24 Sep 2009

The Gambian President Yahya Jammeh's controversial threat against humanitarian workers earlier this week has prompted the launch of an online petition protesting the remarks.

"If you are affiliated with any human rights group, be rest assured that your security is not guaranteed ... we are ready to kill saboteurs," Jammeh said on state television ahead of his departure for the UN General Assembly.

"I will kill anyone who wants to destabilize this country ... If you think that you can collaborate with the so-called human rights defenders, and get away with it, you must be living in a dream world. I will kill you, and nothing will come out of it," he added.

A coalition of pressure groups is leading the campaign, seeking the relocation of African Union's human rights commission headquarters from Gambia amid concerns over the "safety, security, and lives" of aid workers and other NGOs working with the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights in the country.

The petition is due to be sent to the African Union later this month.

President Jammeh came to power in a coup in 1994 and has won three multi-party elections since then.

However, amid claims of plots to oust him, journalists have been harassed and dozens of people have been unlawfully detained, human rights groups say.


presstv