IFJ EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR EXPRESSES CONCERN OVER THE DETENTION OF INDEPENDENT JOURNALISTS!!!
Dear Colleagues,
Please find copied and attached to this mail for publication, an open letter to the human right institutions in the Gambia by the IFJ, in relation to the arrested and detention of Lamin Fatty of the Independent Newspaper and the continued detention of Madi ceesay and Musa Saidykan. We thank you for your collaboration in our quest to strenghten the freedom of expression and of the press in the Gambia.
Thanks.
Gabriel Baglo
JAMMEH UNDER FIRE!!!
Executive Director
IFJ Africa Office
17 Boulevard de La Republique
Dakar,Senegal
Open Letter to Human Rights Organisations in The Gambia
April 13, 2006
To :The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights
The African Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Studies
The Institute for Human Rights and Development
The Office of the Ombudsman
The Gambia Bar Association
Foundation for Legal Aid, Research and Development*
The Gambia Red Cross Society
The Association of Non Governmental Organisations (TANGO)
The Gambia Press Union
National Association for Youth and Children Organisations (NAYCO)
Dear Sir / Madam,
Concern over the Arrest of Lamin Fatty of the Independent Newspaper and the Continued Arbitrary Detention of Madi Cessay and Musa Saidykan On Monday, April 10, The Independent Newspaper reporter Lamin Fatty was arrested by the Police Intervention Unit at his house and his whereabouts is presently unknown.
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is deeply concerned about this arrest and the continued incarceration since March 28, 2006 of the Managing Director of the Independent Newspaper and President of the Gambia Press Union, Madi Ceesay and the Editor –in-Chief of the Independent Newspaper and Vice- President of the Gambia Press Union,
Musa Saidykan.
On Wednesday March 28, 2006 Madi and Musa were picked up at their office in Kanifing during a raid by the Police Intervention Unit. Some members of staff were also arrested, but however they were later released while Madi and Musa were transferred to the headquarters of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA).
The three journalists continue to languish in detention, without being charged, which contravenes Article 19 (1), (2) and (3) a and b of the 1997 Gambian Constitution, which stipulates that persons arrested must be brought before a court of law and charged within 72 hours.
Madi Ceesay, Musa Saidykan and Lamin Fatty are held incommunicado and hence denying them access to their lawyers and family members. This without doubt is a violation of their fundamental human rights as enshrined by the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and other international instruments that The Gambia has signed and ratified.
In addition, we have been reliably informed that the Acting
Editor-in-Chief of the Independent Newspaper, Sulayman Makalo, is also targeted for arrest, by the Police Intervention Unit (PIU).
The IFJ is calling on the human rights organisations in The Gambia, to endeavour to visit the three journalists detained in order to assess their conditions as well as to obtain their immediate and unconditional release.
It is our ardent belief that it is only through a united and
coordinated front at the national level backed by support from regional and international organisations that effective pressure can be put on governments to abide by the rule of law, democracy and good governance.
We are confident that such pressure can eventually yield the results that we desire to achieve. The IFJ is open to collaborate with all human rights institutions in the Gambia in order to ensure that the journalists arrested are freed unconditionally.
We thank you in advance for your cooperation.
Yours Sincerely,
Gabriel Baglo
Executive Director
IFJ Africa Office
Posted on Thursday, April 13, 2006 (Archive on Wednesday, April 26, 2006)
Posted by PANDERRYMBAI Contributed by PANDERRYMBAI
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