GAMBIAAFFAIRS:GAMBIA:ECOWAS STATEMENT ON THE 24 NOVEMBER 2011 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION IN THE GAMBIA

PRESS RELEASE COMMUNIQUE DE PRESSE

The ECOWAS Commission has informed the President of the Gambia about its  decision not to dispatch an ECOWAS Observer Mission to the Presidential  Election scheduled to take place in the country on 24 November 2011, because  the preparations and political environment for the said election are adjudged  by the Commission not to be conducive for the conduct of free, fair and  transparent polls. In keeping with the pertinent provisions of the ECOWAS Supplementary Protocol  on Democracy and Good Governance, the President of the Commission dispatched a  fact-finding mission to the Gambia, during which the mission interacted with a  wide range of stakeholders to assess the state of preparedness of the country  for the election. The Commission has also been conducting a regular monitoring  of the political situation and preparations in the lead-up to the election  through the ECOWAS Early Warning System. Unfortunately, the reports of the fact-finding mission and the Early Warning  System paint a picture of intimidation, an unacceptable level of control of  the electronic media by the party in power, the lack of neutrality of state  and para-statal institutions, and an opposition and electorate cowed by  repression and intimidation. In the circumstance, the ECOWAS Commission is of  the view that the conditions prevailing in the country do not meet the minimum  standards set under the Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance for the  conduct of elections and has, therefore, decided to exercise the discretionary  powers conferred on the Commission's President under the Protocol to stand  down the ECOWAS Observer Mission. While regretting the decision forced upon it by the circumstances, the ECOWAS  Commission will remain seized with the situation in the Gambia, and expresses  its readiness to engage the Government and other stakeholders in the Gambian  polity, with a view to accompanying them in their endeavour to create a level  playing field for future elections.  His Excellency James Victor Gbeho President of the Commission	

Gambia Affairs:Gambia:Media Group Condemns Police in NY Protest

By Mariano Andrade

NEW YORK, November 16, 2011 (AFP) - A US media group condemned New York police Wednesday for their treatment of journalists covering the eviction of Occupy Wall Street protesters in the city.
About half a dozen journalists were arrested during and soon after Tuesday's massive police operation against the protest tent camp in Zuccotti Park, in the Financial District.
The arrests were among more than 200 overall as police rounded up demonstrators refusing to leave the park and another location that was briefly taken over by the crowd.
The Society of Professional Journalists issued a statement calling for dropping charges against journalists arrested in New York and in similar protests in other US states.
"SPJ calls for all charges against these journalists to be dropped and for greater care by police to avoid arresting or otherwise obstructing journalists who are simply and clearly doing their jobs," the statement said.
"We know that as protests escalate it may be difficult for police to distinguish bystanders from participants, but it is clear now that many journalists have been erroneously arrested without cause," SPJ President John Ensslin said.
Another CPJ official, Carlos Lauria, said he was "alarmed" and criticized restrictions on media access to the immediate site of the New York eviction. "It is particularly disturbing that government officials sought to block any coverage of the event at all," he said.
Reporters and camera crews were allowed to observe the eviction of the camp from across the street and could talk to departing protesters. But they were not allowed into the interior of the square where police were removing tents and expelling the demonstrators.
One freelance camerawoman, who asked not to be identified, said she was arrested for "obstructing pedestrian traffic" near Zuccotti Park. Although she was soon released, she must go before a judge in January.
"During my detention I was not allowed to make a call, so my boss didn't know anything about me for three hours," she said.
Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said five journalists were arrested. He denied that any rights were violated, saying the reporters had been trespassing, along with demonstrators, on private property in an incident after the Zuccotti Park eviction, and had then refused to leave.
"They were arrested with the demonstrators. I think there was confusion on their part as to just what they're allowed to do. They're private citizens -- they were technically trespassing. That was worked out and their arrests were voided," Kelly said in an interview with NY1 television.
Regarding restrictions on movement of reporters at the eviction itself, Kelly said that was normal.
"We never allow reporters to go into the scene of an operation. It's like having them go into a crime scene," he said.

Gambia Affairs:Gambia:US Senator Durbin Presses Gambian Government on Chief Ebrima Manneh

 

 

For Immediate Release

Contact: Max Gleischman

202.228.5244

November 2, 2011

 

DURBIN PRESSES GAMBIAN GOVERNMENT ON CHIEF MANNEH CASE

Applauds British Role in Investigating the Disappearance of Gambian Journalist

 

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) sent a letter today to the Gambian Attorney General, Edward Gomez, requesting information about Chief Ebrima Manneh, a Gambian journalist who has been missing for more than five years. According to recent comments by Attorney General Gomez, Manneh, who many worried had died while in Gambian custody, is alive.

