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

International Federation for Human Rights, Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders Annual Report 2006 - Gambia, 14 March 2007, https://www.refworld.org/reference/annualreport/ifhr/2007/en/59464 [accessed 24 April 2024]
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Obstacles to a civil society forum68

Ban of a forum on freedom of expression during the African Union Summit

On the occasion of the 7th Summit of the African Union (AU) held in Banjul from June 25 to July 2, 2006, several civil society organisations decided to organise a forum on freedom of expression in Africa. It was scheduled to take place in Banjul on June 29 and 30, 2006.

On June 19, 2006 however, Mr. Bolong Sonko, head of the Coordinating Committee set up by the Gambian government to supervise the organisation of the AU Summit, communicated a letter to The Association of Non-Governmental Organisations (TANGO) notifying the organisers of the forum that the event was officially banned. The Kombo Beach Hotel, where the forum was due to be held, also received a copy of this letter.

Mr. Bolong Sonko justified his decision by asserting that the issues to be addressed by the forum were not among those proposed for consultation with NGOs in the framework of the Summit. However, most other civil society workshops were authorised.

The forum on freedom of expression was eventually held in Saly-Portudal, Senegal, on June 29 and 30, 2006.

Repression against the Daily Express

The Daily Express, an independent newspaper, was launched on July 1, 2006 on the occasion of the opening of the 7th ordinary session of the AU Assembly of Heads of State and Government. In its first edition, it notably published the press release issued by civil society organisations protesting against the ban of the forum on freedom of expression.

On July 5, 2006, the pro-governmental Daily Observer accused the Daily Express of "tarnish[ing] the image of the country".

On July 14, 2006, Mr. Abdul Gafari, founder of the Daily Express, and Mr. Sam Obi, a journalist, were arrested by the National Intelligence Agency (NIA).

On the same day, Mr. Sulaymane Makato, another journalist for the Daily Express, received two anonymous text messages on his cell phone threatening him with arrest and urging him to "leave before it [was] too late". Mr. Makato immediately went into hiding and stopped his activities with the newspaper.

Messrs. Obi and Gafari were released without charge on July 18, 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.]

68. See Mauritanian Association for Human Rights (Association mauritanienne des droits de l'Homme – AMDH).

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