The Gambia Centre for Victims of Human Rights Violations (Victims Centre) yesterday issued a statement expressing its sadness at the recent video circulating on the social media showing personnel of the Police Intervention Unit assaulting supporters of the UDP. The incident happened shortly after the nomination of the party’s aspirant for the Busumbala constituency was rejected by the electoral commission.
The statement reads: “The way the officers handled the civilians is unjustified and a grave human rights violation. The Victims Centre is dismayed by this brutality on civilians and cannot let it go without expressing the irresponsibility of the PIU officers using tear gas to disperse crowds especially during the ongoing security sector reforms in the country as part of the transitional justice process.
“This act of brutality is totally unacceptable and deserves absolute condemnation in the strongest terms, and we are urging The Gambia Police Force to have clear guidelines on the use of tear gas against civilians. This incident was superseded by similar incidents where the PIU resorted to the use of tear gas, when the circumstances could have been controlled using other police tactics.
