VIOLATIONS OF PRESS FREEDOM

BY THE GOVERNMENT OF

PRESIDENT YAHYA JAMMEH

1994 - 2006

Media Foundation for West Africa

&

NAFEO

Network of African Freedom of Expression

Organisations

"Journalists are the illegitimate sons of Africa.

Citizens should not buy newspapers so that

journalists can starve to death."

Response to growing criticism against his newly

imposed military regime in 1994.

"The media is just a dead and rotten horse. I am

not against it."

January 2002: Interview with the pro-government

Daily Observer newspaper.

"I know there are opposition journalists among

you, but whoever misquotes me, I will deal with

you."

July 22, 2004: During an anniversary of his military

coup d'etat.

"If I have to hang somebody, I will hang him and

go to sleep using the law."

2005 new year interview with GRTS on the murder

of journalist Deyda Hydara

Media Foundation for West Africa

The Media Foundation for West Africa is a regional independent, non-profit,

nongovernmental

organisation based in Accra, Ghana. It was established in 1997

to defend and promote the rights and freedoms of the media, and generally, to help

expand the boundaries of freedom of speech and expression in West Africa.

Objectives

The objectives of the MFWA are to:

 Promote the Freedom, Independence and Responsibility of Media;

 Monitor, publicise and alert public opinion to oppose and resist violations

and attacks on Media Rights and Freedom of Expression;

 Advocate Defence of and support for victims of arbitrariness and

repression;

 Research into policy issues and regulations affecting Media Rights,

Freedom of Speech and Expression;

 Make interventions to reform media legislation that may be inimical to

freedom of expression and media freedom;

 Serve as a documentation centre and resource base to provide research

results, data and information to Mass Media, professional organisations,

NGOs, governments and inler-governmental agencies;

 Provide training and other support to strengthen the professional capacity,

independence and social responsibility of the mass media;

 Provide a platform to stimulate discussion and education for the

advancement of ideas on Media Rights and Freedom of Expression;

 Support Mass Media in projects for the promotion of Human Rights,

Peace and Democratic institutions;

 Support the development, growth and strengthening of independent

mass media.

For further information contact:

Media Foundation for West

Africa P. O. Box LG730, Legon

Accra, Ghana

Tel: 233-21-242470

Fax: 233-21-221084

E-mail: mfwa(fl)arricaonline.com.gh

Web site: http://www.mediafoundationwa.org

Executive Director: Prof. Kwame Karikari

THE GAMBIA - ATTACKS ON THE PRESS 1994 - 2006

4

The Gambia - Attacks on the Press 1994 - 2006

Copyright © 2002, Media Foundation for West Africa and

Network of African Freedom of Expression Organisations

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be

reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted

in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical,

photocopy, recording or otherwise, without the prior

permission of the Copyright holder and the Publisher.

Design & Layout:

Blue Savana, 73 Kojo Thompson Road, Adabraka, Accra.

Tel: 233-24-3124696

Published in Ghana

by

NAFEO

Media Foundation for West Africa

Network of African Freedom of Expression Organisations

P. O. Box LG730, Legon

Accra, Ghana

Tel: 233-21-242470

Fax: 233-21-221084

E-mail: mfwa@africaonline.com.gh

Website: http://www.mediafoundationwa.org

5

THE GAMBIA - ATTACKS ON THE PRESS 1994 - 2006

THE GAMBIA

VIOLATIONS OF PRESS FREEDOM

BY THE GOVERNMENT OF

PRESIDENT YAHYA JAMMEH

1994 - 2006

THE GAMBIA - ATTACKS ON THE PRESS 1994 - 2006

6

INTRODUCTION

Political Background

The Gambia achieved internal self-government in 1963

and independence on February 18, 1965. On April 24, 1970,

the country became a republic following a referendum,

therefore ending British rule.

President Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara led the country and

was re-elected five times. The relative stability of the

Jawara era was first broken by a violent, unsuccessful

coup attempt in 1981 led by Kukoi Samba Sanyang, who

had on two earlier occasions, unsuccessfully sought

election to parliament. After a week of violence, which

left several hundred dead, President Jawara, who was in

London when the attack began, appealed to Senegal for

help and was restored to power.

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THE GAMBIA - ATTACKS ON THE PRESS 1994 - 2006

In the aftermath of the attempted coup, Senegal and The

Gambia signed the 1982 Treaty of Confederation resulting

in the Senegambia Confederation, aimed at eventually

combining the armed forces of the two nations and unifying

their economies and currencies. The Gambia withdrew

from the confederation in 1989.

On July 22, 1994, the Armed Forces Provisional Ruling

Council (AFPRC) came to power t hrough a military coup

d'etat, deposing the government of Sir Dawda Jawara.

Lieutenant Yahya A.J.J. Jammeh, chairman of the AFPRC,

became head of state. All political parties and political

activities were banned.

The AFPRC announced a transition plan for return to

democratic civilian government and established a

Provisional Independent Electoral Commission (PIEC) in

1996 to conduct national elections. The transition process

included the compilation of a new electoral register,

adoption of a new constitution by referendum in August

1996, and presidential and legislative elections in

September 1996 and January 1997, respectively. Now as

"retired Colonel" Yahya A.J.J. Jammeh won the

presidential elections with almost 56% of the votes and

was sworn into office as President of the second republic

in November 1996. His Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation

and Construction (APRC) party also gained control of the

National Assembly.

In late 2001 and early 2002, The Gambia completed a full

cycle of presidential, legislative, and local government

elections, which foreign observers deemed free, fair, and

transparent, albeit with some shortcomings. President

Yahya Jammeh, who was re-elected, took the oath of office

again on December 21, 2001. The APRC maintained its

strong majority in the National Assembly, particularly after

the main opposition United Democratic Party (UDP)

boycotted the legislative elections. President Jammeh was

re-elected for a third five-year term on September 22, 2006

with 67% of the vote.

THE GAMBIA - ATTACKS ON THE PRESS 1994 - 2006

8

Military coup d'etat and the woes of the media

Although the 1994 coup was at first condemned by the

international community, it was welcomed in some local

quarters as something that might support as well as

protect the growth of the media, in particular the private

ones. The post coup days saw the existence of good

relations between the private media and the junta that

had made a mark for establishing the country's first

television broadcasting as well as issued licenses to some

private radio stations and newspapers.

The honeymoon, however, did not last. The AFPRC junta

used summary arrest, interrogation, detention, beating,

and deportation to intimidate and silence journalists who

published articles deemed "inaccurate" or "sensitive."

During the early days of the coup, Jammeh branded

journalists as "illegitimate sons of Africa" and went as far

as calling on citizens not to buy local newspapers, so that

journalists might starve.

Despite a return to nominal civilian democratic rule in

September 1996, the intimidation and harassment of

journalists continued unabated. Activists and journalists

have been restricted, harassed, and some tortured. Some

foreign journalists have been forced out of the country.

The government did everything at its disposal to kill the

private media. One of the ways was to use its numerical

strength in parliament to enact repressive laws. A wide

range of legislative measures continued to stifle the

Gambia's independent media. These included Newspaper

Decrees 70 and 71 of 1996, which imposed exorbitant

fines for any contravention of the 1944 Newspaper Act.

These Decrees imposed criminal penalties on private

publications that failed to register annually with the

government and increased the registration bond for

existing newspapers by 100 percent. State-owned

publications were not subject to these decrees whose

clear intent was to eliminate independent media

expression.

