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<javascript:window.close();>    Freedom
is under fire  22 July 2009
Pansy Tlakula

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 *Press liberty at crisis point in The Gambia*

TODAY, July 22, is Freedom Day in The Gambia. As the government of The
Gambia celebrates this day, media organisations and practitioners are using
it to draw the world’s attention to the country’s deteriorating situation of
freedom of expression.

    The Gambia is party to the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights
and is seat of the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights.

The charter guarantees every individual’s right to receive information and
to express and disseminate their opinion.

These guarantees are further entrenched in the Declaration of Principles on
Freedom of Expression in Africa. Principle I (1) of the declaration states
that “freedom of expression and information, including the right to seek,
receive and impart information and ideas, either orally, in writing or in
print, in the form of art, or through any other form of communication, is a
fundamental and inalienable human right and an indispensable component of
democracy”.
*UNLAWFUL*

Since my appointment as the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and
Access to Information in Africa in November 2005, I have received a number
of reports on and have written a number of letters of appeal to the
president of The Gambia on the situation of freedom of expression in that
country.

The reports and letters related to unlawful arrest, detention without trial,
assault, disappearances, harassment and intimidation of journalists and
media practitioners and closure of independent newspapers.

One prominent case is the disappearance of Chief Ebrima Manneh, a journalist
of the Gambian newspaper the Daily Observer, in July 2006. He has not been
seen since he was allegedly picked up at his office by security officials.
The government has denied knowledge of his whereabouts.

The Media Foundation of West Africa took Manneh’s case to the Community
Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas)
in Abuja, Nigeria. The case was postponed a number of times due to the
nonappearance of the government of The Gambia.

Eventually, the trial continued in the absence of the government. The court
ordered the release of Manneh and awarded him compensation of R780590.

To date the government has ignored the court order. In response to one of my
many letters enquiring about the enforcement of the Ecowas court order, the
government responded as follows: “Chief Ebrima Manneh has never been
arrested ... and therefore to allege that the Gambian authorities are
holding him incommunicado and even to the extent of going to a court to have
him released is quite incredible and is considered an indication of contempt
towards The Gambia and the Gambian authorities,” adding that it “will no
longer entertain any exchanges on the subject of Chief Manneh”.

Other allegations include the killing of Deyda Hydara, the co-founder and
editor of the Point newspaper in 2004.

In June this year, seven journalists were arrested in connection with a
media statement issued by the Gambian Press Union criticising comments made
by President Yahya Jammeh on the stalled investigation into the killing of
Hydara.

These journalists face six counts of, inter alia, conspiracy to and
publishing seditious publications with the intent to bring hatred or
contempt or to excite disaffection against the person of the president or
the government of the Republic of The Gambia and conspiracy to commit
criminal defamation with the intent to bring the president of the Republic
of The Gambia and the government of The Gambia into contempt and ridicule.”

This is despite the fact that the declaration requires states to ensure that
they repeal laws relating to criminal defamation. On July 10 when these
journalists appeared, the high court granted the prosecution’s request to
conduct the trial in camera in order to protect the identity of the state
security personnel called as witnesses even if the charges against them do
not reveal any issue of national security.
*CRISIS*

The situation of freedom of expression in The Gambia is reaching a crisis
point.

In November last year, the African Commission passed a resolution on The
Gambia in which it urged the government to bring an immediate end to the
harassment and intimidation of independent media institutions and to respect
the rights of journalists and human rights defenders.

I hope the AU ensures that the government of The Gambia abides by its
obligation under the African Charter.

      Tlakula is a member of the African Commission on Human and Peoples
Rights and the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to
Information in Africa.



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