Indeed Lat, I agree with you that 9 were already murdered before the Moratorium. It was precisely because of the outcry after the 9 were murdered (credit due to RSF, Reuters, AI, AFP, and others) that Yahya was forced to issue a moratorium to save the the remaining 38, including journalists.
I understand your consternation at the apparent sleight. I merely share that it only appears to be a sleight on the part of RSF but cognizant of the comprehensive part it played in yielding the moratorium, I encourage you to hold it harmless in this matter.
Thank you Lat.
I'm on my way to meet with Dr. Janneh. I shall convey your regards to him and his family.
Best,
Haruna.
-----Original Message-----
From: africa fest <[log in to unmask]>
To: GAMBIA-L <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Fri, Sep 28, 2012 7:01 pm
Subject: Re: [G_L] GAMBIA - Month of censorship, harassment and threats for media from Jammeh / GAMBIE - Censure, pressions, menaces : un mois difficile pour la presse chez Yahya Jammeh
Haruna,
I actually have a deep and profound respect for RSF all journalists who take risks everyday to report the facts. This is why I was surprised that their release only mentioned a threat to execute 47 prisoners, which was then followed by an international outcry leading to a moratorium. It went on to report that now journalists are being persecuted. My simple point was just that before a moratorium occurred, 9 were in fact executed.
Latjot
Date: Fri, 28 Sep 2012 15:28:58 -0400
From: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [G_L] GAMBIA - Month of censorship, harassment and threats for media from Jammeh / GAMBIE - Censure, pressions, menaces : un mois difficile pour la presse chez Yahya Jammeh
To: [log in to unmask]
Latjor I beg to differ with you on this.
RSF is a fraternity of Journalists and its members are journalists. Their mission is to highlight the plight of journalists around the world and to improve the conditions in which journalists do their work. Because it is the journalists who report on and inform the world about crimes such as the murder of the Gambia-9, it follows that RSF does directly contribute toward the dissemination of all facts everywhere. It is precisely because journalists expose these crimes that they are the first targets and victims of uncouth leaders.
I encourage you to consider the unique considerations of journalists and RSF. If all journalists stand up for the victims, who will stand for those journalists? RSF. It only appears that RSF is not concerned about the plight of the murdered-9 and their families. When you scratch that veneer, RSF is all over the issue. You will be pleased to know that RSF works hand-in-glove with Amnesty Intl, The UN, EU, AU, ECOWAS, and other sister organizations who rely on the work of RSF and its members.
Thank you for your reconsideration Lat. I have not read the article which insensed you so. At least not yet. It wouldn't make any difference however in my plea for your greater understanding of RSF's unique position.
Haruna.
-----Original Message-----
From: africa fest <[log in to unmask]>
To: GAMBIA-L <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Fri, Sep 28, 2012 10:19 am
Subject: Re: [G_L] GAMBIA - Month of censorship, harassment and threats for media from Jammeh / GAMBIE - Censure, pressions, menaces : un mois difficile pour la presse chez Yahya Jammeh
Reading through the RSF Press Release, it is as if they are more concerned about the plight of journalists than those that were executed! The opening paragraph gives no indication that, in fact, 9 were executed BEFORE the moratorium!!! RSF needs to do a better job of reporting the facts!
Latjor
GAMBIA
Month of censorship, harassment and threats for media from Jammeh
Gambia was in the headlines last month when President Yahya Jammeh (http://en.rsf.org/predator-yahya-jammeh,42463.html), a former army lieutenant who seized power in a 1994 coup, announced that 47 prisoners under sentence to death would be executed in lSeptember. In response to the ensuing outcry and international protests, he backed down on 14 September and announced a moratorium on executions.