 

"I am writing to request immediate information regarding Chief Ebrima Manneh, a Gambian journalist with the Daily Observer who has been missing since a troubling detention by Gambian security personnel more than five years ago.  In light of your recent comments claiming that Manneh is alive -- a stark contrast from previous Gambian government silence and denials regarding his whereabouts -- I ask that you immediately provide any information regarding Manneh's location and condition," Durbin wrote to AG Gomez."If Chief Manneh is, in fact, alive, and you do have knowledge of his whereabouts, helping  to resolve his disappearance could add credibility to your recent comments at the 50^th session of the African Commission on Human and People's Rights, during which you spoke of the need to "speak out against human rights abuses."   Sadly, without an immediate accounting for Mr. Manneh, those words will ring hollow in Gambia and around the world."

 

Durbin also wrote to British Foreign Secretary William Hague, expressing his strong support for the United Kingdom's role in investigating Chief Manneh's case.

 

Durbin wrote; "I respectfully ask you to investigate Chief Manneh's disappearance and urge you to continue to press the Gambian government to respect its international commitments as a member of both the UN and the Commonwealth in this case."

 

Chief Manneh was reportedly detained in July 2006 for political reasons by plainclothes police officers thought to have been from the Gambian National Intelligence Agency.  Some reports suggest that he has being held at the Fatoto Police Station in eastern Gambia, at Mile Two Prison, or a National Intelligence Agency compound in Serekunda.  In July 2007, he was also reportedly escorted by members of the Gambian Police Intervention Unit to the Royal Victoria Teaching Hospital in Banjul for high blood pressure treatment. He has not been seen since.

 

Both the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Community Court of Justice and the UN Human Rights Council's Working Group on Arbitrary Detention have called for the immediate release of Mr. Manneh.

 

Durbin, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights, has been pressing for Chief Manneh's release for several years.

 

Copies of today's letters are attached.

Gambia Affairs:Gambia:Senator Durbin Presses Gambian Government on Chief Ebrima Manneh Case

 

For Immediate Release

Contact: Max Gleischman

202.228.5244

November 2, 2011

 

DURBIN PRESSES GAMBIAN GOVERNMENT ON CHIEF MANNEH CASE

Applauds British Role in Investigating the Disappearance of Gambian Journalist

 

Senator Dick Durbin

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) sent a letter today to the Gambian Attorney General, Edward Gomez, requesting information about Chief Ebrima Manneh, a Gambian journalist who has been missing for more than five years. According to recent comments by Attorney General Gomez, Manneh, who many worried had died while in Gambian custody, is alive.

 

"I am writing to request immediate information regarding Chief Ebrima Manneh, a Gambian journalist with the Daily Observer who has been missing since a troubling detention by Gambian security personnel more than five years ago.  In light of your recent comments claiming that Manneh is alive -- a stark contrast from previous Gambian government silence and denials regarding his whereabouts -- I ask that you immediately provide any information regarding Manneh's location and condition," Durbin wrote to AG Gomez."If Chief Manneh is, in fact, alive, and you do have knowledge of his whereabouts, helping  to resolve his disappearance could add credibility to your recent comments at the 50^th session of the African Commission on Human and People's Rights, during which you spoke of the need to "speak out against human rights abuses."   Sadly, without an immediate accounting for Mr. Manneh, those words will ring hollow in Gambia and around the world."

 

Durbin also wrote to British Foreign Secretary William Hague, expressing his strong support for the United Kingdom's role in investigating Chief Manneh's case.

 

Durbin wrote; "I respectfully ask you to investigate Chief Manneh's disappearance and urge you to continue to press the Gambian government to respect its international commitments as a member of both the UN and the Commonwealth in this case."

 

Chief Manneh was reportedly detained in July 2006 for political reasons by plainclothes police officers thought to have been from the Gambian National Intelligence Agency.  Some reports suggest that he has being held at the Fatoto Police Station in eastern Gambia, at Mile Two Prison, or a National Intelligence Agency compound in Serekunda.  In July 2007, he was also reportedly escorted by members of the Gambian Police Intervention Unit to the Royal Victoria Teaching Hospital in Banjul for high blood pressure treatment. He has not been seen since.

 

Both the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Community Court of Justice and the UN Human Rights Council's Working Group on Arbitrary Detention have called for the immediate release of Mr. Manneh.

 

Durbin, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights, has been pressing for Chief Manneh's release for several years.

 

Copies of today's letters are attached.