Senators in the US Government Power House Calls For The Release of Missing Gambian Journalist Chief Manneh
In a most recent whirlwind turn of events, Senator Richard Durbin led a team of six senators in the power hous of the US government, in advocacy for the release of missing Gambian Journalist, Chief Ebrima Manneh.
Journalist Manneh was detained by plain clothes security personnel since 2006. An ECOWAS community court of justice has also ruled that his detention was illegal and that the journalist be produced and be paid a compensation of $100, 000 in damages . The government of President Yaya Jammeh has since then ignored the courts ruling and continued to detaine the missing journalist.
It could also be recalled that Senator Richard Durbin made a similar call in the senate floor in the year 2007. His most recent call in the US Senate came at a time when reports on the faith of missing journalis Chief Manneh, indicated that he is already death. An African news agency quoted a Senior Gambian Police officer saying “Journalist Chief Manneh is no longer alive.” Amidst the epicenter of human rights abuses by the regime of President Yaya Jammeh the African news agency report only increased the moral outrage that Gambians are confronted with.
This call in the power house of the world’s most enduring democracy will bring to light a Gambia of broken times, a Gambia that has for a very long time been silent in rage, and a Gambia that is all set to be free from the shackles of dictatorship and tyranny. It is indeed a powerful message to Jammeh and his thugs that they shall be held accountable for all the right abuses meted on the peaceful Gambian people.
Please find below the full report on the courtery of the CPJ:
Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) leads a group of six senators to call for the immediate release of the former state Daily Observer newspaper, “Chief” Ebrima Manneh today. Colleagues at the newspaper say they witnessed two plainclothes Gambian National Intelligence Agency officers whisk Manneh, right, away in July 2006. He has not been seen since despite repeated calls to the government to disclose his whereabouts.
“The conflicting information and lack of responsiveness further the perception of a disturbing deterioration of human rights in the
Gambia, particularly in regards to basic press freedoms,” wrote the six senators, which, in addition to Durbin, include Sens. Russ Feingold, Robert Casey, Patty Murray, Joe Lieberman, and Ted Kennedy.
Their sentiments are supported by a whirlwind of denials and witness accounts. Recently, credible witnesses have reported that Manneh is still alive while an Agence-France Press article published last week quoted an unnamed senior police source who speculated that the journalist was dead. Sightings of Manneh have been reported throughout his disappearance from Mile Two Prison in the capital, Banjul, to the National Intelligence Agency compound in neighboring Serekunda, and all the way to eastern Gambia at Fatoto Prison.
Despite sightings and considerable international pressure, the Gambian government has consistently denied holding Manneh. The former communications secretary and current Gambian Ambassador to the United States, Neneh Macdouall-Gaye, told CPJ in 2007 that Manneh was not in government custody. The same response was echoed this month by Gambian Attorney General and Justice Minister Marie Saine Firdaus.
Local journalists and the Gambian Press Union have told CPJ that Manneh was abducted for simply trying to republish in the Daily Observer a BBC report that was critical of President Yahya Jammeh. But the former president of the Gambian Press Union, Demba Jawo, believes Manneh was targeted for his investigations into the 2005 killing of Ghanaian immigrants in the Gambia. Jawo is also the co-author of a book on the 2004 murder of the Gambian independent daily Point reporter, Deyda Hydara.
Whatever the motive behind Manneh’s disappearance, mounting international pressure on the Gambian government will hopefully induce some answers. A group of prominent lawyers and human rights experts called Freedom Now filed a petition for Manneh with the United Nations Human Rights Council’s Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. The petition was filed last November and a ruling is expected soon. Last week, Amnesty International launched a photo campaign urging answers. And exiled Gambians journalists throughout the world continue looking for answers to their former colleague’s disappearance.
Sen. Durbin’s second call for answers to Manneh’s disappearance sends a strong message to President Jammeh that the world will no longer tolerate silence on this tragic case. Read the entire letter here.