9

THE GAMBIA - ATTACKS ON THE PRESS 1994 - 2006

Jammeh's government's actions are a clear indication

that his regime is bent on silencing the private media by

all means. In a July 23, 1997 statement, Jammeh warned

that "anybody bent on disturbing the peace and stability of

the nation would be buried six feet deep." And on August 2,

1997, Director of Press and Public Relations, Fatoumata

Jahumpa-Cessay, added that the government's brusque

treatment of the local press was "suitable" for the Gambia.

Cessay charged that independent Gambian journalists

were being "spoon-fed by the opposition and human rights

organisations in the United States, Germany, and other

countries."

While President Yahya Jammeh made progress in

appeasing sceptical donor nations by radically reshuffling

the government and stepping up an anti-corruption drive,

for example, the Gambia's independent media remained

on shaky ground. In July 2001 the government warned

journalists and diplomats not to do anything to "undermine

peace and stability" in the country in the run-up to the

October presidential elections. "This does not mean that

we want to gag the press; we simply want it to be responsible",

added then foreign affairs minister Sedat Jobe. Jammeh

won the 2001 presidential elections with almost 53% of

the votes and a landslide victory in mid-January

parliamentary elections, capturing 52 of 55 seats in the

National Assembly and cementing his rule.

President Jammeh and the ruling APRC used their

renewed power to silence opposition voices and the

independent media. The government justified its

antagonistic relationship with journalists by accusing the

independent press of being irresponsible and

sensationalist and of serving as the opposition's

mouthpiece.

In a January 2002 interview, Jammeh told the progovernment

Daily Observer newspaper that he was "not

against the media," which he referred to as a "dead and

THE GAMBIA - ATTACKS ON THE PRESS 1994 - 2006

10

rotten horse." The president said that the Gambian press

was trying to please the international community by

criticising the government and spreading lies about him.

Journalists protested the APRC's accusations of bias,

saying that the biggest obstacle for the independent media

is the government's refusal to grant access to official

information. Since ruling-party officials routinely refused

to be interviewed, journalists argued, opposition members

received more coverage.

The APRC, however, took advantage of its virtual monopoly

in the legislature to pass repressive legislation in late

July that imposed a regulatory Commission on the media.

Jammeh signed the measure in early August. The law

created a Commission that would establish a code of

conduct for the private media, set standards of content

and quality for print and broadcast material, maintain a

registry of all media practitioners and organisations, and

adjudicate complaints against journalists and media

organizations.

The Commission was given the powers to issue arrest

warrants for journalists who ignored summons and could

also force journalists to reveal their sources. The

Commission was to require all journalists and media

organizations to obtain one-year renewable licenses,

imposing a minimum fine of 5,000 dalasis (US$225) on

those who did not. Journalists who failed to pay the fine

could be suspended for nine months while media

organisations could be suspended for three months.

The Commission was also given powers to jail journalists

for contempt for up to six months. Among the vague

offences listed in the act was the publication or broadcast

of "language, caricature, cartoon or depiction, which is

derogatory, contemptuous or insulting against any person

or authority." While the government said the law would

end sensationalist journalism in the country, Gambian

journalists and media-rights advocates heavily criticised

the legislation, saying it was an attempt to muzzle the

11

THE GAMBIA - ATTACKS ON THE PRESS 1994 - 2006

independent press. The regulatory Commission was

inaugurated in the summer of 2003.

Shortly before the Commission was inaugurated, the

Gambian Press Union (GPU), along with private

publications including The Independent, The Point, and

Gambia News and Report Magazine, filed a suit with the

Supreme Court challenging the Commission's

constitutionality. When the Commission sent letters to

private newspapers and radio stations asking them to

register, journalists responded by filing another suit with

the High Court, seeking to restrain the Commission from

registering publications while the Supreme Court case

was pending.

The GPU also refused to nominate a member to fill its

designated seat on the Commission, protesting that it

would not cooperate with the Commission until its charter

was amended. The government responded by pushing a

legislation through Parliament that allowed the

communications minister to appoint any journalist to the

GPU's seat.

On May 22, 2004, President Jammeh on returning from

one of his overseas trips told journalists at the Banjul

International Airport to "either register with the Commission

or go to hell. "I see no reason why local journalists should not

register with the Commission; and in fact, the deadline should

not have been extended. But you give the fool a long rope to

hang himself."

However, the 1997 Gambian constitution included several

provisions to reinforce and strengthen freedom of the press

and to promote the diversity and pluralism of expression.

The Gambian Press Union and several other media groups

argued that the National Media Commission Act placed

gross restrictions on these constitutionally protected

freedoms. An internationally supported campaign to urge

the National Assembly to repeal the law included a series

THE GAMBIA - ATTACKS ON THE PRESS 1994 - 2006

12

of protests and court challenges.

In an interview with the state owned Gambia Radio and

Television Services (GRTS) on July 21, 2004, President

Jammeh attacked journalists saying that his reason for

introducing draconian press laws in recent months was

because, "journalists are only bent on character assassination

of people." He added, "My government has provided too much

freedom of expression and media rights in the country,"

warning journalists to leave the country, since the

Gambian "borders are open." And while addressing his

supporters on the 10th anniversary of his military coup on

July 22, 2004, President Jammeh pointed fingers at

journalists saying, " I know there are opposition journalists

among you but whoever misquotes me I will deal with you."

On December 13, 2004, the Commission was repealed.

This move did not, however, provide any respite for the

nation's media. On the same day, the National Assembly

passed two equally repressive pieces of legislation- the

Newspaper Amendment Act and Criminal Code

Amendment Act 2004 respectively. The Newspaper

Amendment Act nullified all existing registration of media

groups and required that all print and broadcast owners

re-register and sign a statement, or bond, saying that they

owned enough money or assets to provide payment for any

penalties that might be imposed on them by the courts.

The amendment increased the bond required of all print

media owners and extended the obligation to broadcast

media. Owners typically post bond in the form of personal

property such as a house, which can be confiscated if they

lose a defamation lawsuit. It raises the bond from 100,000

dalasis (US$3,348) to 500,000 dalasis (US$16,740), a

prohibitive sum for most in the Gambia.

The Criminal Code Amendment Act sets mandatory prison

sentences of six months to three years for owners of media

outlets and journalists convicted of publishing defamatory

or "seditious" material; another imposes minimum sixmonth

prison terms for publishing or broadcasting false

13

THE GAMBIA - ATTACKS ON THE PRESS 1994 - 2006

news and allows the state to confiscate any publication

deemed "seditious." Then Attorney General, Sheikh T.

Hydara, claimed that the amendments were necessary

because existing laws we re "not adequate to protect citizens

from the excesses of the media and journalists."

The penalties of the Criminal Code (Amendment) Act 2004

were again amended in 2005. The amended penalties

include a fine of not less than fifty thousand dalasi and

not more than two hundred and fifty thousand dalasi or

imprisonment for a term not less than one year, or to

both such fine and imprisonment.

However, the December 16, 2004 murder of veteran

journalist and press freedom activist Deyda Hydara fuelled

mounting fears among journalists and highlighted a year

marked by arson attacks, threats, and repressive

legislation aimed at the independent media in this West

African country. President Yahya Jammeh and his ruling

APRC were slow to condemn the escalating assaults on

press freedom and bring those responsible to justice.

Prior to his assassination, President Yahya Jammeh made

frequent insults and threats on people who criticised his

government's policies. Six months before Hydara's killing,

Jammeh had made a public statement that some of his

"critics" would not be living witnesses to the 2006

presidential elections.