Date: Fri, 28 Sep 2012 15:13:29 +0200
From: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [G_L] GAMBIA - Month of censorship, harassment and threats for media from Jammeh / GAMBIE - Censure, pressions, menaces : un mois difficile pour la presse chez Yahya Jammeh
To: [log in to unmask]
English (http://en.rsf.org/gambia-month-of-censorship-harassment-and-28-09-2012,43459.html)
Français (http://fr.rsf.org/gambie-censure-pressions-menaces-un-mois-28-09-2012,43458.html)
Reporters Without Borders (http://www.rsf.org)
Press release
28 September 2012
GAMBIA
Month of censorship, harassment and threats for media from Jammeh
Gambia was in the headlines last month when President Yahya Jammeh (http://en.rsf.org/predator-yahya-jammeh,42463.html),a former army lieutenant who seized power in a 1994 coup, announced that 47prisoners under sentence to death would be executed in September. In responseto the ensuing outcry and international protests, he backed down on 14September and announced a moratorium on executions.
But the authorities cracked down hard on journalists who dared tocriticize the announced executions or talk freely on the subject. Both localand foreign media that reported the outcry were targeted. Reporters WithoutBorders supports the Gambia Press Union (GPU), which condemned a "declinein media freedom" on 26 September.
"It may seem surprising in a country where media freedom wasalready very limited, but the situation has worsened considerably in the pastmonth," Reporters Without Borders said.
"Journalists who dare to criticize and have the courage tocover sensitive developments such as human rights violations are constantlyattacked by the authorities. When will President Jammeh understand that, bydiscussing issues and exchanging ideas, the media contribute to a country'ssocial and political development?"
Forcible closure of media
Acting on the president's direct orders, members of the NationalIntelligence Agency (NIA) raided two independent newspapers, The Standard and Daily News, on 15 September and ordered their closure. They saidthey did not know the reason for the closure orders or how long they wouldremain in effect.
Sources said their arbitrary closure seemed to be the result oftheir having published letters, petitions and other content critical of thepresident's decision that executions should be carried out in Gambia for thefirst time since 1981.
A month before that, NIA officials ordered the closure of Teranga FM, a commercial radio stationbased in the western town of Sinchu Alhagie, for refusing to stop broadcastinga daily review of the main stories in the leading Gambian newspapers.
This very popular press review had allowed the mainly illiteratepopulation to follow current events in their local languages (Mandinka, Fulaand Wolof). The station was previously closed down in January 2011 for the samereason.
Some observers also saw the station's closure as a punishment forthe outspoken style of a weekly talkshow in which opposition representativesslammed the president's appalling human rights record.
Charged for calling for apeaceful demonstration
Two journalists who had asked the interior ministry for permissionto hold a peaceful demonstration against the proposed executions – GPUvice-president Baboucarr Ceesay, whoworks for the Daily News, andfreelancer Abubaccar Saidykhan – werearrested on 7 September on charges of conspiracy and inciting violence, andthen released on bail.
A separate charge of "seditious publication" was alsobrought against Ceesay on 19 September in connection with an article in the Africa Review that he denies writing.
Foreign journalistspersonae non gratae
Pape Alé Niang, a Senegalese journalist with the privately-owned Senegalese TVstation 2STV, incurred PresidentJammeh's wrath when he said on RadioLiberté that "Gambians need to deal with their problems." Jammehthreatened Niang with death if he ever tried to do any reporting in Gambia.
Two weeks before that, ThomasFessy, a French journalist working for the BBC, was detained for nearly five hours on arrival at Banjulairport and was then deported, although he had a visa and had told theinformation ministry he was coming.
The fact that he was a journalist seems to have been the sole reasonfor the deportation order, which he was unable to reverse despite his attemptsto persuade the president's office and the foreign ministry. Fessy had flown toGambia after the authorities revealed that they had carried out nineexecutions.
Playing for time or realpromises?
The day after US civil rights activist Jesse Jackson visited Gambiato plead for those facing execution, President Jammeh gave the United Nationspermission to investigate the 2004 murder of The Point editor DeydaHydara and the 2006 disappearance of DailyObserver reporter Chief EbrimaManneh.
"These two cases are symptomatic of the impunity for mediafreedom violations that reigns in Gambia," Reporters Without Borders said."No progress has been seen in the investigations into these crimes in theyears since they took place.
"If the United Nations really is allowed to conduct enquiries, itshould use independent international investigators, who must be able to counton full cooperation from the Gambian security services."
