Gambia: Pressure on President to respect court order

Press Statement:

MFWA urges ECOWAS leaders to pressure President Jammeh to respect ECOWAS court order

The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) is asking Heads of state for the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), meeting for the 34th Ordinary Summit in Abuja, particularly its current chairman, President Blaisé Compoare to ensure that the government of President Yahya Jammeh of The Gambia releases detained Gambian journalist, Chief Ebrima Manneh, unconditionally.

Following a suit filed by MFWA to the ECOWAS court to compel the government of the Gambia to free Manneh, on June 5, 2008 the court ordered that Manneh be released and compensation be paid him for the violation of his human rights.

Characteristic of The Gambian authorities, three weeks after the court’s pronouncement they have fallen silent on the matter.

Manneh has been in detention since he was arrested on July 7, 2006 by agents of the notoriously feared National Intelligence Agency (NIA) in the presence of his colleagues on the premises of the pro-government Daily Observer newspaper. Manneh's detention is claimed to be related to information he allegedly leaked to a foreign journalist who wrote a feature article on the African Union summit held in Banjul.

Of great concern is the fact that, although the journalist has been sighted several times, the last time being on July 27, 2007, the government has consistently refused to acknowledge detaining him. It has also not made any official statement on the case; neither has it made any attempt at investigating the circumstance leading to Manneh’s “disappearance”.

On January 9, 2005, President Jammeh was among 15 heads of state who signed a supplementary protocol amending the 1991 Protocol on the Community Court of Justice to include trial of human rights violations of citizens.

The Gambian government also refused to appear before the court. Five state agents who were alleged to have played various roles in the arrest and subsequent detention of Manneh also refused to appear before the court.

The position of the government of The Gambia is likely to have far-reaching and potentially dangerous implications for human rights in West Africa. Therefore we feel it is incumbent for the government of President Jammeh to honour the recommendations of the protocol, and respect the orders of the regional court.

We are appealing to free expression organisations to put pressure on President Jammeh to ensure the release of Manneh and improve on the human rights situation in The Gambia.

Issued by the MFWA, Accra, June 24, 2008.

The MFWA is a regional independent, non-profit, non-governmental organization based in Accra. It was founded in 1997 to defend and promote the rights and freedom of the media and all forms of expression.

Prof. Kwame Karikari
Executive Director
MFWA
Accra
Tel: 233 21 24 24 70
Fax: 233 21 221084
Website: www.mediafound.org
Email: [email][email protected]

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