Conversation with Exiled Gambian Journalist PK Jarju
IPI: Gambian President Yahya Jammeh has been criticised for his stance on press freedom. What is your take on Jammeh’s role in freedom of the press in the Gambia?
Jarju: When President Yahya Jammeh came to power in a bloodless coup in July 1994, he promised to be a servant of the Gambian people. He acted as a puritan, a man who was not interested in politics and who had even asked local journalists to criticise him and his regime anytime they go wrong. Afterwards, when local journalists began criticising him and his regime, Jammeh turned hostile, ordering the arbitrary arrest and torture of journalists. Many foreign journalists working in The Gambia were arrested and booted out of the country. And despite the return of the country to ‘civilian’ rule in 1996, the atmosphere in which local journalists operate has become more dangerous than ever.
IPI: Does Gambia have laws protecting the rights of journalists to do their jobs?
Jarju: The 1997 Constitution of The Gambia states that: Every person shall have the right to freedom of speech and expression, which shall include the freedom of the press and other media. But a number of military decrees issued prior to the beginning of ‘civilian’ rule that target the media have never been repealed. In fact, the National Assembly has subsequently added new laws to these old decrees, increasing restrictions on the media.
Decrees No. 70 and 71, increased the amount a newspaper must pay before beginning operations from 1000 to 100,000 Dalasi (approx. €2,700). But in 2004, the ruling-party dominated Parliament passed even more restrictive legislation, increasing the registration bond for independent newspaper publishers and broadcasters from 100,000 to 500,000 Dalasi (approx. €13,500). Given the low income levels in The Gambia, the increase seems like a tool to prevent prospective independent publishers and broadcasters from setting up news outlets.
One day after increasing registration fees for newspapers, the country’s National Assembly passed amendments to the Criminal Code, broadening the definition of libel and imposing mandatory prison sentences of six months to three years for offenders without the option of a fine.
Realising that the 2004 amendments had not produced the desired negative effect on the independent press, in 2005 Parliament tightened the definition of “seditious publication” to criminalize written or verbal criticisms of the government. The new law sets out stiff penalties in the form of fines and imprisonment, even for first time offenders, and in some cases prison time is mandatory.
The Gambian Criminal Code prescribes a broad definition of “seditious intention”: Any intention to “bring into hatred or contempt or to excite disaffection against” the President, the government, the administration of justice or the people of Gambia as seditious.
Provisions defining the act of seditious publication are similarly broad. Any person who “prints, publishes, sells, offers for sale, distributes or reproduces any seditious publication,” or who “imports any seditious publication” liable for up to two years in prison for a first offence, and up to three years imprisonment for a second offence. The Criminal Code further criminalizes the possession of any seditious publication, and prescribes prison terms of up to two years for this offence.
Journalists can also be charged with publishing false news “with intent to cause fear or alarm to the public.” The main problem with such a provision is the difficulty of distinguishing between fact and opinion, the chilling effect such provisions have upon freedom of expression. It does not serve any legitimate purpose. The provision fails to define the terms ‘causing fear and alarm.’ which are subjective.
Another draconian law that seriously hampers freedom of expression in The Gambia is the Official Secrets Act, which makes an offence for anyone to make a ‘sketch, plan, model or note’ or to publish or communicate ‘any secret official code, word, sketch, plan, article, note or other document,’ which may be useful to an enemy. Journalists reporting on security issues run the risk of contravening the Official Secrets Act, even if there is no criminal intention on their part.
Further, the Gambian Public Order Act empowers the Secretary of State for the Interior to make regulations providing for the prohibition of any publication the Secretary regards as inimical to public security, which again is broadly defined.
IPI: What impact have these laws had on local journalists?
Jarju: Since the introduction of these draconian legislations, at least nine local journalists were arrested and convicted on various sedition charges.
The National Intelligence Agency (NIA), which is responsible for protecting state security, collecting intelligence, and conducting covert investigations, centres its works on journalists and opponents of the regime. It uses Gambia’s national security laws to arrest and detain people, and to tap the phone lines of opponents and critics of the regime without warrant.
Torture and detention without charge are illegal under Gambian laws, yet local journalists are continually arrested, tortured and detained for weeks and months by the NIA without being told the reason for their arrest. Local journalist Ebrima Chief Manneh has been missing since NIA officials arrested him at his newspaper’s premises in 2006. The Gambian government has denied his arrest despite several eyewitness reports.
A renowned newspaper proprietor and regime critic, Deyda Hydara, was gunned down on 16 December, 2004 by unidentified men. Mr. Hydara’s killer's are yet to be arrested despite investigations by the police.
IPI: What charge(s) does the government lodge against these journalists?
Jarju: Gambian journalists are often accused of being unpatriotic stooges of the West, interested only in tarnishing the image of the country and creating political instability to gain political asylum abroad. In the 1990s, while addressing a group of religious leaders at State House, President Yahya Jammeh called on people to stop buying local newspapers. According to him, boycotting local papers is one of the most instrumental ways of driving them out of business.
Jammeh’s comments since then, that journalists should obey his government “or go to hell,” or that there is “too much freedom of expression” in television and radio, or that journalists should “go ask Deyda Hydara who killed him,” prove all too clearly the President’s disdain for the Gambian media.
IPI: It must be almost impossible to practice journalism in The Gambia.
Jarju: Today in the Gambia, all local journalists and newspapers practise self-censorship to avoid being sent to jail or closed down. Many issues of public interest are ignored by the media, because those who report on them become targets for arrest or torture by the authorities. The general message of the regime to journalists is: Write anything critical and we will make life difficult for you.
As a result of this dangerous atmosphere, many Gambian journalists, including myself, have fled the country into exile, leaving behind our families. We are seen by the authorities in Gambia as enemies of Gambia's progress and we face the risk of arrest, torture and even murder by the regime should we dare step foot in the country.
As of this writing, the Gambian government has not shown any interest in repealing any of the draconian laws they use to silence the media, instead insisting that there is press freedom in the country: it’s guaranteed by the Constitution.
IPI: How do you see the future for the media in Gambia?
Jarju: It’s bleak. It’s just bleak. I don’t think that, as long as this regime is in power, they will change their negative attitude toward the press. They see journalists as enemies. Because of the draconian legislation, people are scared to enter the profession of journalism. Investigative journalism is dead, and newspapers rely on government press releases! You can’t report on anything without worrying about being charged with sedition. If a journalist reports on corruption, he could be charged with sedition. Self-censorship is the order of the day. It’s grim.
The Gambia
Full Name: Republic of the Gambia
Population: 1,778,081 (July 2009 est.; CIA Factbook)
President: Yahya A.J.J. Jammeh
Economy: The Gambia’s main export is peanuts. Other major industries include fish and hides; tourism, beverages, agricultural machinery assembly, woodworking, metalworking, and clothing.
History in Brief: A former British Colony, the Gambia has been independent since 1965. Gambia was confederated with surrounding Senegal in 1982, but again became an independent republic in 1989. Lieutenant Yahya Jammeh came to power in a coup in 1994 and has won every presidential election, including the most recent in 2006.
Media: While private newspapers do exist in the Gambia, high registration fees, criminal lawsuits, harassment and death threats continue to plague their operations. The state tightly controls news from state-run radio and television networks; most independent radio and online news is run from outside the country.
[Sources: BBC Country Profile: Gambia; CIA World Factbook]