The
organizations called on the Gambian authorities to end their repression of
journalists and human rights defenders and urged the international community to
strengthen their efforts to improve the human rights situation in the Gambia.
In
August 2012, the government unlawfully executed nine death row prisoners. Imam
Baba Leigh spoke out against the executions and was detained incommunicado and
without charge for more than five months,
the three groups said on Monday.
“This response is
typical of the government’s almost complete disregard for the human rights of
the Gambian people, including
freedom of expression. In
2012 the government closed two independent newspapers and a radio station
without explanation. Journalists are frequently arrested without charge and
several journalists have had their passports confiscated for prolonged periods
and without justification,”
they noted.
“This prevents
them from travelling abroad for work or human rights training. Other
journalists have received anonymous death threats. In these circumstances, a
climate of fear pervades public life,”
according to Amnesty International.
Earlier
this month, the government moved to limit freedom of expression on the
internet, one of the few remaining public spaces for dissent. The Information
and Communication (Amendment) Act 2013, passed on 3 July 2013, allows the
government to impose penalties of up to 15 years imprisonment and hefty fines
for publishing false
news against
government officials online.
“The government
has again made clear that it will not tolerate dissent,” said CHRG’s Alieu Badara
Ceesay. “The Gambian authorities continue
to disregard decisions and recommendations on their human rights obligations
made by international bodies.”
In
recent years the Gambia has twice been brought before the ECOWAS Community Court
of Justice to answer for the alleged arrest, disappearance and torture of
journalists.
They
cited the 2008
ruling of the Court ordering the government to release
disappeared (in
2006) journalist
Ebrima Manneh and
pay him a compensation of US$100,000. Also
in
2010, the Court ordered the government to pay journalist Musa
Saidykhan US$200,000
for illegal detention and torture in 2006.
“The Court found
the Gambian government to have violated its legal and human rights obligations,
but the government has persistently failed to comply with the Court’s judgment,” according to Amadou
Scattred Janneh of CCG.
The
African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) during its 44th
Ordinary Session held in November 2008 in Abuja, Nigeria, passed a resolution
condemning human rights violations in the Gambia.
The
resolution called on the government to investigate allegations of torture and
extrajudicial executions, end the harassment and intimidation of journalists,
comply with the ECOWAS Court’s decisions and uphold human rights in the Gambia.
The
government has not implemented this resolution and the human rights situation has only deteriorated further,
the groups said on July 22.
The
organizations call on ECOWAS, the African Union and the
European Union to be more decisive and put pressure on the Gambian authorities
to implement in good faith their human rights obligations and commitments.
“We urge the
ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government to exercise its authority to
enforce its Court’s decisions by ensuring the Gambia conducts a full
investigation into the cases of Ebrima Manneh and Musa Saidykhan and pays
adequate compensation, as ordered by the ECOWAS Court, for the violations of
their human rights,”
they demanded.
“We also urge the
African Union to be more proactive to ensure the ACHPR’s resolutions and
recommendations are effectively implemented,” they added.
Following
the resumption of political dialogue between the European Union (EU) and the
Gambia in July 2013, the
groups welcome
the inclusion of human rights issues in the dialogue and urge the EU to
continue to ask the government for concrete improvements in the Gambia’s human
rights record.
Written by TNBES Official
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