Press Release | June 18, 2009

The unlawful arrest and continuous incommunicado detention of the following Gambia Press Union officials: Mr. Emil Touray, Ms. Sarata Jabbi-Dibba, Pa Modou Faal, Mr. Pap Saine, Mr. Ebrima Sawaneh, Mr. Sam Sarr, Mr. Abubacarr Saidy Khan, Mr. Halifa Sallah and Mr. Abba Gibba is unconstitutional.

Gambians based in the United States, under the umbrella of the Movement for Democracy and Development (MDD) Organization, are watching the unfolding developments in The Gambia with total shock and disbelief especially the recent unlawful arrest and continuous detention of eight journalists and the leader of an opposition political party (NDD). The Gambia constitution requires that any person arrested be brought before a court of law within 72 hours.

Therefore, it is unconstitutional for the government to continuously detain the above persons incommunicado without charges. This unlawful detention is further evidence and justify that the Gambian government, under President Yahya Jammeh, has no respect for the Constitutional Rights of Gambian citizens.

After 14 years with so much innocent blood on its hands, the Gambian government is unremorsefully determined to add more to its list of those it has already killed including students. As a result of these alarming developments, we are adding our voice to those of the national and international Human Rights Organizations and individuals in condemning the unlawful detention of the above individuals. We believe President Jammeh’s government has lost its sense of direction, and will go to any length to arrest, and detain law abiding citizens whose only crime is to exercise their rights as guaranteed by the constitution. This is why the government has stood so low with no shame to arrest journalists just for a Press Statement the GPU made in defending a fellow murdered journalist.

Finally, we seriously condemn this wave of arrest and illegal detention of journalists by this oppressive regime, which has failed to address the real concerns of the Gambian people. We call on democratic Governments, Human Rights Organizations and People of conscience world wide, to denounce this dictatorship and call for an immediate and unconditional release of these innocent individuals.

Signed:

Saihou Mballow, Chairperson, Movement for Democracy and Development

 New York City, USA

Cc:

US State Department

Foreign and Commonwealth Office, London 

UN Commissioner for Human Rights

American Embassy, Banjul 

The Gambian Embassy, Washington ,

British high Commission, Banjul,

The Gambia Amnesty International,

Human Rights Watch,

CPJ Human Rights Institutions,

The Gambian Media,

Attorney General and Secretary of State for Justice,

Secretary of State for the Interior