Gambia / Africa

  

Gambian police attack, detain journalist Yusef Taylor

Abuja, August 3, 2022 – Gambian authorities should swiftly investigate and hold to account the police officers who harassed journalist Yusef Taylor, drop any charges against the journalist, and allow him to work freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. On July 5, police officers blocked Taylor, editor and manager of the privately owned…

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CPJ urges Gambia authorities to prioritize legal reforms, accountability for crimes against the press

Abuja, June 29, 2022 – Gambian authorities should adopt the reforms recommended by the country’s Truth, Reconciliation, and Reparations Commission (TRRC)—including ensuring journalists are not prosecuted for sedition—work to swiftly hold former President Yahya Jammeh and members of his “Junglers” death squad to account for their crimes against journalists, and end the culture of impunity…

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Gambian police detain journalist documenting COVID-19 protests

On June 21, 2020, officers of Gambia’s anti-crime police unit detained Ebou N. Keita, an editor and camera operator with the privately owned Gambian Talents Television broadcaster, for photographing police arresting people protesting the country’s COVID-19 restrictions, according to Keita and Gambian Talents Television founder Pa Ousman Joof, both of whom spoke to CPJ via…

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A demonstrator is seen in Banjul, Gambia, on January 25, 2020. Two radio stations were recently shut down and their staffers arrested over their coverage of the protests. (AFP/Romain Chanson)

Gambian radio journalists arrested, outlets shut down over protest coverage

Abuja, Nigeria, January 31, 2020 — Gambian authorities should immediately drop the charges against broadcast journalists Pa Modou Bojang and Gibbi Jallow, and permit the Home Digital FM and King FM radio stations to reopen, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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AFP correspondent Deyda Hydara, front, pictured in November 1999. (AFP/Seyllou)

Deyda Hydara’s daughter: ‘I am still crying’ for murdered Gambian journalist

At Gambia’s Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC) on July 22, army officer Lieutenant Malick Jatta named former President Yahya Jammeh as the mastermind behind the murder of prominent editor Deyda Hydara on December 16 , 2004. He said Jammeh had given the direct order to assassinate Hydara, an outspoken critic who was the managing…

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AFP correspondent Deyda Hydara, front, pictured in November 1999. In testimony to a truth commission, a Gambian army officer accused ex-President Yahya Jammeh of ordering the 2004 murder. (AFP/Seyllou)

Gambia ex-President Jammeh ordered Deyda Hydara’s murder, truth commission told

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A man fixes Gambia's flag on Feburary 16, 2017, during preparations for the swearing-in ceremony for Gambia's new president, Adama Barrow. Gambia's Supreme Court decided on May 9, 2018, to declare criminal defamation unconstitutional, but upheld segments of the country's criminal code on sedition and false news, according to reports. (Reuters/Thierry Gouegnon)

Gambia declares criminal defamation unconstitutional, keeps some laws on sedition, false news

Nairobi, May 10, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the Gambian Supreme Court’s decision yesterday to declare criminal defamation unconstitutional, but is dismayed that segments of the country’s criminal code on sedition and false news were upheld.

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A supporter of Gambia's President Adama Barrow waves an ECOWAS flag at his swearing-in ceremony in February 2017. An ECOWAS court ruling calls on Gambia to repeal its criminal libel and false news laws. (Reuters/Thierry Gouegnon)

ECOWAS court rules Gambia violated rights of journalists

New York, February 14, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists called on the Gambian government to act on a judgment passed today by the Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to immediately repeal its laws on criminal libel, sedition, and false news.

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Former Gambia President Yahya Jammeh, pictured in November 2016, is among the suspected human rights abusers to be penalized under the U.S. Magnitsky Act. (Reuters/Thierry Gouegnon)

Mixed first year, but Global Magnitsky Act could be strong tool in fight for justice

In December, the U.S. government announced the names of those it will penalize under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights and Accountability Act.

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Fishermen rest in the Gambian city Banjul, April 19, 2017. (Reuters/Luc Gnago)

Gambia’s Daily Observer newspaper closed for two weeks

Police and officials from the Gambia Revenue Agency (GRA) on June 14, 2017, shut down the Daily Observer newspaper and forced all staff from the publication to leave the office, saying the publication owed 17 million dalasi (U.S.$371,415) in unpaid taxes, Daily Observer Managing Director Pa Modou Mbowe told the Committee to Protect Journalists. The…

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