 
that he remains in charge and that the public is rallying 
around him, while opposition parties issued a statement April 
9 expressing doubt about the GOTG's capacity to "manage the 
apparent crisis."   There are signs of disarray at the 
National Intelligence Agency.  The number of detainees 
currently held in connection with the failed coup plot is 
about 25; rumors persist that the five reported escapees were 
secretly executed.   We continue to receive reports of abuse 
 
SIPDIS 
of detainees that amounts to torture.  We are told of 
Senegalese media report that GOS authorities have the coup 
plot's ringleader in custody; Senegalese Foreign Minister 
will reportedly visit Banjul "this week."  Meanwhile, police 
sources do not rule out the possibility of disorderly 
demonstrations later this week to mark the sixth anniversary 
of authorities' shooting student protestors. Sources portray 
Jammeh as vengeful and determined to leave no stone unturned 
in ferreting out anyone conceivably linked to the coup plot. 
Ambassador will raise our concerns over detainees' treatment 
and other issues -- including need for access to detained 
Amcit Tamsir Jasseh -- in requested meeting with Jammeh. END 
SUMMARY. 
 
OVERVIEW 
--------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) As the dust settles over the thwarted March 21 coup 
(ref a), President Jammeh continues his efforts to 
demonstrate that he remains in charge and that the public is 
rallying around him.  On April 6, a delegation of National 
Assembly deputies, led by Deputy Speaker Belinda Bidwell, 
called on Jammeh "to pledge their allegiance," according to 
media reports. (COMMENT: We believe that Bidwell also took 
the occasion to register concern over the detained National 
Assembly speaker Sheriff Diba; the reasons for his detention 
remain unknown.)   The media report that "tens of thousands" 
of Gambians are expected to march through downtown Banjul on 
April 15 to demonstrate their support for Jammeh. 
 
¶3. (U ) Meanwhile, opposition parties continue to issue 
statements on the incident; following  their initial press 
release March 26 (ref b), the leading opposition party, UDP, 
and allied party, NRP, issued a second statement April 9 
urging the GOTG to exercise "tact and caution" in responding 
to the failed plot.   Referring to the reported escape of 
five detainees (ref c), the parties said this episode 
contributed to doubts about the "capabilities of the 
administration in managing the apparent crisis."  They went 
on to call on authorities to respect the rights of those 
still detained in connection with the plot and, in 
particular, to permit them access to family members and 
lawyers. (NOTE: To our knowledge, none of the detainees, 
military or civilian, has been allowed as yet to receive 
visitors.  END NOTE) 
 
DISARRAY AT NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY (NIA) 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶4. (C) Despite Jammeh's keenness to portray his government as 
operating normally, there are signs of disarray at one  key 
agency, the NIA. Following the detention and reported escape 
of former Director General Daba Marena (ref c), rumors 
persist that his successor, Harry Sambou, will be replaced 
soon; in meeting last week with visiting RAO/Dakar officers, 
Sambou spoke of plans for a major restructuring of the 
agency, but was vague on details.  The Deputy Director 
General position is vacant, following the detention of Ngorr 
Secka after only two weeks or so following his appointment. 
On April 10, the local press reported the dismissal and 
detention of several additional NIA officials. 
 
STATUS OF DETAINEES 
------------------- 
 
¶5. (C) By our reckoning, there remain about 25 persons 
detained in connection with the failed plot, following last 
week's releases (ref c); rumor has it that National Assembly 
Speaker Sheriff Dibba will be released soon.  There are also 
 
BANJUL 00000222  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
persistent rumors that, contrary to authorities' claim that 
former NIA Director General Daba Marena and four other 
detainees escaped, they were secretly executed.  In April 10 
conversation with Ambassador, Pap Saine, an Embassy contact 
and Editor-in-Chief of the independent daily, "The  Point," 
stated that he had no hard evidence of these rumored 
executions, but would not rule them out. He pointed, in this 
regard, to the lack of details (e.g., location of escape, 
identities of escorting guards reportedly arrested for 
permitting the escape) provided by authorities in their 
report of the detainees' escape. 
 
¶6. (C) We also continue to receive reports of detainees being 
subjected to beatings and other forms of abuse.  A 
well-informed source claimed that former NIA Director General 
Abdoulie Kujabi, military officer Capt Pierre Mendy,  and 
former senior GOTG official Alieu Jobe had all been beaten so 
severely as to require hospitalization.  He went on to 
describe these beating and other forms of abuse (e.g., use of 
lit candles to inflict burns) as "severe torture" designed in 
part to extract confessions as well as to ensure docile 
behavior by detainees. In April 9 conversation with Interior 
Minister Baboucar Jatta, Ambassador registered deep concern 
over the ongoing reports of mistreatment of detainees; Jatta 
undertook to look into the matter, but stated that it was the 
Presidential security force and other military elements, not 
the regular police force under his control, that was 
responsible for the interrogation of detainees. 
 
THE SENEGALESE ANGLE 
-------------------- 
 
¶7. (C) Reflecting the failed coup plot's ongoing fallout on 
Gambian/Senegalese ties,  on April 10 the local media 
reported Dakar's decision to "recall for consultations" its 
Ambassador here, Ndiouga Ndiaye, as well as plans by the 
Senegalese Foreign Minister to visit Banjul "this week." 
Various sources have told us of a recent Senegalese media 
report that Senegalese authorities have detained the plot's 
ringleader, Lt Col Ndure Cham, in the Casamance, but will not 
extradite him to The Gambia out of concern that he will be 
executed. 
 
ANNIVERSARY OF STUDENT  KILLINGS 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶8. (C) Meanwhile, April 10 marks the sixth anniversary of a 
2000 incident in which authorities fired on student 
demonstrators, killing a dozen. While police sources report 
that all is calm in Banjul on the anniversary date today, 
they do not rule out the possibility of student 
demonstrations occurring later this week -- perhaps amidst 
the pro-Jammeh rally scheduled for April 15 reported above -- 
and becoming disorderly. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶9. (C) Editor-in-Chief Saine and other sources portray Jammeh 
as vengeful and determined to leave no stone unturned in 
ferreting out anyone conceivably linked to the failed plot. 
Authorities' continued refusal to grant families and others 
access to detainees is troubling, as are the reports of 
tortured detainees.  Ambassador has repeated his request to 
see Jammeh in order to stress our concerns.  We assume the 
Senegalese Foreign Minister's visit is designed first and 
foremost to assuage Jammeh's concerns over alleged GOS 
implication in the plot, as revealed in his recent message to 
President Bush (ref d).  END COMMENT. 
 
     . 
STAFFORD