British MPs Slams Justice Minister Gomez

British MPs have criticised The Gambia’s Justice Minister Edward Gomez, saying he should re-named Injustice Minister.
This development came hard on the heels Edward Gomez’s slamming on British MPs for calling on international pressure against The Gambia because of on-going human rights violations. Gomez also warned Gambians in abroad of backlash for smearing name of his government.
“The remarks are proof positive that the Justice Minister is riding roughshod over fundamental human rights. It’s my view that Edward Gomez should be renamed injustice minister,” alleged Anas Sarwar, the sponsor of the parliamentary motion signed by 27 British MPs recently.

Glasgow Central MP Anas Sarwar who sits in the International Development Select Committee at the parliament said, “Amnesty International produced a widely available report in 2008 which documents various human rights abuses in The Gambia including arbitrary arrests, torture, incommunicado detention, disappearances and murder.”
He added, “Indeed Alieu Ceesay who founded the Campaign for Human Rights in Gambia UK and many of his colleagues were forced to flee their homeland. I will continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with brave campaigners like Alieu who lead by example and fights for fundamental human rights.”
In another development the UK Minister for Africa Henry Bellingham have said that the coalition government will continue to raise concerns about freedom of expression and other human rights and good governance issues in the Gambia through the European Union and internationally.
“The Gambia has signed all major United Nations human rights conventions and we expect the Gambia to fulfill these obligations,” he said
Responding to a question recently from Labour MP for Glasgow North and shadow minister William Baine who asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent report he has received on the human rights situation and freedom of the press in the Gambia.
Minister Bellingham said “our High Commission in Banjul regularly raises human rights concerns with the government of The Gambia both bilaterally and also in its capacity as permanent local presidency of the European Union. Most recently the minister for Africa raises concerns with The Gambian minister of Foreign Affairs on September 14 2010 in London.”
He revealed that the UK government has set out its position at the EU/Gambia article 8 consultations held in June last year in Banjul and during The Gambia’s Universal Periodic Review sessions in UN in February last year.