Free my country
I rarely share negative things on my blog because I want to keep it fun and light. However, I thought it was primordial that I shared what was recently going on in my country.
For the past week, my country has been rocked by a wave of violence that is unprecedented, at least for me. A masseuse has accused the main opposition leader of rape and issuing death threats. He denied the allegations stating that it was a conspiracy from the president to oust him of the 2024 presidential bid. In fact,in the past, two other political opponents have been accused of embezzelment and jailed. They were later pardonned but could not participate in the presidential elections. The opposition leader refused to be interviewed at first by the prosecutor stating that he would only do so when his immunity as a congressional representative would be revoked. When his immunity got finally revoked, he decided to go to the police but got arrested on his way for allegedly disrupting the peace on March 3rd. What followed was a series of protests from mainly the youth such as university students and political activists. The protestors clashed with the police, who was supposed to bring back order. They threw tear gas, and even shot at the crowds. A few activists were also arrested. For three days, violence reigned in my city of Dakar but also in other localities of Bignona, Sedhiou, Saint Louis to name a few. Many businesses were attacked, looted and destroyed. A few police and other administrative buildings were also burned. As of today, 13 people lost their lives, some killed by bullets from the police. Around 500 people have been arrested for protesting.
This is not the first time that my country has witness such unrest. In 1968, students unions protested against some cuts in their scholarships. In 1988, people protested against the results of the elections, which ensued in a state of emergency and the arrests of political opponents. In 2012, people marched to stop the then president Wade to run for a third term. Those protests also turned violent. However, I have the sense that these ones are more violent because it was videotaped by many people with their phones and shared on social media. Even if you did not participate in the protests, you could have a glimpse of what was happening. It was both frightening and amazing. Many people on twitter organized themselves by using the hashtag “Free Senegal” to inform the world about the current situation. The movement started right after it was discovered that two private televisions’ signals were cut off; and the internet was either cut or slowed the night of the arrest of the opposition leader. Under the hashtag, several triggering videos were shared where you could see the police brutality being exerted on Senegalese people. That did not happen in 1968 or in 1988, where the main press, TV and radios were state owned. It was very hard to get information on exactly what was happening unless you were right in the middle of it.
Seeing people being beaten up or shot by the police was frightening and surreal. However, it was not surprising coming from our police forces. The police have been known to abuse of their powers and repress the population. Last year, when the president declared a state of sanitary emergency and a curfew to tackle the spread of the virus, the police was seen brutalizing people who were still outside after the curfew. Some of them had a real reason to be outside as they were doctors or security guards but it did not matter to the police. Violence and police go hands in hands in this country. I myself had had a few altercations with police officers over silly matters. Once, one of them shouted at me when I was just asking him a simple question at the police precinct. I told him that he had no right to raise his voice at me, that I had civil rights he was supposed to respect. He left without answering mumbling under his breath and one of his colleague proceeded to answer me. That was not a major incident but it was still stuck in my mind. I was in a precinct and could have been locked up just because I dared asked a question. Thankfully I was with other people but I did not feel safe at all.
The Senegalese people do not trust the police. They see it as violent, incompetent, corrupt corps that is to avoid at all cost. That is why it is hard to report crimes in this country. That is why sometimes, some people prefer to take matters into their own hands.
The police and army of Senegal was installed with the colonization. The first policemen were hired by the colonizer to ensure that their rules would be followed. If they were not, the police had the right to harshly punish the population. The police nowadays is often used as a tool for the government to repress any form of criticism. Anyone who dares say anything negative about the current president can be arrested and thrown into jail at any minute. Some are even tortured. The other problems is that often the police does not acknowledge using excessive forces. And to make matters worse, those who abuse of their power and commit crimes are never prosecuted.
After the recent events, the little trust the people had towards the police has vanished. I am not even sure they care about regaining that trust back. Nevertheless, if they do, they will need a serious P.R work. They will have to change their image completely and aim at being closer to the people. Because after all, they are also Senegalese like us nd they need to start serving us instead of terrorizing us.
The calm is finally back in Dakar. Some businesses are reopening; people are going back to their activities. The opposition leader was finally freed on March 8. He also called for the population to continue to protest and made demands to the current government. The president has finally spoken to the country on the same night after being silent during the protests. He promised to do his best to help the young have access to jobs and some trainings. Nevertheless, a Senegalese movement for democracy scheduled a big protest for this Saturday to ask for the release of the other political activists. In addition, there are online campaigns to assign lawyers to defend the arrested protestors, to donate blood to help the victims but also funds to help the families of the victims.
If you want to know more about the recent protests in my country, follow the #freesenegal on social media (twitter and Instagram among others), and go to this website: https://freesenegal.co/
Thanks you for reading me.
Comments