Gambia's most respected journalist and the Banjul correspondent of Agence France-Presse and ReportersWithout Borders as well as The Point'sco-founder and editor, Hydara was shot dead at the wheel of his car on thenight of 16 December 2004. According to a Reporters Without Borders report (http://en.rsf.org/gambia-deyda-hydara-the-murder-of-a-16-05-2005,13790.html)in May 2005, he was under close NIA surveillance at the time of his death,which was never properly investigated.
Manneh disappeared after being arrested on 7 July 2006 by menassumed to be NIA officers. Claiming that he was dead or that he had moved tothe United States without offering any evidence of either claim, theauthorities have constantly demonstrated a determination to accept noresponsibility for his disappearance.
Ranked 147th out of 179 countries in the 2011-2012 Reporters WithoutBorders press freedom index, Gambia has repeatedly been condemned for itspresident's paranoid and irrational excesses.
-----
GAMBIE
Censure, pressions, menaces : un mois difficile pour la presse chez Yahya Jammeh
LaGambie a fait parler d'elle au mois d'août 2012, lorsque le chef de l'Etat,Yahya Jammeh (http://fr.rsf.org/predator-yahya-jammeh,42417.html),a annoncé que 47 prisonniers condamnés à la peine capitale seraient exécutés aucours du mois de septembre. Face au tollé provoqué par cette annonce et suite àde vives protestation internationales, l'ancien lieutenant qui s'était emparédu pouvoir par un putsch en 1994 a fait volte-face et a décidé, le 14septembre, d'adopter "un moratoire sur les exécutions".
Maisles autorités de Banjul sont tombées à bras raccourcis sur les journalistess'étant exprimés trop librement sur la question et ayant osé dénoncer cespromesses d'exécutions. La presse, locale et étrangère, qui s'est fait lerelais des critiques contre le pouvoir, a été prise pour cible. Reporters sansfrontières soutient l'Union de la presse gambienne (Gambia Press Union, GPU)qui a dénoncé, le 26 septembre, une "détérioration de la liberté desmédias".
"Aussisurprenant que cela puisse paraître dans un pays où la liberté de la presse estdéjà fort limitée, la situation s'est effectivement détériorée au cours dudernier mois. Les journalistes qui osent la critique et ont le courage decouvrir l'actualité sensible telle que les questions de droits de l'hommesubissent les assauts répétés des autorités de Banjul. Quand le présidentJammeh comprendra-t-il que les médias, par le débat et l'échange d'idées,participent au développement social et politique d'un pays ?", s'estinterrogée Reporters sans frontières.
Fermeture de médias manu militari
Le15 septembre 2012, des membres de l'Agence nationale de renseignement (NIA) ontinvesti les locaux de deux journaux indépendants, The Standard et le Daily news,avant d'en ordonner la fermeture. Agissant sur ordre direct du chef de l'Etat,les agents ont indiqué ne pas disposer du motif de la sanction, ni connaître sadurée. Selon certaines sources, cette décision arbitraire résulterait de lapublication, dans ces deux titres, de contenus critiques (lettres, pétition..)à l'égard du choix de Yahya Jammeh de confirmer les condamnations à mort,pratique révolue dans le pays depuis 1981.
Desagents de la NIA avaient déjà ordonné, un mois plus tôt, la fermeture de laradio commerciale Teranga FM, pouravoir refusé d'arrêter la revue quotidienne de la presse gambienne. Ceprogramme très suivi, qui reprend l'ensemble des gros titres de la presseindépendante, permet à une population en majorité illettrée de pouvoir suivrel'actualité de leur pays en langues locales (Mandinka, Fula, Wolof). En janvier2011, cette radio, située à Sinchu Alhagie (Ouest), avait déjà fait l'objetd'une fermeture pour les mêmes raisons.
Certainsobservateurs voient, dans ce procédé, une sanction contre le ton décomplexéd'un talk-show hebdomadaire, où des représentants de l'opposition ont fustigéle bilan négatif du chef de l'Etat en matière des droits de l'homme.
Poursuivis pour un appel "àmanifester pacifiquement"
Arrêtésle 7 septembre 2012, deux journalistes ont été inculpés pour"conspiration" et "incitation à la violence", avant d'êtrelibérés sous caution. Leur tort : avoir déposé une demande d'autorisationauprès du ministère de l'Intérieur pour manifester pacifiquement contre denouvelles exécutions de prisonniers.
