Folks,
RISE UP! SPEAK UP! AND LIVE UP!
lET'S KEEP THE PRESSURE UP!
Here's story I culled from the Irish Times.
Read on.
Abdoulie A. Jallow
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Monday, May 22, 2000
Journalist's murder
inspires Gambia campaign
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Criticism of violence by security forces on 'the smiling coast' was
overshadowed by wars elsewhere, writes Allen Meagher
GAMBIA: The Gambia may be Africa's smallest country, but journalists there
are never short of news. Most of it, however, is highly charged political
information which the military-origin government of President Yahya Jammeh
is anxious to avoid seeing published.
Journalists in the private sector work bravely but live in fear, and now,
five years after Jammeh first declared that journalists who opposed him
would "go six feet under", one of them is dead.
Omar Barrow, a radio station editor and Red Cross volunteer, was shot on
April 10th while attending to students wounded in clashes with security
forces. At Kanifing, eight miles from the capital, Banjul, a pool of blood
by the entrance to the Red Cross headquarters where protesters had sought
refuge showed the spot where he died.
A dozen protesters, many children, were shot dead that day and 29 injured in
a massacre which led to spontaneous nationwide riots. Police detained
thousands of angry students for fear that their protests over the killings,
and the earlier torture to death of a student in custody, would lead to
complete civil disorder.
For local independent journalists - faced with regular arrest and
harassment, bullying by the authorities, possible deportation, and now death
- it hardly seems worthwhile continuing in a profession which pays a measly
average £100 per month.
Despite this, most who have survived so far will continue to report on
political developments, motivated by a desire to see justice prevail in
their country and democracy fully restored. The extensive coverage given to
the massacre is testament to their perseverance.
Of 13 student journalists and two prominent editors I knew in the Gambia in
1996, one has fled the country, another was deported, another had his radio
station closed down, at least one was sacked and most have been arrested at
one time or another. Most are young and could try another occupation, yet
they persist with their trench warfare-style journalism. As one journalist,
Sheriff Bojang, told me: "I am married to my work; I have lost a lot of
friends because of my work."
The Observer newspaper he works for was once fiercely critical of the
military (who took power in 1994, toppling one of Africa's few lasting
democracies), but the paper is likely to have its teeth pulled after one of
President Jammeh's richest supporters bought it last year.
What most irks the private press (who speak for the mostly silent majority)
is that Jammeh, who at first refused to hold elections, was eventually
elected president (in 1996) after banning all former politicians from
participating; his party won parliamentary elections in similar fashion.
There are frequently rumours that a counter-coup attempt is imminent, though
the media (both private and government) avoid mention of the possibility.
Last month's violence marked the first time in 19 years that civilians were
killed in disturbances in the Gambia (within the military up to 60
rebellious soldiers were executed in November 1994). Though small, this
mostly Muslim country is important to the region; it is more stable
politically and economically than any of its southern neighbours, which
include Guinea-Bissau, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Known in brochures as "The Smiling Coast", the Gambia is becoming
increasingly popular among Irish tourists seeking guaranteed sunshine.
However, it soon lost its smile as police stations and government buildings
throughout the country were attacked and burnt to the ground in the week
following the massacre.
Tourists were confined to their hotels and Ireland's Agency for Personal
Service Overseas considered withdrawing its volunteers.
Since then, the normally quiet west African tourist mecca has remained tense
as the population grapples with the stormy political scene arising from the
shootings.
Typical of the dead was 11year-old Lamin Bojang who was due to sit an exam
that day and was described by his father as "a calm boy full of
aspirations".
At s Omar Barrow's funeral, Imam Momadou Drammeh declared to the thousands
of mourners that the dead journalist was "a martyr for humanity". In his
late 20s, Barrow was married with one child and worked as an editor at
independent radio station Sud FM.
Locally, the violence of the security forces provoked a storm of
condemnation from human rights organisations, opposition parties, trade
unions and the Gambia Press Union, though international reaction to the
killings was, by comparison, lowkey and the government largely escaped the
global media spotlight as wars elsewhere stole attention.
In a mild reprimand immediately after the April 10th violence, the EU,
meeting in Lisbon, appealed to the Gambian government to "observe the need
to respect human rights and the rule of law".
Meanwhile, thousands of students arrested after the riots were detained
without proper food or water for weeks and the government resisted calls to
launch an independent inquiry.
Though the Gambia is 90 per cent dependent on donor aid to finance its
development programme and was last month visited by UN Secretary General,
Kofi Annan, President Jammeh shows scant regard for democratic values and
human rights.
The violence erupted in the same week as the UN Development Programme issued
a report describing the Gambia as "one of the poorest countries in the world
and even poorer in recent years". The report identified the lack of
effective governance as "the missing link" in the programme to reduce
poverty. The situation in the Gambia is in stark contrast to s that of its
closest neighbour, Senegal, where Abdou Diouf, president since independence
in 1960, conceded defeat in March after his challenger Abdoulie Wade won the
poll in presidential elections judged fair and peaceful by all participants
- a rarity in Africa.
Meanwhile in the Gambia opposition is growing. Pa Dacosta, a radio presenter
previously regarded as a government apologist, has warned that "the good
name and image of the Gambia is being tarnished by the repressive nature of
the security forces".
Though most detained students have now been released, the press and
opposition campaign for an independent inquiry and for greater democracy
will continue.
A rally in Bakau was attended by thousands of opposition party members,
while the Independent newspaper has run a lead story squarely blaming
President Jammeh for the massacre.
Allen Meagher lectures in journalism at HSI College, Limerick, and tutors in
sociology of the media at Mary Immaculate College and the University of
Limerick. He is currently writing a book about his experience as a volunteer
in the Gambia from 1995 to 1998.
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