Musa Saidykhan and Ebrima Manneh: Justice Subverted by the State

The Media Foundation for West Africa files a suit at the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice to compel the Gambian authorities to release Chief Ebrima Manneh. In its application on behalf of Manneh, the MFWA seeks a declaration that the arrest of Chief Ebrima Manneh is illegal and in violation of a number of his rights as guaranteed under the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights, including his right to personal liberty. In addition, the application seeks a court order mandating that the Gambian state immediately release Manneh from custody.

On 31 May, the Gambian government is officially served a legal summons through its High Commission in Abuja, the capital of Nigeria, where the Court is sitting. However, without notification or explanation to the Court, the Gambian government fails to file a defence within the 30-day period stipulated. On 14 July, The ECOWAS Court serves the Gambian government with a hearing notice through its High Commission in Abuja on 14 July 2007.

On 16 July 2007, the government of the Gambia fails to make an appearance at the ECOWAS Community Court in Abuja, Nigeria to answer charges that they had violated the rights of Ebrima Manneh. The Court adjourns the case to 26 September 2007, to give the government a chance to make an appearance.

On 17 July, The newly formed Network of Human Rights Journalists (NHRJ), a local human rights advocacy group, organises a symposium to mark the anniversary of Manneh’s disappearance and to sustain local and international pressure on the government of President Yahya Jammeh to have him unconditionally released. The symposium, themed “Guarantee to Freedom of the Press in the Gambia,” also demands an end to impunity for attacks against journalists and media in the country. The NHRJ invites three government officials to address the forum, including the Attorney General, the Inspector General of Police of Gambia, and Saja Taal, Managing Director of the Daily Observer and close confidante of President Jammeh, who had also been accused of masterminding Manneh’s arrest. None of the three officials appear at the symposium.

On 26 July, Chief Ebrima Manneh is seen at the Royal Victoria Teaching Hospital (RVTH), the largest hospital in the Gambia, where he had been hospitalized for treatment of high blood pressure. MFWA’s sources report that Manneh was seen in the company of personnel of the Police Intervention Unit (PIU), a paramilitary wing of the Gambian Police Force and Prison Service. The sources said Manneh, who was very weak at the time, had briefly been admitted to the hospital before being transferred to a military clinic in Banjul.

On 5 June, After consistently denying any knowledge of Chief Ebrima Manneh’s whereabouts, and demonstrating gross disrespect for the ECOWAS Court by refusing to cooperate throughout the proceedings, the government of President Yayah Jammeh is ordered to immediately release Chief Ebrima Manneh, who had been illegally held incommunicado for nearly two years. The court also asks the Gambian authorities to pay Manneh US$100,000 as compensation. The judgment is given in absentia, as the Gambian government continues to refuse to show up.

On 31 August Following the Saidykhan suit against the Gambia, the state sends a proposal to ECOWAS to restrict access to the Community Court by creating amendments to the treaty it was created under that would limit the court’s jurisdiction. However the proposal is widely condemned by ECOWAS member states and unanimously defeated by the ECOWAS Council of Justice Ministers.

On 15 December 2009, The ECOWAS Community Court adjourns the case until 23 February 2010 to enable the counsel of Saidykhan to reply to the submission made by the Gambian government.

On 7 July, the ECOWAS Community Court again adjourns the hearing of Musa Saidykhan’s torture case to 21 September 2010 to enable the Gambian government to respond to amendments filed by Saidykhan’s counsel. His counsel had filed a motion asking the court for leave to amend their earlier brief and enable Musa to produce additional material evidence, including the clothing he had worn in detention and his medical records at the time.

On 21 October in Abuja, Nigeria, the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice dismisses the objection raised by the Gambian authorities against allowing additional material evidence to be considered. This ruling meant that the court would consider in its judgment the clothing that Saidykhan wore during his torture ordeal, as well as his medical records, which he had submitted during previous testimony.

On 16 December 2010, the regional court confirms that President Yahya Jammeh’s security agents had tortured Saidykhan in 2006 while he was in detention at the NIA. It also rules that Saidykhan’s arrest and subsequent detention were illegal and violated his right to personal liberty and a fair hearing as guaranteed by Articles 6 and 7 of the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights. The ECOWAS court awards Saidykhan damages of US$200,000.

On 31 March, the Gambian Government files a suit at the ECOWAS Community Court asking the Court to review its rulings on the Saidykhan and Manneh cases. The Gambian authorities state in their applications that they are “dissatisfied” with both judgements. According to the application, the Gambian authorities claimed there was a “miscarriage of justice since the court failed to properly appraise the evidence on record,” in the case of Musa Saidykhan. They also complained that the award of “US$200,000 to the Plaintiff (Saidykhan) is outrageous since there is no evidence on record to show the basis upon which the amount was calculated”. Issues were also raised with the fact that the compensation was determined in USD and not the Gambian Dalasi “given that the plaintiff is a citizen and at all times a resident of The Gambia.”

On 6 February, the ECOWAS Community Court orders the Gambian government to comply with its ruling on Musa Saidykahn, dismissing the request for review by the Gambian authorities on the grounds that there was no new evidence to justify their objection. After reviewing the case of disappeared journalist Ebrima Manneh, the court ruled in favour of The Gambia after the state claimed per its constitution, persons can only be declared missing after 7 years. The Court however maintained that The Gambia should pay the compensation and produce Manneh after the seven years lapse.

In March 2017, the MFWA conducted a media-assessment mission to the Gambia with the issue of impunity for past abuses under the Jammeh regime, including the cases of Saidykhan and Manneh, high on the agenda. During this time, President Adama Barrow indicated his commitment to press freedom and addressing crimes against journalists in the country.