His regime continues to sanction civil or public servants

who talk to the private press, thus giving room for powerful

rumour machinery to thrive, a trend that makes it difficult

for journalists to investigate corruption and related crimes

in the public system.

The chilling effect of Hydara's murder by shooting was

very expensive for journalists and their families in a

country that had been a bastion of peace, hope, human

rights and democracy and as a result been the country

hosting the African Commission on Human and Peoples

THE GAMBIA - ATTACKS ON THE PRESS 1994 - 2006

14

Rights. Hydara's partner, who was justifiably terrorised

with fear, closed down the paper for one month. The

shooting of Hydara came just two days after the National

Assembly passed repressive amendments to the Criminal

Code and the Newspaper Act. Similarly, the two-day

hunger strike of the mother of the former editor-in-chief

of The Independent, Abdoulie Sey forced him to

unceremoniously leave for exile.

In his post new-year interview with state owned Gambia

Radio and Television Services in 2005, President Jammeh

claimed to have given the press too much freedom and

threatened to jail journalists who made unfounded

accusations against him. Rejecting allegations of

government involvement in Hydara's murder, Jammeh

said: "If I have to hang somebody, I will hang him and go to

sleep using the law."

When the Gambian government announced the foiling of

an attempted coup d'état on March 21, 2006, President

Yahya Jammeh's much dreaded security agents, the NIA,

arrested scores of Gambian citizens, including lawyers

and journalists. The state of fear imposed on the people of

The Gambia has been such that citizens are afraid to

engage in conversations on public affairs. For a while

lawyers were afraid to take up critical cases, especially

on habeas corpus or to defend journalists. The regime has

closed down several newspapers and frightened and gagged

others not yet closed down.

In all, ten journalists were arrested, one went missing,

many others fled into exile and there are countless

unsolved murders for which supporters of the president

are suspected of being responsible or in complicity with

known perpetrators. The memory of a murdered journalist

besmirched by the government and a permanent climate

of fear, characterise the terrible track record of President

Yahya Jammeh as far as press freedom are concerned in

the Gambia.

15

THE GAMBIA - ATTACKS ON THE PRESS 1994 - 2006

Overall, the government of President Yahya Jammeh has

shown little or no respect for the fundamental human

rights of Gambian citizens. Whatever little respect it had

for citizens' rights declined drastically from 1994. Arbitrary

arrests and detentions have increased. Security forces

continue to harass and mistreat detainees, prisoners,

opposition members, journalists, and civilians with

impunity. Prisoners are held incommunicado, face

prolonged pre-trial detention, and are denied due process.

The government has infringed on privacy rights and

restricted freedom of speech and press. Disappearances

and mysterious killings have become the order of the day.

With reference to the killing of editor Deyda Hydara in a

rare press conference shortly after his landslide election

victory in September 2006, Yahya Jammeh stated: "I do

not believe in killing people. I believe in locking you up for

the rest of your life. Then maybe, at some point, we will say,

'Oh he is too old to be fed by the state,' and we release him

and let him become destitute. Then everyone will learn a lesson

from him." To a journalist who challenged him on the

frequent unfair arrests of journalists and the closure of

the privately-owned bi-weekly The Independent by an elite

police unit, Yahya Jammeh replied: "Let me tell you one

thing. The whole world can go to hell. If I want to ban any

newspaper, I will, with good reasons. This is Africa and this

is the Gambia, a country where we have very strong African

moral values. If you write Yahya is a thief, you should be

ready to prove it in a court of law. If that constitutes lack of

press freedom, I don't care."

THE GAMBIA - ATTACKS ON THE PRESS 1994 - 2006

16

17

THE GAMBIA - ATTACKS ON THE PRESS 1994 - 2006

1994

July 1994

Sidia Jatta and Halifa Sallah, editors of Foroyaa, opposition

People's Democratic Organization for Independence and

Socialism (PDOIS) newspaper, were arrested and prosecuted

for allegedly violating a military Junta Decree banning political

activism. They were later acquitted and discharged by a

magistrates' court.

October 21, 1994

Kenneth Y Best, publisher and editor of the Daily Observer,

the first daily newspaper in the country, was arrested and

detained for 36 hours following news stories the military junta,

the Armed Forces Provisional Ruling Council (AFPRC),

considered excessively critical.

October 30, 1994

The military junta deported Kenneth Y. Best to his war-torn

country, Liberia. He was deported following a series of

interrogation and detention as regards publications of the Daily

Observer. Journalists working with the Daily Observer had been

victim of constant harassment and intimidation. Many foreign

and local journalists subsequently fled the country.

November 1994

Ebrima Sankareh, a journalist working with The Point, was

arrested by the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and

detained without charge.

December 1994

Alieu Sheriff, a Sierra Leonean journalist who fled to The

Gambia after he was arrested and detained in his home

country, Sierra Leone, for critical reporting of the civil war,

was arrested and abused by Gambian security forces for writing

a commentary on the political situation in the country.

THE GAMBIA - ATTACKS ON THE PRESS 1994 - 2006

18

1995

March 1995,

Deyda Hydara, editor and co-publisher of The Point and

president of the Gambia Press Union, was interrogated by

personnel of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) for three

hours in connection with the 27 February, 1995 edition of The

Point.

March 31, 1995

Three journalists of The Point newspaper were arrested and

detained for reporting a riot at the State Central Prisons. They

were released on April 3, 1995. The journalists, Pap Same, copublisher,

Alieu Badara Sowe and Ebrima Earnest, reporters,

were later arraigned before court and charged with publishing

a story likely to cause fear and despondency in the minds of

ordinary people. All the journalists were later acquitted and

discharged by a magistrate court in Banjul on September 27,

1995.

April 3, 1995

Jay Saidy, associate editor of The Point, was arrested. He was

questioned regarding funds he allegedly acquired illegally when

he was the press secretary for deposed President Sir Dawda

Jawara. He was released on bail the next day, April 4.

October 12, 1995

Chemor Ouch Sesay, a Sierra Leonean journalist working with

the Daily Observer, was deported from The Gambia by the

military junta.

October 1995

All privately owned independent newspapers were banned from

being printed by the state-controlled National Printing and

Stationary Cooperation (NPSC).

19

THE GAMBIA - ATTACKS ON THE PRESS 1994 - 2006

1996

February 22, 1996

Babucarr Sarikanu a correspondent for The Point, Voice of America

(VOA), Radio Deutsche Welle, and the British Broadcasting

Corporation (BBC), was detained incommunicado for one week

and interrogated about his reports to VOA.

March 30, 1996

Chikeluba Kenechuku, a Nigerian journalist working with the

Daily Observer, was arrested at the border town of Amdalaye

by Immigration and NIA officers while returning from Senegal

to The Gambia. His personal belongings and travel documents

were seized. After being detained overnight at the immigration

post, he was transferred to the NIA headquarters in Banjul

where he was interrogated, beaten and held incommunicado

until April 4, 1996.

April 16, 1996

Chikeluba Kenechuku was instructed to report to the NIA

office in Banjul. Upon arrival, he was driven by NIA agents to

the Immigration headquarters in Banjul and handed over to

immigration authorities. At 15:00 hours, immigration officers

drove him through into Senegal. At 21:30 hours, they arrived

in Kaolack, about 150 kilometres from Dakar. There, he was

ordered to get out of the car. The Gambian immigration officers

then returned his passport and served him with deportation

papers, which he was forced to sign. He was effectively deported

from The Gambia.

"Journalists are the illegitimate sons of Africa. Citizens should

not buy newspapers so that journalists can starve to death."

Response to growing criticism against his newly imposed military regime in

1994.

THE GAMBIA - ATTACKS ON THE PRESS 1994 - 2006

20

May 6, 1996

Alieu Badara Sowe, a reporter with The Point, and Bruce

Asemota, a Nigerian journalist working with the Daily Observer,

were arrested by plainclothes police officers from the criminal

investigations unit.

June 2, 1996

Alieu Badara Sowe, of The Point fled The Gambia into Senegal

after being physically assaulted and threatened with death.

Sowe was walking home on May 25, 1996 when three men

attacked him. One of his attackers said, "As long as you don't

stop your negative reports about security agents, we will

continue to deal with you". Before this attack, Sowe had

received threatening phone calls and written notes both at

home and at the offices of The Point.

June 18, 1996

Ansumana Badjie, a reporter with The Point, went into hiding.

Badjie was sent to cover the Armed Forces Provisional Ruling

Council's (AFPRC) two-week tour of its rural projects, from

June 3-15, 1996. When the entourage arrived in the rural town

of Soma on June 13, the NIA arrested Badjie and detained

him for one hour in the Soma police station for referring to

the tour in one of his articles as a "political tour", and for

other "negative reports" which were not specified.

"Anybody bent on disturbing the peace and stability of the

nation would be buried six feet deep."

July 23, 1997: a day after the third anniversary of his military coup.

21

THE GAMBIA - ATTACKS ON THE PRESS 1994 - 2006

1997

July 1997

Alagi Yorro Jallow, a local journalist for the BBC, and Alieu

Badara Sowe, a freelance journalist, were arrested and

detained for five days following their report of a riot by inmates

of the state central prisons.

November 1, 1997

Muhammed Ellicot Saede, editor of the Daily Observer, a

Ghanaian with a Gambian wife, was arrested and deported to

his native Ghana. Following his deportation, the government

deployed immigration officers at the Daily Observer premises

purposely to monitor the employees of the paper and to prevent

foreign journalists from accessing the office.

"Journalists and diplomats are warned not do anything to

undermine the peace and stability in the country."

July 2001: warning journalists and diplomats before the October 2001

presidential elections.

THE GAMBIA - ATTACKS ON THE PRESS 1994 - 2006

22

1998

February 5, 1998

The NIA shut down Citizen FM, an independent radio station,

for reporting corruption within the agency. The NIA also

arrested and detained its proprietor, Baboucarr Gaye and news

editor Ebrima Sillah. The equipment of the station was also

confiscated to the state. Gaye was later charged under a 1913

colonial law for operating a radio station without a license.

He was convicted of that charge and fined a token amount

ofD300 (approximately US$10). This judgment was

subsequently overturned on appeal by a High Court in 2000.

February 5, 1998

The independent New Citizen newspaper disappeared from the

newsstands following the arrest of its publisher, Baboucarr

Gaye.

April 26, 1998

Personnel of the Gambia Immigration Department and

National Intelligence Agency (NIA) raided the Daily Observer

newspaper office while the paper was being produced. They

arrested seven members of the newspaper's technical staff

and detained them without charge.

June 9, 1998

Sule Musa, a Nigerian journalist working with the Daily

Observer was arrested at his home by police and deported to

his native Nigeria the following day.

August 30, 1998

Theophilus George, the managing director of the Daily Observer

together with Editor-In-Chief Baba Galleh Jallow and News

Editor Demba Jawo were arrested for publishing a story in the

newspaper about a collapsed State House wall.

23

THE GAMBIA - ATTACKS ON THE PRESS 1994 - 2006

August 31, 1998

Gheran Senghore, a reporter with the Daily Observer, was

arrested. The authorities were angered by the newspaper's

report of the collapse of the State House wall after heavy

rainfall revealing armoured cars and an armoury. The story

was written by Senghore.

"The media is just a dead and rotten horse. I am not against it."

January 2002: Interview with the pro-government Daily Observer newspaper.

THE GAMBIA - ATTACKS ON THE PRESS 1994 - 2006

24

1999

July 9, 1999

Lamin N.B. Daffeh, a reporter of The Independent newspaper,

was arrested and briefly detained at the Bundung Police Station

while trying to seek comments from immigration officers on

the mass arrests of 'foreign' disabled persons in the country.

July 23,1999

The Independent received an order from the Department of State

for Justice to cease publication immediately. The reason

advanced for such an order was that the paper had failed to

register its business name with the Commissioner of Income

Tax. The Independents Managing Editor Alagi Yorro Jallow paid

the said registration fee on July 27, but was told that the

Commissioner of Income Tax had received orders not to accept

payment from The Independent. He was referred to the Secretary

of State for Finance.

July 30, 1999

The NIA raided the offices of The Independent. They rummaged

through news scripts lying around and took an inventory of all

equipment in the offices including computers, UPS, and

furniture. After this, they ordered reporter Lamin N.B. Daffeh

and three computer room female staff, Alimatou Jarra,

Oleymatou Manneh and Yamoundow Faye into their vehicles

and took them to NIA headquarters in Banjul where they were

subjected to lengthy interrogation. After about three hours,

the female staff were released with stern warning not to step

foot at The Independent again. Notwithstanding, they carried

on their work with the paper.

August 1, 1999

Editor-In-Chief Baba Galleh Jallow and Managing Editor Alagi

Yono Jallow of The Independent were arrested at about 20 hours

at their office and detained overnight at the NIA headquarters.

25

THE GAMBIA - ATTACKS ON THE PRESS 1994 - 2006

On the morning of August 2, the two editors were subjected

to a screening process. Later in the day, they were told they

had been arrested and detained because they reportedly did

not have the documents required to operate a newspaper. The

editors, however, were able to produce all documents

requested by the NIA. They were released conditionally and

asked to desist from publishing their newspaper until they

had cleared their business registration issue. After staying

off the newsstands for about three weeks, The Independent

was finally permitted to proceed with registering its business

name with the Commissioner of Income Tax. Publishing

resumed on August 20.

September, 1999

Sheriff Bojang, editor-in-chief of the Daily Observer; and a

senior reporter, Alieu Badara Sowe; were briefly detained and

interrogated by National Intelligence Agency officers over

certain publications in the newspaper.

December 27, 1999

Editor-In-Chief, Baba Galleh Jallow; Managing Editor, Alagi

Yorro Jallow and Reporter Lamin N.B. Daffeh of The Independent

newspaper, were arrested and charged with libel following the

paper's publication of a report of a supposed marriage by

President Jammeh to a woman of Sintet village in the southern

bank of The Gambia. The report was carried as the lead story

on December 24 headlined "A New Wife For Jammeh?". The

three journalists were taken to the Serious Crimes Unit at

the main police station in Banjul. They were held overnight

and charged the next day with "libel against the president".

They were released on bail in the sum of 10,000 dalasis

(approximately US$1,000 then) and ordered to report to the

police station daily. On January 24, 2000, the trio were

informed that President Jammeh had decided to drop the

charges against them.

THE GAMBIA - ATTACKS ON THE PRESS 1994 - 2006

26

2000

April 10, 2000

Omar Barrow, a journalist working for Sud FM Banjul radio

was shot dead while doing a live coverage of a students

demonstration. At least 17 students were confirmed dead from

bullet wounds after police and soldiers opened fire on them

to quell the demonstration. Many students were detained at

various police stations and tortured. Some of them sustained

serious injuries. Also in the provincial town of Brikama-ba,

police and soldiers rounded up both students and parents as

part of measures to suppress the students' demonstrations.

