Committee to Protect Journalists
330 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001 USA Phone: (212) 465-1004 Fax: (212) 
465-9568 Web: www.cpj.org E-Mail: [log in to unmask]

US-based Gambian journalist detained

New York, March 30, 2007 - The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned 
about reports that a U.S.-based Gambian journalist and outspoken critic of 
President Yahyah Jammeh has been detained since Wednesday by security 
services.

Fatou Jaw Manneh, political commentator with the U.S.-based opposition news 
Web site All-Gambian.net and former senior reporter of the private Daily 
Observer, was arrested on her arrival at the airport in the capital Banjul, 
according to several sources. Her family has not heard from her since, they 
said. The reason for her arrest and her place of detention are unknown, but 
the move was linked to a series of editorials very critical of Jammeh's 
government, according to local journalists. CPJ's calls to the police and 
the information ministry were not returned.

"We are concerned about the safety of Fatou Jaw Manneh," said CPJ Executive 
Director Joel Simon. "We call on the authorities to explain the detention of 
Manneh or release her immediately."

Manneh obtained political asylum in the U.S. in late 1994, shortly after 
Jammeh seized power in a coup, exiled former Daily Observer editor Demba 
Jawo told CPJ. Unsolved arson attacks on media houses, arrests, extended 
secret detentions and the unsolved murder of a prominent editor have forced 
many journalists into exile in recent years.

In September 2003, Manneh's editorial entitled "Jammeh under the microscope" 
led to the three-day detention without charge of Editor Abdoulie Sey of the 
defunct private biweekly The Independent, according to CPJ research. The 
article criticized Jammeh's regime for alleged endemic poverty and 
corruption. She is a leading member of a U.S.-based opposition group called 
Save The Gambia Democracy Project, according to editor Ebrima Sankareh of 
the online forum Thegambiaecho.com.

CPJ is a New York-based, independent, nonprofit organization that works to 
safeguard press freedom worldwide. For more information, visit www.cpj.org.

_________________________________________________________________
Express yourself instantly with MSN Messenger! Download today it's FREE! 
http://messenger.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200471ave/direct/01/

いいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいい
To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface
at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html

To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l
To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
[log in to unmask]
いいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいい