Dodou Bammy Jagne, Gambia’s ambassador to the United States, Thursday at his Washington offices, spoke of human rights and child trafficking in The Gambia.

"I am not surprised that the government is doing such a fantastic job in combating this inhumane and illegal practice from unscrupulous individuals, and as such been praised for its efforts", Mr. Jagne said - reacting to comments of praises being made to this reporter by some washington officials that are monitoring and combating human trafficking in the sub-region.

Ambassador Jagne also pointed out that the government has passed legislations to protect children. Such legislation, he said, is an instrument of the law that facilitates the prosecution of culprits apprehended in child trafficking.
"The president has always maintained an unflinching stance towards child safety in this country. He has done so many wonderful things for the development of children including the creation of a girls fund, among others," ambassador Jagne quipped.

It should be recalled that in 2002 at the United Nations G8 summit in New York, whilst addressing heads of state, human rights activists and children advocates, president Jammeh branded politicians as being children's worst enemies.

On human rights and media relationship, Jagne noted that there has been concerns from some quarters especially Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), on press freedom and HUMAN RIGHTS violation in The Gambia. "We can really understand and locate CPJs mindset on this.
It maybe bias and sympathetic towards the fraternity of the media. But one thing is for sure: freedom comes with responsibility", he hinted.

The media, Ambassador Jagne explained, is an honourable and very responsible profession that requires an equal amount of responsibility when reporting the news as correctly and impartially as its happening. "You cannot be reporting all these fictitious and irresponsible stories and try to hide behind the press badge claiming to be a journalist. That is not resposible reporting", he continued.

Jagne further challenged and encourageg the press to be more objective in their reporting as they bore a very hectic responsibility to educate and thus inform the public correctly about daily happenings in the country and the diaspora.
"Human rights abuses have no place in our society. As you can see just recently all detainees under NIA custody have been released'', he advised.

Ambassador Jagne also noted the efforts being made by president Jammeh in contributing peace keeping troops to the international community in its determination to bring peace around the world. "President Jammeh is a champion of peace. He has made numerous contributions towards sustaining peace in places like Kosovo, Sierra Leone and Darfur", he concluded.

It should also be noted that most recently, the NIA released from its custody all detainees and an ultimatum by the newly appointed NIA boss - Pa Jallow - was issued maintaing that the agency would not hold individuals in custody for more than 72 hrs without pressing charges on them thus clearing the way to court proceedings.

And that, its now the sole responsibility of the Director General or his deputy to effect warrant of arrests.