Many were beaten and subjected to torture while in detention.

Some of the students were maimed for life from the bullet

injuries.

May, 2000

Mohammed Mboyo, a journalist from the Democratic Republic

of Congo, was arrested and detained for two days at the NIA

headquarters. He was tortured and denied medical treatment

and deported to Nigeria despite identification papers showing

that he was a national of the DRC.

June 20, 2000

The state filed a suit against Madi Ceesay of the Gambia News

and Report weekly magazine charging him with murder. The

charge was dropped on October 23,2002. Madi was among

several journalists dispatched to cover a provincial campaign

tour by main opposition leader, Ousainou Darboe, whose

entourage was ambushed by ruling party supporters. The clash

between militants of the two sides left a ruling party supporter

dead. Darboe and 24 others, including Madi Ceesay, were

subsequently arrested, detained and charged with murder.

June 20, 2000

27

THE GAMBIA - ATTACKS ON THE PRESS 1994 - 2006

Two plainclothes Immigration officers walked into the offices

of The Independent newspaper and questioned the nationality

of Editor-In-Chief Baba Galleh Jallow and Managing Editor

Alagi Yorro Jallow. The officers, after identifying themselves

said they had been sent by Immigration Director Sheriff Faburay

to ascertain the editors' nationality. The two were able to prove

their Gambian citizenship.

July 25, 2000

Plainclothes police officers walked into The Independent

newspaper's offices and arrested Editor-In-Chief Baba Galleh

Jallow and Reporter Alagie Mbye. The two were whisked off to

Police Headquarters in Banjul and detained at the Serious

Crimes Unit. Around 6:30 pm, they were released on bail in

the sum ofD25,000 (approximately US$850) with one surety,

each. Their arrest was linked to a story the newspaper carried

in its July 14-16 issue titled "Hunger Strike Reported At Mile

II Prisons", and an editorial titled "On Badjie's Rebuttal"

published in the July 21-23 issue.

"You either register with the Commission or go to hell. I see no

reason why local journalists should not register with the

commission; and in fact, the deadline should not have been

extended. But you give the fool a long rope to hang himself."

May 22, 2004: Following media commission's extension of the date for

compulsory registration of media houses and media practitioners.

THE GAMBIA - ATTACKS ON THE PRESS 1994 - 2006

28

2001

January 2001

The Principal Producer of state run Gambia Radio, Peter Gomez,

was dismissed in early January 2001, for critical reportage.

February 28, 2001

Salieu Mbowe, a freelance journalist working with the paper

was harassed by some police officers who searched his room

around 2am at his family residence in Latrikunda Sabiji

claiming they were investigating him.

March 31, 2001

Members of the Youth Wing of the ruling Alliance for Patriotic

Reorientation and Construction (APRC) attacked Sheikh Al-

Kinky Sanyang, a reporter with The Independent dispatched to

cover the process of a by-election in Kiang East. The group

surrounded Sanyang while others held his shirt before

demanding to know why he was there. In another incident,

Lamin M. Dibba, a reporter with The Independent who was also

covering another by-election in Upper Baddibu, was brutally

attacked by a police officer in paramilitary uniform during a

confrontation between the APRC and the opposition United

Democratic Party (UDP) in Njaba Kunda.

March 13, 2001

Omar Bah and Lamarana Jallow of The Independent and Alieu

Badara Ceesay and Pa Modou Bojang of the Daily Observer

were attacked and their reporters' note books and cameras

torn up and smashed by police officers while covering a protest

by drivers against fuel price hike.

May 2001

Seedy Ceesay, a reporter with Radio 1 FM, received a death

threat sent to his postal address by an anonymous person.

The envelope contained a drawing of a big hand holding a head,

with the message: "Seedy, leave this work now. You'll soon be

in this state".

29

THE GAMBIA - ATTACKS ON THE PRESS 1994 - 2006

June 4,2001

Momodou Sarjo Jallow, Secretary of State for Youth and Sports

and chairman of Government Spokespersons Committee,

addressing a government-organised press conference at the

department of state for Works, Communications and

Information, accused The Independent of only chasing after

negative stories and permanently featuring articles critical of

the government.

June 16, 2001

12 journalists of the pro-government Daily Observer newspaper

resigned enbloc in protest against government's interference

in the newspaper's editorial policy. At the time, Bubacarr

Baldeh, the deputy national mobilizer of the ruling Alliance

for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC) party was

the newspaper's manager.

June 27, 2001

Three police officers in uniform assaulted Alieu Badara

Mansaray, a Sierra Leonean journalist working with the Daily

Observer.

July 12, 2001

Omar Bah, The Independents court reporter assigned to cover

the treason trial court martial proceedings of Lt. Landing

Sanneh at the Yundum Army Barracks, was severely beaten

up by a group of soldiers at the barracks. Bah was brutally

assaulted and subjected to torture by soldiers led by one Lance

Corporal Fullo Jallow.

"Journalists are only bent on character assassination of people. My

government has provided too much freedom of expression and

media rights in the country. The borders are open."

July 21, 2004: Interview with the state television, Gambia Radio and

Television Services (GRTS), on the eve of an anniversary of his July 22,

1994 coup d'etat.

THE GAMBIA - ATTACKS ON THE PRESS 1994 - 2006

30

July 18, 2001

Alagie Mbye, a reporter with The Independent, was arrested

and questioned by the NIA regarding a story published in the

July 9 issue of the newspaper in which an ex-APRC militant

vowed to expose the atrocities of then Majority Leader of the

National Assembly, Baba Jobe in any international court.

August 10, 2001

Unknown assailants attempted to bum down Radio 1 FM, an

independent Banjul-based radio station. In the process, the

proprietor George Christensen, sustained burns on his body.

He was hospitalized for days. Shortly after that, one of the

staff, Alieu Bah who earlier received a letter threatening his

life had his house set on fire while he and his family were

asleep inside. Neighbours helped put the fire before it caused

serious damage.

August 10, 2001

Alagie Mbye, a reporter with The Independent, was arrested

from his house in Bakoteh by the NIA and held incommunicado

for three days in a dark and filthy cell at the Agency's

headquarters in Banjul

October 23, 2001

George Christensen, proprietor of Radio 1 FM was arrested

and taken to the NIA headquarters. He was released a few

hours later after being questioned about his radio station's

financial situation.

October 29, 2001

Citizen FM was finally closed down for providing live broadcast

of results of the 2001 presidential elections.

November 21, 2001

Alagie Mbye, a reporter of The Independent was arrested by

personnel of the National Intelligence Agency from his Bakoteh

residence over a story he wrote in the West Africa magazine

alleging massive voter fraud by the ruling party in the October

2001 presidential elections. This time around, Mbye was

detained, tortured and subjected to electrical shocks for eight

days.

31

THE GAMBIA - ATTACKS ON THE PRESS 1994 - 2006

2002

July 2002

The Gambia's parliament passed a law requiring all

journalists to register with a government appointed media

commission. The commission was given wide-ranging

powers to try and jail journalists. The commission was

also empowered to compel journalists to disclose their

sources. Journalists however defied the orders of the

Commission and held street processions to protest the

law.

