The following is a WPFC letter to President Jammeh urging him to immediately withdraw libel charges against journalists of “The Independent”: Fax Letter to: +220 227 034 H.E. Yahya A. Jemus Junkung Jammeh President Banjul, Gambia Dear Col. Jammeh, On behalf of the World Press Freedom Committee, which includes 44 journalistic organizations on six continents, […]
The following is a WPFC letter to President Jammeh urging him to immediately withdraw libel charges against journalists of “The Independent”:
Fax Letter to: +220 227 034
H.E. Yahya A. Jemus Junkung Jammeh
President
Banjul, Gambia
Dear Col. Jammeh,
On behalf of the World Press Freedom Committee, which includes 44 journalistic organizations on six continents, I urge you to immediately withdraw libel charges instituted unjustly against journalists of The Independent newspaper, and to cease what has become a pattern of harassment against journalists in your country.
The most recent example of egregious violation of journalists’ rights – the international community has been made aware of at least seven others in 1999 alone – occurred two days after Christmas, when The Independent’s managing editor, Alagi Yorro Jallow, editor-in-chief Baba Galleh Jallow and reporters N.B. Daffeh and Jalali Walli were arrested and charged with ‘libel against the president’ for publishing a story relating reports that you had married. The editors and reporters stand by the accuracy of the story.
I feel certain that you want Gambia to prosper, to become a full-fledged player on the global front and to enjoy international respect. Your government has indeed claimed that “maintenance of democracy, adherence to the rule of law and preservation of fundamental human rights constitute an integral part of the Gambia’s political framework.”
Clearly, you are familiar with the principles of democracy. As a student army officer in the early 1990s, you studied in the U.S. State of Georgia and were made an honorary citizen. Later, you were awarded the 1997 Pan-African Humanitarian Award by the Pan-African Foundation and the World Council of Culture.
Unfortunately, your government has yet to demonstrate recognition of the reality that a free press is essential to a democracy and, ultimately, to the economic and social health of any nation. If citizens are deprived of truth and information, they cannot make wise choices. And a country where decisions are based on misinformation is doomed to economic, political and social stagnation.
Journalists in Gambia have been subjected to harassment, arrest and arbitrary laws since your election in September 1996. The current campaign against journalists of The Independent represents continuation of this unfortunate trend.
I respectfully submit, Mr. President, that news regarding the possible marriage of a country’s head of state is certainly the business of that nation’s citizens. Your government and your presidency exist to serve your people, not the reverse. And as a public official, you are the rightful object of more, not less, public scrutiny than other citizens.
Further, as a member of the United Nations, Gambia is bound to respect provisions of the U.N.’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states in its Article 19: “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”
I urge you to show the world that Gambia is a nation that is stable and secure enough to support democracy, by abandoning restrictions on the press and welcoming a free flow of news and comment.
Sincerely,
Marilyn J. Greene
Executive Director
Recommended Action
Similar appeals can be sent to:
H.E. Yahya A. Jemus Junkung Jammeh
President
Office of the President
State House
Banjul, Gambia
Fax: +220 227 034
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