Abstract
Under Gambian President Yahya Jammeh’s 17-year rule, there have been widespread violations of human rights and basic freedoms. Journalists work in an environment of persistent threats, arbitrary arrests and torture and are frequently handed down prison terms on charges of sedition.
Last year was no exception. Nanama Keita, former deputy editor-in-chief and sports editor at the Daily Observer, and Dodou Sanneh were both charged with giving false information to a public officer; Keita fled the country in September. His colleague Saikou Ceesay was arrested in November after he paid a surety for Keita. In August, the National Intelligence Agency took out an injunction against independent community radio station Teranga FM, prohibiting it from broadcasting in the local language. After the civil resistance group Coalition for Change in The Gambia (CCG) was set up, many people were punished for their association with the movement, including one-time information minister Dr Amadou Scatred Janneh, former president of the Gambia Press Union, Ndey Tapha Sosseh, Mathew K Jallow and Famara Demba, who were all charged with sedition and treason.
On 24 November, Jammeh was re-elected for a fourth term. As press freedom advocates predicted, the election fell short of international standards and journalists and observers were intimidated and harassed. A few weeks later, on 16 December 2011, the country marked the seven-year anniversary of Deyda Hydara’s murder. Hydara, who was gunned down in a Banjul suburb, was founder and co-proprietor of independent newspaper the Point. His murderers remain at large and, after several years without any serious investigation into the case, two of his children, supported by international NGOs, filed a suit at the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) community court, demanding that the authorities conduct a full investigation.
Daily Observer reporter Chief Ebrima Manneh disappeared in 2006. Evidence suggests that he was picked up by National Intelligence Agency officials, but the government vehemently rejects this. Justice Minister Edu Gomez told local media that Manneh was alive but that he was not in the government’s custody as it is alleged. In an interview in September, Gambian Vice President Isatou Njie-Saidy stated that Manneh hadn’t been arrested. ‘There are people who die in the desert; anything can happen to anybody’, she said, dashing the hopes of both Manneh’s family and the journalism community. Both unresolved cases continue to have a significant effect on Gambian journalists and their work.
Yet Jammeh, a military-turned-civilian ruler, claims the Gambia enjoys freedom of the press and expression and points to a recent example of more than ten privately-run radio stations being issued with licences. He accuses many who work in the independent press of being mouthpieces for opposition parties, though he provides no proof for this and has made no comment about the behaviour of the staff of the Gambia Radio and Television Services (GRTS), who openly demonstrate their allegiance to the ruling party. In an interview with the privately-owned Daily News, Justice Minister Gomez dismissed suggestions of human rights abuses in the country as ‘mere speculation’. In the same interview, Gomez threatened to prosecute any exiled Gambian who dared criticise the government’s actions.
The country is in need of proper training for journalists and a media regulatory body. In spite of the challenges it faces, the Gambia Press Union supports practising journalists and has introduced journalism training and courses on international freedom of expression standards, supported by European partners and donors. Recently, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights granted the Gambia Press Union observer status.
But the government must take positive steps towards supporting free expression in the country. It must stop arbitrary arrests, detention and intimidation of journalists; repeal the laws on sedition, libel and false publication; enact a freedom of information act; conduct independent and effective investigations into all cases of ill-treatment, torture and extra-judicial treatment of journalists, media professionals and human rights defenders and, crucially, order independent investigations into the Hydara and Manneh cases. ❒