March 18, 2002

Demba Sambou, a journalist with the Daily Observer, was

arrested by NIA personnel in Bansang, a town in the Central

River Division of the country. He was questioned about the

source of a report he had written about the death of an NIA

officer in a motorcycle accident. He was released later in the

day.

July 3, 2002

Ebrima Sillah, BBC correspondent in The Gambia, was arrested

and briefly detained by NIA officials after he reported on growing

tension between The Gambia and neighbouring Guinea-Bissau.

July 2002

Guy-Patrick Massoloka, a Congolese Pan-African News Agency

(PANA) reporter in The Gambia, was arrested and detained

incommunicado without charge for two weeks. Authorities

accused him of working for an unlicensed publication.

July 19, 2002

Muhammed Mboyo, a reporter with the Daily Observer and coeditor

of the L'echo, a French language magazine, fled the

country and sought refuge in Dakar after leaked information

that he was wanted for questioning by the NIA for allegedly

THE GAMBIA - ATTACKS ON THE PRESS 1994 - 2006

32

taking part in the running of an unlicensed newspaper in the

country. He later returned to the country. Mboyo, a DR Congo

national, had previously in May 2000 been deported to Nigeria

but defied that order and returned to the country.

August 2, 2002

Ousman Darboe, a reporter with The Independent, was arrested

after he wrote about a reported remarriage of Vice President

Isatou Njie-Saidy to a school head teacher, her own cousin.

Darboe was repeatedly interrogated about his sources. He was

released on August 5 but was made to report back the following

day. On August 6, he was released after a relative signed a

bail bond for him.

August 3, 2002

The Independent managing editor Alagi Yorro Jallow was also

invited to the NIA headquarters and questioned about the

same article. He was interrogated and released the same day.

33

THE GAMBIA - ATTACKS ON THE PRESS 1994 - 2006

2003

January 3, 2003

Abdoulie Sey and Alagi Yorro Jallow, editor-in-chief and

managing editor respectively of The Independent, received a

series of anonymous death threats from persons vowing to

"eliminate" them to avenge the paper's reports which they

deemed "embarrassing" to some top ruling party members.

The threats came through telephone calls repeatedly made to

the two. In one such call, the person identified himself as

Saikou, hurled insults at them and asked them to "get ready

because we are preparing to kill you people and nothing can

stop us". The caller hinted that they had the support of very

influential people in power.

March 2003

Police officers arrested Pa Nderry M'bai, a reporter of The Point,

over a publication accusing the police of taking bribes from

illegal money changers.

June 13, 2003,

Alagi Yorro Jallow, managing editor of The Independent, was

arrested and subjected to intense questioning by officers of

the NIA over a front page story, quoting unconfirmed reports

that two Gambian football fans had been killed in post-match

violence in the border towns ofKarang (Senegal) and Amdalaye

(The Gambia). Jallow was whisked away in an unlicensed fourwheel

drive Pajero, with tinted glass.

June 22, 2003

Ten men dressed in the uniforms of the National Guards made

a clandestine visit to the offices of The Independent in Kanifing.

The visit came in the wake of the publication of an article on

the arrest and detention in Mile II prisons, of the commander

of the military camp at the president's home village, Kanilai,

Lt. Yankuba Badjie. On June 23, the newspaper's editor-inchief,

Abdoulie Sey; and its managing editor, Alagi Yorro Jallow;

THE GAMBIA - ATTACKS ON THE PRESS 1994 - 2006

34

were invited to the National Intelligence Agency over the same

article. This followed a series of threats from the NIA whose

director of Operations, Salimina Drammeh, was said to have

threatened the managing editor, Alagi Yorro Jallow, with

imprisonment whenever the Agency was dissatisfied with the

newspaper's editorial policies.

August 9, 2003

Buy a Jammeh, a reporter with The Independent and a DJ at

Radio 1 FM, was assaulted by two Police Intervention Unit

personnel stationed as guards at the Taiwanese Embassy two

blocks away from the newspaper's office.

September 21, 2003

Abdoulie Sey, editor-in-chief of The Independent, was arrested

by officials of the NIA. They sandwiched Sey in the back seat

of an unlicensed jeep with tinted glass. He was released after

spending three days in detention at the NIA headquarters in

Banjul. All this while, NIA officials denied having custody of

him.

October 2, 2003

Lamin Njie, a reporter with The Independent, was arrested by

the Serious Crimes Unit of the Gambia Police Force in

connection with a story entitled "Let's Take To The Streets",

published in the September 29,2003 edition of the newspaper.

This followed an interview with the leader of the National

Democratic Action Movement (NDAM), Lamin Waa Juwara.

October 18, 2003

Arson attack was carried out on the offices of The Independent

by suspected ruling party supporters. After assaulting and

seriously wounding the security guard on duty, the arsonists

overpowered him and tricked another guard away from the

location before using highly inflammable petrol to set the office

electricity distributor ablaze and set fire to the entrance of

the news room. Windows were also destroyed, and it was only

with the help of neighbours that major damage to the premises

was averted.

35

THE GAMBIA - ATTACKS ON THE PRESS 1994 - 2006

2004

January 15, 2004

The managing editor of The Independent bi-weekly newspaper,

Alagi Yorro Jallow, received a letter threatening to "eliminate"

him if the newspaper did not cease publishing stories about

Baba Jobe, majority leader in the Gambia parliament, Jallow

said the letter was dated January 13,2004 and signed by an

unknown group calling itself the "Green Boys". The authors of

the anonymous letter, who were obviously not pleased with

the newspaper's reports of the majority leader, warned that,

"If you continue to publish anything on Jobe again, you will

regret it…we will eliminate you....". Baba Jobe, who used to

be a close associate of President Yahya Jammeh, was standing

trial at the Gambia High Court for alleged tax evasion and

other related economic crimes. He was arrested on December

25, 2003 and had since been in detention. Although the police

promised to investigate and prosecute the perpetrators,

nothing had been heard since.

February 2, 2004,

Alagi Yorro Jallow, managing editor of The Independent and

Abdoulie Sey, editor-in-chief of the same newspaper, were

arrested. Jallow was arrested at his home town of Sankwia

and taken to the police station at Mansakonko, the provincial

capital of the Lower River Division. From there, he was taken

under police escort to Bundling Police Station in Serrekunda,

the country's largest city. Sey was taken to Bundling Police

Station straight from his home. Both were transferred to

"I know there are opposition journalists among you, but

whoever misquotes me, I will deal with you."

July 22, 2004: During an anniversary of his military coup d'etat.

THE GAMBIA - ATTACKS ON THE PRESS 1994 - 2006

36

Serrekunda Police Station later in the day for questioning.

They were arrested in connection with a story carried in the

January 30, 2004 edition of The Independent headlined, "Who

owns Kairaba Beach Hotel?' It had earlier on been rumoured

that President Yahya Jammeh had taken a share in the said

hotel.

February 15, 2004

Alieu Darboe, a reporter with The Independent, received death

threats from unidentified men who told him to stop writing

for the paper or face the consequences.

March 25, 2004

Reporters from the private media were barred from covering

the opening of the 2004 legislative session of the National

Assembly by plain-clothes security guards at the main entrance

to the parliament building.

April 13, 2004

State Guards soldiers attacked and burnt the new printing

press of The Independent. The arsonists burst into the

newspaper's premises in the early hours of the day while nine

men were busy printing and compiling an edition of the

newspaper. Some of the workers suffered gunshot wounds

when the arsonists opened fire to prevent them from escaping

the fire. The leaders of the arsonists were named in parliament

by Opposition Member of Parliament Hamat Bah as Corporals

Sana Manjang and Sheriff Gisseh, who also serve as Guards

of the State House and their commander Major Kalifa Bajinka.

