[The Committee to Protect Journalists sent the following letter today to
Gambian President Yahya Jammeh, expressing concern at the enactment of two laws
that threaten press freedom in the Gambia.]
COMMITTEE TO PROTECT JOURNALISTS
330 7th Avenue, 11th Fl., New York, NY 10001 USA Phone: (212) 465 1004
Fax: (212) 465 9568 Web: _www.cpj.org_ (file://www.cpj.org/)
CONTACT: Julia Crawford
Phone: 1-212-465-1004 x112
Email: [log in to unmask] or [log in to unmask]
Fax: 1-212-465-9568
March 16, 2005
President Yahya A.J.J. Jammeh
C/o Embassy of the Gambia
1155 15th Street, NW, Suite 1000
Washington D.C. 20005
Via facsimile: 202-785-1430
Your Excellency:
The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply troubled by the apparently
secret enactment of two new laws that threaten press freedom in the Gambia.
Your Excellency signed these laws on December 28, 2004, but their promulgation
was not made public until two months later, according to news reports and
local sources. CPJ raised its concerns about these laws in a March 14, 2005,
meeting with your ambassador to the United States, H.E. Dodou Bammy Jagne in
Washington, D.C., attended by CPJ board member Clarence Page and CPJ Africa
Program Coordinator Julia Crawford.
The first piece of legislation, an amendment to the Criminal Code, imposes
mandatory prison sentences of six months to three years for media owners or
journalists convicted of publishing defamatory or “seditious” material,
without the option of a fine. The Criminal Code (Amendment) Act, 2004, also carries
prison sentences of at least six months for those found guilty of publishing
or broadcasting false news. In addition, the legislation allows the state to
confiscate without judicial oversight any publication deemed “seditious.”
The second piece of legislation is an amendment to the Gambia’s Newspaper
Act. The original law required all print media owners to register with the
government, and to sign a statement—known as a bond—that they own enough money or
assets to ensure payment of any court-imposed penalties for press offenses,
including libel or sedition. The latest amendment raises this bond from
100,000 dalasis (US$3,578) to 500,000 (US$17,892). The legislation also extends
this requirement to broadcast media owners and renders all existing
registration null. Local journalists say that this bill will inhibit media development
because the required sum is prohibitive.
Gambia’s National Assembly passed the laws in December, provoking widespread
protest from local and international press freedom organizations. CPJ had
urged Your Excellency not to sign them.
The Gambia Press Union (GPU), which represents local journalists, says it
was unable to obtain until recently the official gazette that confirms the laws’
enactment despite repeated efforts.
The enactment of these laws follows a series of violent attacks against
independent journalists and media outlets in the Gambia, and perpetrators have
yet to be brought to justice. On the night of December 16, 2004, unidentified
attackers shot dead veteran journalist and press freedom advocate Deyda Hydara
while he drove home from his office in the capital, Banjul. Hydara had been
an outspoken opponent of repressive media laws, including the latest
amendments.
CPJ urges Your Excellency to repeal these draconian amendments to the
Newspaper Act and the Criminal Code, which contravene international standards on
freedom of expression and cast a further chill over the Gambia’s independent
press. We urge that you do all in your power to ensure that Hydara’s assassins
are brought to justice and that the current climate of impunity for attacks
on the press is brought to an end.
Thank you for your attention to these urgent matters.
Sincerely,
Ann K. Cooper
Executive Director
CC:
Dodou Bammy Jagne, Gambian Ambassador to the United States
American Society of Newspaper Editors
Amnesty International
Article 19 (United Kingdom)
Artikel 19 (The Netherlands)
Canadian Journalists for Free Expression
Freedom Forum
Freedom House
Human Rights Watch
Index on Censorship
International Center for Journalists
International Federation of Journalists
International PEN
International Press Institute
Michael G. Kozak, United States Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human
Rights, and Labor
The Newspaper Guild
The North American Broadcasters Association
Overseas Press Club
Reporters Sans Frontières
The Society of Professional Journalists
World Association of Newspapers
World Press Freedom Committee
==
Alexis Arieff
Committee to Protect Journalists
[log in to unmask]
phone: 1-212-300-9004
fax: 1-212-465-9568
_http://www.cpj.org_ (http://www.cpj.org/)
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