Senator Richard Durbin’s Strong Worded Letter: Release Missing Gambian Journalist and Other Global Political Prisoners.

In a most recent strongly worded letter to the US  Senate President, Senator Richard Durbin of the US Senate House called for the release of global political prisoners under oppressive governments of the century.

He cited America’s commitment of redefining its value as a caring nation to be a fundamental tenet of shaping and strenghtening US leadership, and influence around the world.

The charismatic Senator thanked the Government of Turkministan for releasing one of its longest serving political prisoner. He however noted that similar actions are required for the remaining prisoners in that country.  

In the letter Senator Durbin raised concern about the plight of Burmese Nobel Prize Winner and opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, who remains languishing under the whimps and caprices of a cowardly military dictatorship.

On the miniscule West African State of The Gambia, Senator Durbin reminded the US President about the case of Journalist Chief Ebrima Manneh, who remains missing over the years. He cited the Gambia government’s failure of acknowleding to have custody of the missing journalist. 

Among other contentious issues he raised in Journalist Manneh’s case includes, efforts by The Media Foundation for West Africa, the Community Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West Africa States in Nigeria, and his efforts together with five other US Senators, in raising the missing journalist situation with the Gambian leader.

Please find Senator Richard Durbin’s Letter below:

RELEASE OF POLITICAL PRISONER IN
TURKMENISTAN

SENATOR RICHARD DURBIN

MAY 21, 2009

 

Mr/Mme President, for the past year I have been working to bring attention to human rights abuses, including little-known political prisoners languishing in prisons around the world. Too many jails still overflow with prisoners of conscience whose only crime is expecting basic freedoms, human rights, or due process.

 

I undertook this effort understanding it would not be easy. Few repressive regimes want to address their human rights records.

 

Through our annual human rights reporting at the State Department, our diplomacy, and steady public pressure on basic human rights, the US has traditionally been a champion and source of hope around the world for those suffering human rights violations — those holed up in dictators’ prisons, those fighting for press and political freedoms, those bravely standing up to tyranny or injustice.

 

Yet I worry that in recent years that America has not sufficiently raised its voice for these kinds of cases.

 

We should never forget what this kind of attention and pressure can accomplish and what kind of strength it provides for those being detained.

 

Take for example the appeal made by the Burmese Nobel Prize Winner Aung San Suu Kyi, who has remained under house arrest in Burma for most of the last 19 years and just this week found herself forced by the Burmese military to face new charges in a sham court proceeding:

“Those fortunate enough to live in societies where they are entitled to full political rights can reach out to help the less fortunate in other parts of our troubled planet……. Please use your liberty to promote ours.”

 

She is in deteriorating health and was apparently moved to a notorious prison this week. I think this is clearly a situation where we know that she needs our attention and help. Most people have read the account in newspapers about her problems and understand that she was victimized by an American who somehow managed to get into her home and in entering her home and staying overnight, violated the law.

 

I certainly hope that at the end of the day that her house arrest will come to an end and this poor woman will be given a chance to have freedom, which she richly deserves.

 

Mr/Mme President, today I am pleased to report the release of one of the first of the political prisoners my efforts have focused on – specifically a case in Turkmenistan.

 

Earlier this year I raised my concerns with the Government of Turkmenistan about four Turkmen political prisoners. These prisoners have languished in jail for years after being convicted of spurious charges at trials that failed to meet minimum international standards. Some have families with children; some are of advanced years and reportedly in poor health.

 

I had hoped that the new government in Turkmenistan would take important and forward thinking steps toward releasing political prisoners from an earlier era.

Earlier this month, one such political prisoner – in fact, the longest serving political prisoner in Turkmenistan– Mukhametkuli Aymuradov, was unconditionally released after 14 long years of confinement.

 

I want commend this decision and strongly encourage the Government of Turkmenistan to take similar actions for all other remaining political prisoners, including:

 

Gulgeldy Annaniyazov, a long-time political dissident who was arrested, apparently on charges that he did not possess valid travel documents, and sentenced to 11 years imprisonment; and

 

Annakurban Amanklychev and Sapardurdy Khadzhiev, members of the human-rights

organization Turkmenistan Helsinki Foundation, who were sentenced to six-to-seven-years in jail for reportedly “gathering slanderous information to spread public discontent.”

The freeing of Mr. Aymuradov is an important first step, but more are needed.

 

Gambian Journalist

 

I want to conclude by returning to the still unresolved case with which I started this effort – that of journalist Chief Ebrima Manneh from the small West African Nation of The Gambia.

 

Mr. Manneh was a reporter for the Gambian newspaper, the Daily Observer. He was allegedly detained in July 2006 by plainclothes National Intelligence Agency officials after he tried to republish a BBC report mildly critical of President Yahya Jammeh.

 

He has been held incommunicado, without charge or trial, for three years. Amnesty International considers him a prisoner of conscience and has called for his immediate release.

 

Three years without the government even acknowledging it took one of its own citizens –

without telling his family where he is being held — this is reprehensible. It is outrageous.

 

The Media Foundation for West Africa, a regional independent nongovernmental organization based in Ghana, filed suit on Mr. Manneh’s behalf in the Community Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West Africa States in Nigeria. This court has jurisdiction to determine cases of human rights violations that occur in any member state, including The Gambia.

 

In June 2008 the Court declared the arrest and detention of Mr. Manneh illegal and ordered his immediate release. A petition has also been filed on his behalf with the United Nations Human Rights Council’s Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, and a decision from this body is expected soon.

 

Yet despite the judgment of the court – as well as repeated requests by Mr. Manneh’s father, fellow journalists, and me, the Gambian Government continues to deny any involvement in his arrest or knowledge of his whereabouts.

 

That is why five other Senators, including Senators Feingold, Casey, Murray, Lieberman, and Kennedy joined me in a letter last month to Gambian President Jammeh about Mr. Manneh’s detention.

 

Our request was simple – President Jammeh, you owe the world and Mr. Manneh’s family an answer.

 

Mr/Mme President, America has been wrongly defined by our critics since 9/11. We need to define our values as a caring nation, dedicated to helping improve the lives of others overseas, including those living under repressive governments. Doing so is an important statement of who we are as a nation.