The accusation was not investigated. The suspects were

neither arrested nor prosecuted.

May 10, 2004

The National Media Commission (NMC) in a letter to all media

houses ordered that all private media houses and media

practitioners should register with it "not later than noon on

Friday May 14" or "cease to operate". But, in response to that

ultimatum, six private media houses announced a one-week

37

THE GAMBIA - ATTACKS ON THE PRESS 1994 - 2006

news blackout leading to a three-month extension of the

ultimatum. The commission was later disbanded following

the repulsion of the law forming it. The law was however, later

replaced with more repressive media laws.

July 2, 2004

The Independent's Editor-In-ChiefAbdoulie Sey, Managing Editor

Alagi Yorro Jallow and The Point editor, Deyda Hydara, were

invited to the Serious Crimes Unit of the Gambia Police Force

in Banjul in connection with stories about a reported oil

scandal allegedly involving the Gambian and Nigerian

governments.

August 7, 2004.

Demba Jawo, then president of the Gambia Press Union (GPU)

received an anonymous letter from the faceless ruling party

supporters known as the "Green Boys", threatening to "kill

him" and throw out his "flesh to dogs and vultures" if he did

not stop writing what they deemed critical articles of President

Jammeh. Jawo's wife found the letter, which was placed at

the gate of their house.

August 15, 2004

In the early hours of the day, the house of Ebrima Sillah, the

Banjul correspondent of the British Broadcasting Corporation

(BBC) was set ablaze by arsonists. Sillah, who was alone in

the house in Jambur, located at 30 kilometres southwest of

Banjul, was sleeping when the arsonists attacked. Sillah

jumped out through the window and fled with fire burns on

his body. All his personal belongings were gutted by the fire.

No arrests have been made and no investigations carried out.

The attack came barely one month after President Yahya

Jammeh warned "opposition journalists" to be careful not to

misquote him as they would pay a high price if they did. Also,

prior to the attack, in July 2004, President Jammeh's

supporters, "The Green Boys", issued a death threat contained

in a letter to the former President of the Gambia Press Union,

Demba Jawo stating, "Very soon we will teach one of your

THE GAMBIA - ATTACKS ON THE PRESS 1994 - 2006

38

journalists a very good lesson so that all of you will learn one

or two things from him."

December 16, 2004

Deyda Hydara, editor and co-proprietor of The Point newspaper

who was also the Banjul correspondent for the French news

agency, Agence France-Presse (AFP) and former President of

the Gambia Press Union (GPU) was shot three times in the

head while returning home from his office in Bakau Town, 12

kilometres from Banjul, the capital. Two female staff of his

paper, Ida Jagne and Nyang Sarang Jobe, who were in Hydara's

car, were shot in their legs. Hydara's assailants had a clear

motive to "finish him off" and only incapacitate his two

companions. Earlier in the evening of that fateful day, Hydara

and staff of The Point had celebrated the 13th anniversary of

the establishment of the newspaper. The unidentified

murderers waylaid Hydara, a stem critic of the government,

and his colleagues, and struck at about 22:30hours, when his

car approached the commercial suburb of Serrekunda.

December 28, 2004

Unknown to the people of The Gambia and barely two weeks

after Hydara's murder, President Yahya Jammeh had signed

into law, two Bills which would severely restrict freedom of

expression and pose a danger to the practice of journalism in

The Gambia. The laws, the Criminal Code (Amendment) Act

2004 and the Newspaper (Amendment) Act 2004 were passed

in spite of public outcry and calls on the President not to

append his signature. In the amendment to the Criminal Code,

offences such as libel and slander have been criminalized

together with sedition and are punishable by various prison

terms without any option of a fine for persons who fall foul of

this law. The laws had earlier been passed by the governmentdominated

parliament on Tuesday, December 14, 2004. The

Newspaper (Amendment) Act, on the other hand, nullified the

existing registration of media establishments in the country.

Media houses therefore must satisfy a new set of registration

requirements including bonds and licenses in order to operate.

39

THE GAMBIA - ATTACKS ON THE PRESS 1994 - 2006

The law also set the cost of new bonds for media houses at

500,000 Gambian dalasis about (12,855 euros), instead of the

previous 100,000 Gambian Dalasis about (2,571 euros).

December 30, 2004

Sam Obi, a Nigerian journalist and presenter of the privatelyowned

City Limits Radio, was detained and subjected to thorough

questioning by officials of the Serious Crime Unit of the

Gambia Police Force for six hours in Serrekunda, following an

interview he granted Radio France International (rFI). Obi's

interview was about a march organised by the Gambia Press

Union (GPU) to protest the murder of Deyda Hydara, managing

editor of the Banjul-based The Point newspaper.

THE GAMBIA - ATTACKS ON THE PRESS 1994 - 2006

40

2005

March 8, 2005,

Momodou Gassama, a reporter with The Independent, was

assaulted and detained by the police at the Kanifing Estate

Police Post. One First Class Constable, who was on duty at

the National Training Authority (NTA) where he had gone to

investigate a story relating to the closure of MJK Plus Computer

Centre, subjected Gassama to torture.

July 21, 2005

President Yahya Jammeh of The Gambia renewed his threats

against journalists working for private media and foreign news

outlets in the country. The threat was contained in an exclusive

interview granted to the state television, Gambia Radio and

Television Services (GRTS), on the eve of celebrations marking

his July 22, 1994 coup d'etat. In the interview, President

Jammeh attacked the country's journalists and opposition

leaders and their supporters. He indicated that his reason for

passing draconian press laws in recent months was because,

"Journalists are only bent on character assassination of

people. My government has provided too much freedom of

expression and media rights in the country". He then warned

journalists to leave the country saying that the Gambian

"borders are open".

October 5, 2005

The Daily Observer's managing director, Momodou Sanyang and

Lamin Cham, its editor-in-chief, were sacked from their jobs

for publishing a meeting between President Jammeh and the

business community who were worried about government's

method of handling business in the country.

October 6, 2005

Pa Modou Secka, a reporter with The Independent was harassed

41

THE GAMBIA - ATTACKS ON THE PRESS 1994 - 2006

and detained at Jarra Soma immigration post for more than

four hours without allowing him to speak. Secka was on his

way to the Central River Division.

October 13, 2005

Gambian authorities ordered the management of The Point

newspaper to discontinue the popular "Good Morning Mr.

President" column because it considered the column offensive

to President Yahya Jammeh's government. Following the

directive, the column disappeared from subsequent editions

of the newspaper. The management of the newspaper on

December 15 disclosed that the authorities threatened to close

down the newspaper if it failed to remove the column. The

Director General of the National Intelligence agency (NIA),

Daba Marena, told Pap Saine, Managing Editor of The Point at

a meeting in Banjul that President Jammeh and other

government officials were not happy with the column, which

had been run by murdered editor Deyda Hydara up until his

assasination.

