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press releases & Protests
24 August 2006
H.E. Alhaji Yahya Jammeh
President of the Republic of The Gambia
c/o Embassy of the Republic of The Gambia
1156 15th Street NW, Suite 1000
Washington DC 20005
Fax: 1-202-785 14 30
Your Excellency,
World Press Freedom Committee, an international organization of 45 affiliated organizations on six continents, is deeply concerned about the conduct of governments towards the media throughout the world. It has learned with alarm about the arrest and detention of an editor, a manager and a journalist on the staff of the Independent newspaper and later the charge brought against reporter Lamin Fatty.
On March 28 chief editor Musa Saidykhan and General Manager Madi Ceesay were detained without charge and a few weeks later on April 10, the Gambian National Intelligence Agency (NIA) arrested Independent reporter Lamin Fatty.
The arrests stem from a March 24 Independent story titled, “23 Coup Plotters Arrested.” The story was apparently incorrect in that it reported inaccurately that a former Interior Minister and former chief of the NIA, Samba Bah, had been arrested following an attempted coup. When the newspaper was informed of the inaccuracy, it immediately published a reply by Bah denying the accuracy of the story. It also published an apology, which was rejected by Bah.
Saidykhan and Ceesay were released on 20 April but Fatty remained in jail until released on bail on 12 June. Though apparently unaware for some time of the charges against him, Fatty was later charged with publishing “false information.” We are at this stage unaware of the progress of the trial or what has happened to Fatty.
The African Union's African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights has its headquarters in Banjul, and in October 2002 adopted the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression in Africa, which has been adopted by the African Union, including The Gambia.
The Declaration states the following: “Laws and customs that repress freedom of expression are a disservice to society.” It also states that “freedom of expression is a fundamental human right guaranteed by the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, as well as other international documents and national constitutions.”
The essence of these press freedom principles is also embraced by the world’s most relevant international human rights institutions, including the European Court on Human Rights and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Both entities state that it is unacceptable that journalists should be criminally prosecuted for publishing an inaccurate report, especially when that report has been corrected and an apology tendered in the publication. All these institutions, likewise, insist that these kinds of cases be dealt with in civil, not criminal, courts.
In our view the actions taken by the authorities against the Independent and its staff do not constitute a legitimate interest or are necessary in a democratic society.
Accordingly, we appeal to Your Excellency to have the charges withdrawn against Fatty and to request the government's officials to respect the principles of press freedom to which the country has subscribed. We also urge that a review of the country's laws be undertaken with a view to the repeal or amendment of laws which place restrictions on the media or which can be used to subject journalists to criminal prosecution for the content of their publications.
Yours sincerely,
E. Markham Bench
Executive Director
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