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| Fatou Jagne Senghore, Executive Director ARTICLE19/West Africa |
The international free expression and media freedom
watchdog, ARTICLE 19 is urging the Gambia Government to repeal draconian media
laws meant to stifle freedom of expression and of the press.
It followed the organisation’s “January 2012 analysis
of selected media laws” in the tiny West African country against international standards
for the protection of freedom of expression.
In
particular, this analysis outlines ARTICLE 19’s key concerns regarding the
constitutional protection of freedom of expression, the Newspaper Act 1944 (as
subsequently amended); Sections 52, 178 and 181A of the Gambian Criminal Code;
and the Information and the Communications Act 2009.
In
an April 17, 2012 statement, ARTICLE 19 concluded that the laws governing the
Gambian media, reviewed in this analysis, are “fundamentally flawed” and
“incompatible” with the country’s obligations under international and regional
standards on freedom of expression.
The
most problematic features of these laws include: the registration requirements
for newspapers under the Newspaper Act 1944; a number of speech-related
offences (including seditious libel, criminal defamation, and publication of
false news) in the Criminal Code in clear breach of international
standards for the protection of freedom of expression; and the fact that the
regulation of broadcasting is ultimately entrusted to the executive rather than
an independent body, as required under international law.
In
addition, the Information and Communications Act 2009 contains a number of
overly broad provisions in relation to intercept (section 138) and the
publication of information which is obscene in electronic form (section 170).
ARTICLE
19’s criticism of the state of freedom of expression in the Gambia is not
limited to the legislation reviewed in this analysis.
“We
remain concerned about the continuous violations of the right to freedom of
expression in the country, in particular the lack of media independence as well
as continuous harassment, arbitrary arrests and violence against journalists,
human rights defenders and political opposition,” it said.
“These
serious violations should be urgently addressed by the Gambian Government,” the
human rights organisation, ARTICLE 19, said.
The
Gambia is a party to a number of international and regional human rights
instruments, which means the Government is obliged to uphold the right to
freedom of expression and information.
ARTICLE
19 therefore calls on the Government to initiate comprehensive review and
reform of the laws applying to the media to bring it in line with its
international obligations.
Based
on this backdrop, the organisation outline what it called key recommendations
to be acted upon by President Yahya AJJ Jammeh’s government.
These
include: Engaging in comprehensive review of the Gambian legislative framework
related to freedom of expression, especially the laws applicable to the media; Repeal
the Newspaper Act 1944 and subsequent amendments in their entirety; Repeal the
provisions of the Criminal Code that unduly restrict freedom of expression in
the Gambia, in particular Section 52 (seditious publication), Section 178
(criminal defamation), and Section 181A (dissemination of false news); and Bring
the Information and Communications Act 2009 in line with international
standards on freedom of expression, and in particular provide for independence
of the telecommunications and broadcasting regulator.
Written by Modou S. Joof
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