Click here to read more about press freedom conditions in THE GAMBIA. New York, April 12, 2000 — Popular Gambian journalist Omar Barrow, a news editor with the privately-owned Senegalese radio station SUD FM, which broadcasts in the Gambia, was shot dead on April 10 by a uniformed member of the Gambian army’s anti-riot unit,…
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is outraged at the recent arson attack against the editorial offices of the Banjul-based private broadcaster Radio 1 FM. While a police investigation is ongoing, sources in the Gambia told CPJ that the attack might have come in response to Radio 1 FM’s critical discussions of your government’s human-rights and other policies.
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply concerned about recent press freedom violations in The Gambia, including the prosecution of one journalist on murder charges. Based on our investigation into the abuses related in this letter, we have come to the unfortunate conclusion that these attacks against journalists are not isolated incidents, but part of a systematic campaign to suppress reporting on issues of legitimate public concern.