Baboucarr Ceesay, collaborateur du journal Daily news, est vice-président de la GPU, tandis qu'Abubaccar Saidykhan est journaliste indépendant.
BaboucarrCeesay est également poursuivi, depuis le 19 septembre, pour "publicationséditieuse" en raison d'un article paru dans la revue Africa Review, que le journaliste nie avoir écrit.
Journalistes étrangers, "personaenon gratae"
Aprèsavoir déclaré qu'il appartenait "aux Gambiens de résoudre leursproblèmes" sur l'antenne de RadioLiberté, Pape Alé Niang,journaliste pour la chaîne privée sénégalaise 2STV, s'est attiré les foudres du président Jammeh. Ce dernier amenacé le journaliste sénégalais de mort s'il envisageait de réaliser desreportages en territoire gambien.
Deuxsemaines plus tôt, Thomas Fessy,journaliste français pour la radio britannique British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), a été retenu pendant prèsde cinq heures à l'aéroport de Banjul. Le journaliste était muni d'un visa etavait pris soin d'avertir le ministère de l'Information de sa venue, mais il aété refoulé. Seul motif apparent : être journaliste. Malgré ses tentativesauprès de la Présidence, et du ministère des Affaires étrangères, Thomas Fessyn'a pu inverser la décision.
Lejournaliste se rendait en Gambie à la suite des révélations, par les autoritésgambiennes, de l'exécution de neuf condamnés à mort.
Poudre aux yeux ou promesses sincères?
Aulendemain de la visite du célèbre militant des droits civiques desafro-américains Jesse Jackson, en déplacement en Gambie pour demander la grâcedes prisonniers condamnés à mort, le président gambien a autorisé l'ONU àenquêter sur l'assassinat, en 2004, du directeur du journal privé The Point, Deyda Hydara, et sur la disparition, en 2006, du journaliste du Daily Observer, Chief Ebrima Manneh.
"Cesdeux affaires sont symptomatiques de l'impunité qui règne en Gambie concernantles violations de la liberté de la presse. Huit et six ans après ces faitsconsternants, aucun progrès dans les enquêtes n'a pu être observé. Si l'ONU esteffectivement autorisée à mener des investigations, elle doit faire appel à desenquêteurs internationaux indépendants qui doivent bénéficier de la coopérationtotale des services de sécurité gambiens", a déclaré Reporters sansfrontières.
Cofondateurde The Point, et correspondant de l'Agence France-Presse (AFP) et deReporters sans frontières, Deyda Hydara a été abattu au volant de sa voituredans la soirée du 16 décembre 2004. Selon un rapport de mission de Reporterssans frontières (lien : http://fr.rsf.org/gambie-deyda-hydara-mort-d-un-journaliste-16-05-2005,13789.html) paru en mai 2005, le journaliste le plus respectédu pays était sous étroite surveillance des services de renseignements gambiens(NIA). A ce jour, aucune investigation sérieuse de la part des autorités n'apermis d'identifier les responsables de ce drame.
Depuisson arrestation, le 7 juillet 2006, par des individus présentés comme membresde la NIA, le journaliste du DailyObserver, Chief Ebrimah Manneh, est porté disparu. Annonçant tantôt la mortdu journaliste, tantôt son installation aux Etats-Unis sans apporter de preuvesconcrètes, les autorités de Banjul ont démontré dans cette affaire leur volontéde s'exonérer totalement de leur responsabilité dans la disparition du journaliste.
En147e position, sur 179 pays, dans le classement mondial 2011-2012 dela liberté de la presse établi par Reporters sans frontières, la Gambie estrégulièrement condamnée par la communauté internationale pour les excès de sonprésident, paranoïaque et irrationnel.
__________________________________________________
REPORTERS SANS FRONTIÈRES
Ambroise PIERRE
Bureau Afrique / Africa Desk, Reporters W/o Borders
__________________________________________________
47 rue Vivienne, 75002 Paris - France
Tel : (33) 1 44 83 84 76
Fax : (33) 1 45 23 11 51
www.rsf.org | Twitter | Facebook
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