Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders Annual Report 2004 - Gambia

Adoption of restrictive legislation on freedom of the press⁸⁹

On 13 December 2004, the Parliament abrogated the 2002 National Media Commission Act and adopted the Newspaper Amendment Act, the enactment of which invalidates registration of all media in the country and obliges them to re-register with the Registrar General's Office, that falls under the authority of the Ministry of Information, within two weeks of the coming into force of the Act. This law also imposes a fivefold increase in the sum that newspaper owners have to pay for their licence.

Moreover, on 14 December 2004, the Parliament adopted the Criminal Code Amendment Bill 2004, which provides for imprisonment of up to three years, without the option of a fine, for press offences, which include libel, (the definition of which was expanded), sedition and the dissemination of false news.

The President, Mr. Yahya Jammeh, had not signed these two laws by end 2004. Apparently, discussions on these two texts were underway between the government and the Gambia's main press union.

Assassination of Mr. Deida Hydara⁹⁰

Mr. Deida Hydara, a journalist, was assassinated during the night of 16-17 December 2004 while driving home two of his colleagues, Mrs. Ida Jagne-Joof and Mrs. Nyang Jobe. Mr. Hydara was killed at point-blank range by three shots in the head, by unidentified individuals whose car was passing his. His two colleagues were wounded in the legs and had to be taken to the hospital.

Mr. Hydara used to work as the correspondent for the Agence France Presse (AFP) in the Gambia since 1974 and for Reporters Without Borders (Reporters Sans Frontières – RSF) since 1994. He also was the co-owner of the newspaper The Point. Mr. Hydara was especially well-known for his commitment to freedom of the press and human rights, and had written two articles in his newspaper, just a few days before his death, criticising the adoption of the two aforementioned acts. He was also the initiator of the open letter dated 16 December that RSF sent to the President of the Republic of the Gambia, urging him not to sign the two bills into law.

The Gambian authorities promised to carry out a thorough investigation into this assassination, but the perpetrators had not yet been identified by end of December 2004.

[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.]

88. See above.

89. See Urgent Appeal GMB 001/1204/OBS 095.

90. Idem.