Gambian Academic Petitions Secretary Rice Over Journalist Fatou Jaw Manneh's Detention

Her Excellency, Dr. Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of State, U.S.A.


RE: IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF FATOU JAW-MANNEH

It is with great concern and urgency that I write to solicit your assistance in the immediate release of Ms. Fatou Jaw-Manneh, a Gambian journalist based in the U.S. Early this week, Ms. Jaw-Manneh arrived in The Gambia for a family visit but was arrested by Gambian authorities at the airport.

Gambians in the Diaspora and at home are very concerned about her safety, given The Gambia Government's poor human rights record.  Since coming to power in 1994, President Yahya Jammeh's Government(s) have consistently repressed journalists, set ablaze printing presses and shut down radio stations.  On December 16, 2004 Deyda Hydara, a longtime journalist, co-owner and Editor of The Point Newspaper, was shot and killed and two of his co-workers riding in the same car suffered serious bodily injuries.

It is against this backdrop that your intervention is urgently needed to secure Ms. Jaw-Manneh's release as we fear for her life and safety in the hands of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), the regime's brutally repressive arm.

Sincerely,

Professor Abdoulaye Saine,
Department of Political Science &
University of Denver (GSIS Alumni)


CC: Her Excellency, Dr. Jendayi Frazer, Asst. Secretary of State, Africa
 CC: Her Excellency, Dr. Cindy Courville, U.S. Ambassador to The African Union, Ethiopia
 CC: His Excellency, Joseph D. Strafford, U.S. Ambassador, The Gambia

posted @ Thursday, March 29, 2007 10:00 PM by egsankara