one treat the dead during a conflict? Do you treat them with contempt or with respect as dictated by our common humanity as well as religion and custom? Dead bodies do not belong to political parties or ideological camps .They are no longer part of our world. Hence the proper thing to do is to conduct post mortem and carry out a coroner’s inquest following which the bodies could be handed over to family members for burial. Furthermore, the Red Cross should be allowed to visit all detainees to check their conditions of detention in terms of sleeping facilities, feeding, health and general welfare. Detention could be degrading and torturous and could be life threatening to people suffering from hypertension and diabetes. The AU should send the President of Chad as a special envoy to the Gambia to ascertain whether some people are being detained after the 30th December incident purely because of family ties and facilitate their release if that is found to be the case. Any UN special envoy should do the same. Impunity only engenders more impunity. ]]>
