Firmin Gnali Must Stay
Firmin was a member of the FPI (Front Populaire Ivoirien), and a student
union activist in FESCI (Federation Estudiantine et Scolaire de Cote
d'ivoire). In 1991 and 1992, he was arrested, detained and tortured
by the military for his political activities. In 1993, the Ivory Coast
authorities sacked him from his teaching job and forced him into hiding.
On 23 December I. 1993, a few days after Henry Konan Bedie I proclaimed
himself President of the Ivory ! Coast, Firmin managed to flee the
country .' with a group of musicians travelling to England. He applied
for political asylum in January 1994.
In May 1997, the Asylum In Britain. If he Is sent back to Home Office
denied Firmin his final leave the Ivory Coast, he will face the posslto
appeal. Firmin has one final legal bllity of death at the hands of
the option, that of taking his case to the High Government. Court
for judicial review. He is now under serious threat of deportation
back to the Ivory Coast. Firmin Gnali has recently been working as
a musician and actor with Banner Theatre in Birmingham. THE IVORY
COAST: Although the Ivory Coast gained independence from France in
1960, the French government continues to offer political, economic
and military support to the brutal neo-colonialist POCI (Part) Oemocratique
de Cote d'voire) regime that has run the country since its independence.
There is considerable evidence of the brutality of the POCI regime.
From the 1960s until his death in 1993, the dictator Houphouet-Boigny
repeatedly used the pretext that his opponents were plotting to eliminate
him as a ploy to justify the execution of many of his opponents -
both within and outside his party. In 1970, 4,000 Bete tribes people
from the west of the Ivory Coast were massacred by the national army
when one of them took a small step towards democracy, byattempting
to set up an independent pOlitical party. At that point government
corruption was so great that mos't people's living standards had been
reduced to below the poverty level. This state of affairs resulted
in an unprecedented national uprising coupled with considerable international
pressure. As a direct consequence, oppositional parties were allowed
to operate frorr 1990. However, by means of corruption and brutal
repression, the POCI maintained its power and political dominance.
Following Houphouet's death in 1993, his son Henry Konan Bedie became
president, continuing his father's despotic ways. Today, members of
opposition parties, opposition journalists, trade unionists and student
union activists are still subject to systematic repression. Kidnappings,
arbitrary arrests, political trials, imprisonment and. torture continue
to be carried out by the Ivorean authorities through an alienated
army and a corrupt justice system. There are more than 100 political
prisoners in Ivorean jails today.
Amnesty International have been critical of the human rights record
of the regime on a number of occasions.
Firmin
Gnali Support Group
c/o Friends Institute 220 Moseley Road Birmingham B12 OOG Phone
0121-440-0460 We can supply a speaker from the campaign for your
group or Trade Union.
Campaign to Prevent
Deportation of Nagat Tornish
Nagat Tornish from Libya, is a 29 year old woman
crippled with osteo-rheumatoid arthritis currently receiving specialist
medical treatment at a South Manchester hospital. Her entrance to
the country was on the grounds of a medical visa which prerequisites
her to pay for her treatment and that her illness is to be of a
finite nature. Nagat has been in the country since the age of 14
(with two minor breaks therein) and is a well integrated member
of the local community. The severity of the case is such that the
medical consultant feels she still needs urgent treatment The consultant
says that this is the worst case of arthritis he has ever seen.
Surgeons feel Nagat has no option other than to undergo surgery
involving specific joint replacements. However the Home Office is
going to deport her.
Judging of past experience, her return to Libya will mean that she
will not receive adequate treatment. As a result her condition will
deteriorate rapidly, almost certainly confining her permanently
to a wheelchair. The medical consultant has offered to treat her
free of charge (Nagat did not realise the detrimental effect this
would have on her case). However the Home Office insists on deporting
her. After having paid over £30,000 on medical bills, raised
by selling their personal possessions, the family can longer afford
to pay for more treatment. Hence the campaign against Nagat’s
deportation is fighting to persuade the Home Office to allow Nagat
to stay in the UK on the grounds of compassion, thus allowing her
to continue treatment.
Nagat has shown great courage in the duration of the treatment and
continues to be brave, faced with the prospect of major extensive
surgery. She continues to be hopeful of a new beginning. She is
not a victim of her condition, she is a survivor. All she aspires
for is to some day to be able to sample life without pain.
Due to the imminent danger facing Nagat, her case needs to be given
special attention. In her own words: “I can see two things
in front of me, life or death". It is indeed somewhat disheartening
that a couple of pages in a passport can make the difference between
a healthy figure and a gloomy life condemned to a wheelchair.”
to contact the Campaign write to
GMIAU 400 Cheetham Hill Road,Manchester M8 9LE |
