Committee to Protect Journalists - Gambia

Attacks on the Press: Development Trumps Freedom

2012-02-22T04:32:01Z

Many African leaders continue to offer a false choice between stability and press freedom. Taking a cue from China, a key investor and model, they stress social stability and development over openness and reform. By Mohamed Keita

Attacks on the Press in 2011: Gambia

2012-02-21T05:29:00Z

Years of brutal repression by President Yahya Jammeh’s administration have gutted Gambia’s once-vibrant independent press and driven numerous journalists into exile. In August, the government forced Taranga FM, the last independent radio station airing news in local languages, to halt its coverage. The move came ahead of an October presidential election in which Jammeh faced no viable opponent and brooked no dissent. Official repression has taken many forms over the years, including arbitrary arrests, censorship, forced closures of media outlets, verbal and physical intimidation, arson attacks, and prosecutions under restrictive legislation. These actions, coupled with impunity in attacks on media houses and journalists, have reduced the domestic news media to a handful of newspapers that operate under intense fear and self-censorship. While marketing the country internationally as an idyllic tourism destination, the government ignored two rulings by a West African human rights court: one ordering the release of reporter “Chief” Ebrima Manneh, who disappeared in state custody after his 2006 arrest, and another compelling the government to pay compensation to a journalist for illegal detention and torture.

Journalist harassed for reporting farmers' complaints

2012-01-10T22:19:37Z

New York, January 10, 2012--Police in Gambia are harassing a journalist for reporting farmers' complaints against a local official accused of mismanaging public resources, according to local journalists and news reports.

Gambian president vilifies journalists in remarks

2011-11-28T19:15:28Z

New York, November 28, 2011--The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns Gambian President Yahya Jammeh's public remarks on Thursday, in which he vilified members of the press. The following day, Jammeh won his fourth term in office as president.

Gambian minister should disclose Manneh's fate

2011-10-11T20:41:59Z

New York, October 11, 2011 - An official of the Gambian government publicly indicated knowledge of the whereabouts of missing journalist Ebrima "Chief" Manneh, according to news reports. The government, which has repeatedly denied any involvement in Manneh's 2006 disappearance, must immediately disclose the details of his status, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Gambian security agency threatens to close radio station

2011-08-12T20:21:16Z

New York, August 12, 2011--Gambian state security agency forced radio station Taranga FM to drop its popular news and current affairs programs for the second time this year, local journalists said. The National Intelligence Agency (NIA) threatened to close the community station southwest of the capital, Banjul, if the broadcaster did not drop its daily news programs in Wolof and Mandinka.

Jammeh must disclose knowledge of Manneh's fate

2011-07-06T20:53:16Z

New York, July 6, 2011--Gambian President Yahya Jammeh must clarify his March 16 comments suggesting that detained journalist "Chief" Ebrima Manneh has died, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. CPJ's call comes ahead of the fifth anniversary of the July 7, 2006, arrest of Manneh, left, who disappeared after being taken into government custody.

In Gambia, Jammeh asked to clarify Manneh's 'death'

2011-03-21T19:50:41Z

Dear President Jammeh: We request clarification of your March 16 comments suggesting "Chief" Ebrima Manneh, a reporter for the Daily Observer, may have died. Manneh disappeared after witnesses saw him being arrested by state security agents in the offices of the Daily Observer on July 7, 2007. The government has previously denied any knowledge of Manneh's fate.

Gambia bans only independent radio station airing news

2011-01-14T21:37:48Z

New York, January 14, 2011--Gambian authorities on Thursday shut the only independent radio station in the nation that has continued to broadcast news, according to local journalists.

ECOWAS court orders Gambia to pay tortured journalist

2010-12-17T21:54:00Z

New York, December 17, 2010--Musa Saidykhan, who was detained for three weeks in 2006 by Gambian state security agents, was tortured and must receive compensation, a West African regional court ruled on Thursday.

In African hot spots, journalists forced into exile

2010-02-16T05:57:00Z

By Tom Rhodes

High numbers of local journalists have fled several African countries in recent years after being assaulted, threatened, or imprisoned, leaving a deep void in professional reporting. The starkest examples are in the Horn of Africa nations of Somalia, Ethiopia, and Eritrea, where dozens of journalists have been forced into exile. Zimbabwe, Rwanda, and the Gambia have also lost large segments of the local press corps in the face of intimidation and violence.

Attacks on the Press 2009: Gambia

2010-02-16T05:36:00Z

Top Developments
• Hydara murder unsolved; secrecy surrounds Manneh detention.
• Domestic, international pressure prompts Jammeh to halt crackdown.

Key Statistic
6: Journalists jailed for sedition after saying president’s remarks on Hydara case were insensitive.

Authorities jailed six journalists after their publications said President Yahya Jammeh had been insensitive in televised remarks about the unsolved 2004 murder of prominent Gambian editor Deyda Hydara. The six, convicted in August on baseless charges of sedition, were sentenced to two years in prison but were freed in September after Jammeh, facing considerable domestic and international pressure, issued pardons.

Six journalists released in the Gambia

2009-09-04T19:47:31Z

New York, September 4, 2009--The Committee to Protect Journalists is relieved about the release of six prominent Gambian journalists on Thursday after President Yahya Jammeh pardoned them.

Gambian court convicts six journalists of sedition

2009-08-06T21:05:00Z

New York, August 6, 2009--The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the highly politicized court verdict against six independent journalists today in the capital of the Gambia, Banjul.

CPJ seeks release of Ebrima Manneh in Gambia

2009-07-07T18:24:48Z

Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalist urges you to end an unprecedented level of intimidation and detention of Gambian journalists by national security forces. Today marks the third anniversary of the disappearance of journalist "Chief" Ebrima Manneh--his whereabouts, health, and legal status are unknown. Manneh, a former reporter for the Daily Observer, was taken into government custody by security agents in July 2006.