In a new Gambia, the prison doors begin to swing open

BANJUL, Gambia (AP) — Gambian soldiers picked up Tijan Barrow, beat him with their guns and threw him into a cell at the notorious National Intelligence Agency prison. His alleged crime: Creating and selling T-shirts for the opposition.

In the final days of his crumbling rule, defeated leader Yahya Jammeh turned again to the tactics that human rights groups had long accused his government of using against opponents during his more than 22 years in power.

Now, after Jammeh’s weekend flight into exile, the country’s prison doors are starting to swing open.

On Saturday, as Jammeh departed and a new democratic era began in this tiny West African country, Tijan and a number of others were released. Officials with the incoming government vow that more will follow.

“All political detainees without trial to be released immediately,” the spokesman for the coalition backing new President Adama Barrow, Halifa Sallah, announced Tuesday. He did not say how many people might be freed, but he encouraged victims’ families to come forward.

It is believed that some were killed in prison under Jammeh. Tijan feared he might join them.

“To be quite honest, my life was at risk,” he said, recalling the soldiers’ threats. Because he shared the same last name as Barrow, who defeated Jammeh in the December elections, he would spend the rest of his life in jail, they told him.

He spent just a few days.

A dozen or so people like Tijan were rounded up in the final weeks of Jammeh’s rule, as he tried to cling to power while challenging his election loss. He finally gave in after intense diplomatic efforts by regional leaders, while a West African military force was poised to oust him if negotiations failed.

His departure has been cheered by many Africans who continue to live under leaders who refuse to give up power and treat opponents harshly.

Barrow this week is expected to return to Gambia after being inaugurated last week in neighboring Senegal for his safety.

That prisoners are already being released is a sign that the country’s security forces recognize their new leader. “It shows the potential for a new Gambia in which these disappearances don’t happen,” said Jim Wormington, West Africa researcher for Human Rights Watch.

As for Tijan, he continues to print his #Gambiahasdecided T-shirts for an opposition that has now taken power. He said he no longer lives in fear.

“Where there was no freedom of speech, there was no justice,” he said. “So now, thank God, you are free to say whatever you want.”