Gambia's private press 'hobbled'
2009-05-04 08:13
Dakar - Privately owned media in Gambia have been "hobbled by an extremely threatening climate" since the 2004 murder of a journalist and the disappearance of another, media watchdog RSF (Reporters Sans Frontieres) said on Sunday.
Gambia was "the reserve of a small clique of frequently irrational soldiers, who imprison, torture and terrorise often randomly, those who dare to clash with the head of state or his friends," said the group.
That threatening climate was bolstered by defamation laws among the most draconian in West Africa, said Reporters without Borders (RSF) in a statement.
'Most prominent journalist'
The December 16 2004 murder of Deyda Hydara, "the country's most prominent journalist," had marked a turning point, said RSF.
Hydara had been editor of the weekly The Point, president of the country's journalists' union, correspondent for Reporters Without Borders and AFP at the time of his death.
A perceptive editorialist, he had not been afraid to criticise the country's young president Yahya Jammeh.
"Since his death, almost all those who were a thorn in the president's side have fallen into step or have left the country," said RSF.
One imprisoned journalist, Chief Ebrima Manneh, disappeared without trace into the Mile Two prison on the Banjul sea front.
'No longer alive'
The authorities have always denied holding him, despite numerous reports from prisoners and witnesses to the contrary.
A police officer working in the prison recently told AFP Manneh was "no longer alive". He said he had last seen him in 2008 when he was led away by a plain-clothes policeman at night.
Gambia, a former British colony, surrounded by Senegal on three sides, is often criticised for its poor human rights record and heavy-handed restrictions on the media.
Human rights groups estimate that some 40 Gambians are being held at various detention centres without trial, years after being taken into custody.
Journalists are routinely harassed and many independent reporters have faced court cases for sedition or giving false information, according to an Amnesty International report published last year.
On Sunday journalists in Gambia met at a symposium to commemorate World Press Freedom Day in their country.