SENEGAL: Amnesty Law – Forum civil calls for assigning responsibilities instead

Rédaction Africa Links 24 with Ndèye Suzanne Sy
Published on 2024-02-27 20:55:50

Dakar, Feb. 27 (APS) – The Civil Forum, opposed to the proposed amnesty bill for events related to political events in the country between 2021 and 2024, instead calls on the government to clarify the responsibilities on this issue.

In a statement sent to APS on Tuesday, the Civil Forum calls on the Senegalese government and judiciary to “first identify responsibilities” regarding these events, in order to establish the “necessary foundation for genuine national reconciliation.”

The Head of State announced on Monday in Diamniadio that he would adopt, on Wednesday during the Council of Ministers, a bill granting amnesty for events related to political events in the country between 2021 and 2024, which will soon be submitted to the National Assembly.

“In the spirit of national reconciliation, I will submit to the National Assembly as soon as this Wednesday, after its adoption by the Council of Ministers, a project for a general amnesty law for the events related to political demonstrations that have occurred between 2021 and 2024,” he said at the opening of the national dialogue aimed at establishing a new date for the presidential election originally scheduled to take place on February 25 but postponed indefinitely.

Several political leaders, mainly from the opposition, have disapproved of the proposal for a “general amnesty law for events related to political demonstrations between 2021 and 2024.”

“The Civil Forum, the Senegalese branch of Transparency International, calls for transparent and independent investigations to determine responsibilities for the ‘events related to political demonstrations between 2021 and 2024,'” the statement reads.

It also demands that “thorough investigations be conducted on the recruitment system of defense and security personnel and the training they have received from 2020 to the present.”

The Civil Forum also expresses its desire to see the press and citizen initiatives continue to “collect any evidence that brings out the truth,” while calling on lawmakers to refuse to “get involved in the devious and compromising path outlined by this disastrous bill.”

The Civil Forum considers this initiative “inappropriate by the President of the Republic, as a clear intention to bury the truth and permanently scar Senegal’s image by consolidating the reign of impunity.”

“For these reasons, the Civil Forum strongly condemns the amnesty bill proposed by the President of the Republic,” arguing that during the period in question, between 2021 and 2024, “Senegalese people have experienced the terror of extreme violence.”

During this period, the economy “was severely impacted and hundreds of people were subjected to violence, imprisonment, and many were killed. Senegal’s image has taken a serious blow. Families are in constant despair and anxiety,” notes the Senegalese branch of Transparency International.

“The Civil Forum also recalls receiving testimonies from victims who have experienced torture by the defense and security forces, practices prohibited by the rule of law and the spirit of the laws of the Republic,” the statement reads.

According to the Civil Forum, “Senegalese people need to know the truth by determining the responsibilities for the atrocities that citizens have experienced during the events between 2021 and 2024.”

NSS/BK/SMD

Read the original article(French) on Agence de Presse Senegalaise