Rights groups accuse Equatorial Guinea over Jammeh suit
Banjul, Gambia (PANA) – A group of human rights groups on Tuesday accused Equatorial Guinea of refusing to serve exiled Gambian dictator, Yahya Jammeh, with notice of a civil lawsuit filed by survivors of his fraudulent HIV/AIDS “cure”.
AIDS-Free World and the Gambian-based Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa (IHRDA) said the government of Equatorial Guinea has refused to serve legal papers on Jammeh, who has been living in exile in that country since January 2017. “One ruthless dictator is protecting another ruthless dictator,” remarked Sarah Bosha, AIDS-Free World’s Legal and Research Advisor on HIV and Human Rights. “The international community must not stand silent in the face of such lawless behavior.” According to the rights groups, Jammeh was granted political asylum by Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, Equatorial Guinea's president. Jammeh is reportedly living in a luxurious villa in eastern Equatorial Guinea as a guest of the regime. Meanwhile, on October 28, the government of The Gambia transmitted the notice of the civil suit and related documents to Equatorial Guinea's embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from where they would be delivered to Jammeh. A consortium of human rights and good governance organizations has called for a delay in the vote, citing the Obiang government’s endemic human rights abuses, corruption, and mismanagement. Many Gambians who entered Jammeh’s programme were members of HIV and AIDS support groups. Jammeh ordered his “patients” to cease taking antiretroviral drugs, an action that posed grave threats to their health. Instead, he had them drink herbal concoctions that often made them violently ill. He also slathered his concoctions on the patients’ partially nude bodies while chanting prayers. Jammeh has no medical training. International health experts including some representatives of the UN roundly condemned his “cure” as quackery, but no efforts were made to stop him. The programme ran from 2007 until 2016, when Jammeh lost a national election. After initially contesting the results of the election, Jammeh fled to Equatorial Guinea in January 2017. The survivors have filed complaints with The Gambia Medical and Dental Council against Dr. Tamsir Mbowe and Dr. Malick Njie. The Council has yet to take action against the doctors, who are still practicing medicine in The Gambia. |
-0- PANA MLJ/MA 18Dec2019