Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders Annual Report 2006 - Senegal

Intimidation against Mr. Cheikh Yérim Seck⁷⁹

In mid-October 2006, Mr. Cheikh Yérim Seck, a reporter for the French weekly Jeune Afrique, was informed of a possible attack against him. Indeed, as his car had been impounded for several days at the Medina police station in Senegal, a police source "advised" him to have it checked before taking it back, suggesting that it could have been booby-trapped in an attempt on his life.

Mr. Seck's vehicle had been immobilised after his driving licence and the car's registration documents and insurance certificate were successively confiscated by the police, for no apparent reason. By the end of 2006, these documents had not yet been returned.

In addition, Mr. Seck, who is presently living in France, was regularly followed when travelling in Senegal in the course of the year. Likewise, his personal phone was continuously tapped and he was informed that the Senegalese police services held files regarding his private life.

Mr. Seck was further repeatedly targeted by smear campaigns orchestrated by pro-governmental Senegalese media, who even outrageously accused him of paedophilia in July 2005.

Mr. Seck, who regularly denounces corruption scandals in the country, has also published numerous articles on the case of Mr. Hissène Habré, former Chadian dictator in exile in Senegal, who was indicted in 2000 by a Senegalese Court for complicity in crimes against humanity, torture and atrocities. He was arrested by Senegalese authorities in November 2005 following an extradition request submitted by Belgium.

Death threats against Mr. Alioune Tine, Ms. Dié Maty Fall and Mr. Jacques Habib Sy⁸⁰

On November 25, 2006, Ms. Dié Maty Fall, a journalist for the daily Sud Quotidien, was threatened by unidentified individuals who called her mother and asked if she was home, before stating in their final call that she had to "put an end to her activities and (...) mind her own business".

During the night of November 26 to 27, 2006, Mr. Alioune Tine, secretary general of the NGO African Engagement for the Defence of Human Rights (Rencontre africaine pour la défense des droits de l'Homme – RADDHO), received three different phone calls by a person who introduced himself as Mr. X. This person urged Mr. Tine to cease his activities and "advised" him to "think a bit more about himself, his family and his children".

Ms. Maty Fall and Mr. Tine were threatened two days after the publication of a statement entitled "Civic resistance for the safeguard of the institutions of the Republic" that they had signed along with several other civil society representatives and members of the Monitoring Committee of the Republican Pact (Comité de suivi du Pacte républicain). In particular, this document denounced the "arbitrary arrests" and "inappropriate summonses to the Criminal Investigation Division (Division des investigations criminelles – DIC)" regularly targeted at human rights defenders and journalists in the country. Shortly before this statement was signed, Mr. Tine had also called on the authorities to promote a political context conducive to the democratic participation and expression of all groups within society.

In an increasingly tense pre-electoral context, these threats were indicative of the degradation of fundamental freedoms, in particular freedom of expression, in Senegal. In early November 2006 for instance, Mr. Jacques Habib Sy, director of the NGO Aid Transparency, was also threatened with death, while several journalists denouncing the repeated infringements of democratic procedures and the rule of law were regularly targeted by high-ranking officials.

Finally, on December 28, 2006, while at a funeral, Ms. Maty Fall was approached and attacked by an unknown woman who violently threw her on the floor and bit her on the back of the neck, accusing her of discrediting the President of the Republic Mr. Abdoulaye Wade. Ms. Maty Fall filed a complaint and the case remained under investigation as of the end of 2006.

[Refworld note: This report as posted on the FIDH website (www.fidh.org) was in pdf format with country chapters run together by region. Footnote numbers have been retained here, so do not necessarily begin at 1.]

79. See Urgent Appeal SEN 001/1006/OBS 122.

80. See Urgent Appeal SEN 002/1206/OBS 152.