October 22, 2005

The Gambian authorities ordered the closure of Sud FM Banjul

radio, a subsidiary of Senegal's Sud Communications Company

limited. No reason was given for the closure. The order came

barely 48 hours after President Yahya Jammeh had returned

from Dakar, the Senegalese capital, where Sud FM Dakar had

been closed down for a day on October 17, 2005, by the Minister

of Interior of Senegal, Ousmane Ngom, for broadcasting an

interview with Salif Sadio, chief of staff of the Movement of

Democratic Forces of Cassamance (MFDC), a rebel group in

Cassamance, southern Senegal. At about 1500hours GMT on

October 22, five police officers went to the station located in

Banjul City and ordered Pap Diomaye Thiare, the station

manager, to stop transmission. When asked the reason for

the order, the police officers told Thiare that the "order came

from the top" but refused to disclose the name of the person

who instructed them.

THE GAMBIA - ATTACKS ON THE PRESS 1994 - 2006

42

October 25, 2005

Three days after the closure, the Gambian Ministry of

Communication, Information and Technology revoked the

operational licence of Sud FM Banjul radio.

October 27, 2005

The National Intelligence Agency (NIA) arrested and

questioned Musa Saidykhan, editor-in-chief of The Independent,

following an interview he granted to other newspapers in

connection with the murder of Deyda Hydara. Certain

independent newspapers including The Point quoted Saidykhan,

who had returned from The All African Editors Forum (TAEF)

in South Africa, as saying President Thabo Mbeki of South

Africa had promised to assist the Gambian authorities to

resolve the murder of Deyda Hydara, killed by unknown

assailants on December 16, 2004. Saidykhan was also

questioned about the newspaper's coverage of the killings of

Ghanaians in The Gambia.

December 16, 2005

Ramatoulie Charreh, a female journalist of the Daily Observer,

was assaulted and her camera seized by the Gambia Police

Intervention Unit (a paramilitary unit). Charreh who had

attempted to take shots of a clash between journalists and

security men, was grabbed by the men and her hands folded

behind her back. She fell unconscious and was rushed to the

Royal Victoria Teaching Hospital in Banjul where she was later

discharged. The incident occurred when members of the Gambia

Press Union (GPU) and foreign colleagues attempted to visit

the site where the late Deyda Hydara was shot down on

December 16, 2004. Security men whose outpost was located

nearby the site sealed off the place claiming the GPU did not

have authority to assemble as a "large crowd". One year on,

no arrests had been made of the murderers of Hydara.

43

THE GAMBIA - ATTACKS ON THE PRESS 1994 - 2006

2006

March 28, 2006

Madi Ceesay, general manager of the The Independent and Musa

Saidykhan, editor-in-chief together with other staff of the

newspaper, were arrested and detained by members of the

Gambia Police Intervention Unit and the Criminal

Investigations Department wing of the Gambia Police Force.

A few hours later, all the detainees, except Ceesay, who is

also president of the Gambia Press Union, and Saidykhan,

were released. The manager and editor spent 22 days in

detention and were tortured. The authorities further drove

the newspaper's workers away and prevented people from

accessing its offices, thereby disrupting normal business

activities. The offices still remain closed. The police did not

give any reasons for their action and denied the two men any

visitors including friends and family members. The paper's

only crime was to have published the names of alleged coup

suspects, which included the former interior minister Samba

Bah. In a subsequent edition, the paper retracted the story

and apologised to Mr. Bah following his reaction to the story.

The state used the March 21, 2006 alleged foiled coup to arrest

and torture its critics and perceived enemies. Meanwhile, a

few weeks after their release, Saidykhan left the country for

exile due to threats on his life.

March 29, 2006

Ebou Waggeh, a former journalist working for the state

broadcaster, Gambia Radio and Television Station Services (GRTS)

was arrested and released on April 5.

April 10, 2006

Lamin Fatty, a reporter with The Independent, was arrested by

the NIA. He was held incommunicado and severely tortured

and given electric shocks in various parts of his body for 63

THE GAMBIA - ATTACKS ON THE PRESS 1994 - 2006

44

days. He was later released on bail by a magistrates' court

and charged with "publishing false information".

May 23, 2006

The website of a US-based critical online publication. Freedom

Newspaper, edited by an exiled Gambian journalist, was hacked

by persons believed to be collaborators of the ruling APRC.

The hackers posted a statement on the website informing the

public that the blog's editor, Pa Nderry M'bai, had shifted

allegiance to the ruling party and had even supplied a list of

subscribers and informants of his paper. This list was

published by the pro-government Daily Observer newspaper

leading to a mass arrest of journalists and civilians. All the

arrested persons were severely tortured. The public later got

to know that it was a ploy by a blackmailer when the editor

regained control of his site later in the day to state that it had

been hacked.

May 26, 2006

Malick Mboob, former Daily Observer reporter and

communications officer at the Royal Victoria Teaching Hospital

(RVTH), was sacked and arrested for his alleged contribution

to the Freedom Newspaper. Also, journalists Pa Modou Faal of

the state Gambia Radio & Television Services (GRTS) and Musa

Sheriff, a Liberian journalist working at the weekly News &

Report magazine, were arrested alongside Mboob and alleged

dozens of subscribers of the Freedom Newspaper. Faal and

Sheriff were released a few days later but Mboob was held

"If I have to hang somebody, I will hang him and go to sleep

using the law."

2005 new year interview with GRTS on the murder of journalist Deyda

Hydara

45

THE GAMBIA - ATTACKS ON THE PRESS 1994 - 2006

incommunicado for 137 days until he was released by a court

order, without having been charged.

May 31, 2006

Lamin Cham, BBC correspondent in The Gambia, was arrested

and tortured for allegedly having links with the Freedom

Newspaper. He was released a few days later after it was

discovered that the allegation levelled against him was false.

June 1, 2006

Omar Bah, news editor of the Daily Observer was declared

wanted by the government of The Gambia, a few days after he

escaped into exile. He fled the country on May 29, 2006 when

he received information that he was being sought for by state

security agents for allegedly having links with a critical online

Gambian publication based in the US, Freedom Newspaper.

June 19, 2006

The Gambian government refused to allow a group of civil

society organisations to hold a forum on freedom of expression

during the African Union Summit in Banjul. 15 free expression

organisations signed a letter protesting the move, saying it

violated the African Union's charter. Gambian authorities

informed Novotel Hotel, where the forum was to be hosted,

that the event could not take place until it was approved by

the government.

July 11, 2006

Chief Ebrima Manneh, a reporter of the Daily Observer, was

arrested by two plainclothes officers of the NIA at the Daily

Observer premises. He was kept incommunicado for a long

period at different locations in the country while both the

NIA and police denied having custody of him.*

July 14, 2006

Two Banjul-based Nigerian journalists were arrested by the

NIA and detained for four days before being released without

charge. Sam Obi, publisher of the newly established Daily

THE GAMBIA - ATTACKS ON THE PRESS 1994 - 2006

46

Express, and Abdulgafari Oladimeji, sports editor of the paper,

were arrested after the paper was launched. The inaugural

issue of the Daily Express, published on July 1, 2006 to coincide

with the African Union summit, reprinted a press release from

a coalition of civil-society organizations protesting the

government's decision to block a planned freedom of

expression forum in The Gambia. On July 5, the progovernment

Daily Observer printed a letter that accused the

Daily Express of seeking to "tarnish the image of this country".

July 15, 2006

Sulayman Makalo, who worked briefly as editor-in-chief of the

Daily Express and was once assistant editor at the banned

The Independent, fled into exile after receiving anonymous text

messages giving him privileged information that he had been

targeted for arrest by the NIA. He joined a growing number of

Gambian journalists in hiding or in exile because of

government threats and fears for their security.

September 7, 2006

Dodou Sanneh, a reporter with the state-owned Gambia Radio

a