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Gambia News : 6 US Senators want missing Gambian journalist released immediately
Senator Richard Durbin, leading a group of six American Senators, has
called for the immediate release of Gambian Journalist Ebrimah Manneh
of the government-owned Daily Observer newspaper, who went missing in
July 2006.
According to the Africa Programme Director of the Committee to
Protect Journalis ts (CPJ), Tom Rhodes, the senators jointly made their
call in a letter they wrote to the Gambian President, Yahya Jammeh.
The other five Senators are Russ Feingold, Robert Casey, Patty Murray, Joe Liebe rman and Ted Kennedy.
"The
conflicting information and lack of responsiveness further the
perception of a disturbing deterioration of human rights in the Gambia,
particularly in regards to basic press freedoms," wrote the six
senators.
They recalled that Ebrimah's colleagues at the
newspaper confirmed witnessing two plainclothes Gambian National
Intelligence Agency officers whisk Manneh away in July 2006.
He has not been seen since despite repeated calls on the government to disclose his whereabouts.
Their sentiments are supported by a whirlwind of denials and witness accounts.
Recently,
credible witnesses have reported that Manneh is still alive while news
paper articles published last week quoted an unnamed senior police
source who speculated that the journalist was dead.
Sightings of
Manneh have been reported throughout his disappearance from Mile Two
Prison in the capital, Banjul, to the National Intelligence Agency
compound in neighboring Serekunda, and all the way to eastern Gambia at
Fatoto Prison.
Despite sightings and considerable international pressure, the Gambian government has consistently denied holding Manneh.
The
former communications secretary and current Gambian Ambassador to the
US, Neneh Macdouall-Gaye, told CPJ in 2007 that Manneh was not in
government custody.
The same response was echoed this month by the Gambian Attorney General and Justice Minister, Marie Saine Firdaus.
Local
journalists and the Gambian Press Union have told CPJ that Manneh was
abducted for simply trying to republish in the Daily Observer a BBC
report that was critical of President Jammeh.
But the former
president of the Gambian Press Union, Demba Jawo, believes Manneh was
targeted for his investigations into the 2005 killing of Ghanaian
immigrants in the Gambia.
Jawo is also the co-author of a book on the 2004 murder of the Gambian independent daily Point reporter, Deyda Hydara.
Whatever
the motive behind Manneh's disappearance, mounting international
pressure on the Gambian government will hopefully induce some answers.
A
group of prominent lawyers and human rights experts, called Freedom
Now, filed a petition for Manneh with the United Nations Human Rights
Council's Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.
The petition was filed last November and a ruling is expected soon.
Last week, Amnesty International launched a photo campaign, urging answers.
And exiled Gambians journalists throughout the world continue looking for answers to their former colleague's disappearance.
According
to the CPJ, the call by the Senators for answers to Manneh's disappear
ance sends a strong message to President Jammeh that the world will no
longer tolerate silence on this tragic case.
5212 times read
- Yaya Jammeh you re days are number very soon your ass wil be kick to the cove and you wil our lovin country alone. I don't blame i balme us gambian who put there by votin for you in ever election .i think it bout time for us gambian to put our foot
(Posted on May 18, 2009, 5:22 PM ramou)
- WELL WHAT EVER A MAN DOES ITS FOR HIMSELF ............ fOR jAMMEH WE JUST HAVE TO GIVE HIM CHANCE AND SURELY IF HIS TIME`S UP, NOTHING WILL TELL HIM SO.... SO AS FELLOW gAMBIANS,WE JUS HAVE TO BE UNITED AND LOVE ONE ANOTHER
(Posted on May 5, 2009, 7:36 PM AMARA)
- jammeh dont let us down so we can be proud of our country.
(Posted on May 4, 2009, 7:47 PM fatou)
- its time to stop killing,yaya you will die too.
(Posted on May 2, 2009, 10:38 PM no name)
- one day or the other your day will come yaya, what gose around comes around the day u will pay the price, let me tell you yaya you are not Allah the almight, you are a normally human being like any other person in this world but time will tell. FOOL
(Posted on April 29, 2009, 3:18 PM mama Africa)
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