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ENVIRONMENT: Efforts to combat air pollution

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 07:51:55 GMT

Monday, December 01, 2008

Efforts to combat air pollution move into high gear Air pollution is a great concern to health and the environment of The Gambia.

To tackle this challenging and imperative task on cleaning our air, the Departement of State for Forestry and the Environment, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the National Environment Agency (NEA) have convened last week a workshop centred on the theme : ‘‘The sulphur reduction in vehicule fuels in The Gambia.’’ As our country boomed economically in recent years hundreds of new cars were being imported.

This gradually resulted to air pollution with negative impacts on people’s health. The transport sector is responsible for a significant amount of air pollution in urban areas (Banjul, Serrekunda, Brikama etc).

The Gambia government, through the Department of State for Forestry and the Environment, has made huge efforts to tackle the pollution problem. The Gambia Environment Action Plan (GEAP), that constitutes the main policy document, has registered significant progress during the course of its implementation.

Considering that air pollution is reaching alarming proportions, Nancy Niang, Ag permanent secretary at the Department of State for Forestry and the Environment explained that sulphur combines with oxygen to create emissions that contribute to decreased air quality and thus have negative environmental efforts.

Consequently, she outlined, human health impacts are generally related to respiratory illnesses, including increased frequency in bronchitis and asthma. ‘‘We in The Gambia need regulatory efforts to reduce the sulphur content in fuels,’’she emphasized.

Author: By Abdoulie John

Women are Human Beings, Too!

Thu, 27 Nov 2008 05:24:11 GMT

Thursday, November 27, 2008

So much has been said and written on violence against women and girls, with the Gambia Committee against Traditional Practices (GAMCOTRAP) being in the forefront of the crusade for a better deal for women. Using the potent advocacy tools available, GAMCOTRAP has repeatedly called for an end to violence against women and girls. The issues that GAMCOTRAP deals with are real: wife battering, female genital mutilation, forced marriage, divorce, inheritance and economic rights of women.

GAMCOTRAP’s challenge is a tough one in the sense that all of the issues it takes head on are rooted in ‘culture’. It is ‘culture’ that allows a husband to beat up a wife; it is ‘culture’ that allows the girl-child to be forced into marriage; it is ‘culture’ that permits forced marriage. What sort of culture permits discrimination? Certainly, such a culture does not foster progress. GAMCOTRAP challenges us all to rethink some of our cultural practices, giving up those that get in the way of progress and taking up the ones that are useful.

Instead of being seen as tools to be used and then discarded, women should be given opportunities to develop their full potential. There is also need for mutual respect on the part of male and female, because they need each other to lead a full and well meaning life.

Women have shown themselves to be just as competitive as their male counterparts in every sphere of life. Not too long ago, the idea of a female president was unthinkable. But we have had female presidents who have risen creditably to the challenges of statesmanship. If they had been impeded in the name of culture, then humanity would have been deprived of their valuable contributions. Therefore, women are not as inferior as the world has been made to believe over the years. Given a level playing field, women have shown that they can hold their own against men.

One way of undoing the age-old discrimination against women is to increase access to education for them. Getting them scholarships will help a lot. With education, more and more women will become conscious of their rights and be better able to defend themselves against oppressive cultural practices – and reasonable men should also root for them in their quest for emancipation. They need to because the world needs gender balance as the foundation for lasting development. We believe that peace and prosperity will continue to elude the world so long as women are held in captivity in the name of culture.

“The one true index of a man’s character is the health of his wife.”

Cyril Connolly

Human Rights Are Inalienable

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 07:30:13 GMT

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Amnesty International has just released its damning report on the human rights situation in The Gambia. In the report, the human rights watch body urges the Gambian government to improve on its human rights record, ranging from long-term detention without trial, alleged ill treatment of detainees to unhygienic detention centres. Complying with the Amnesty International report will boost our image in the international community.

Long before the Amnesty International report, we had been campaigning for respect for human rights in the country. We believe that respect for human rights is essential for a successful democracy. Where journalists are detained or made to disappear without a trace, there is a gross violation of human rights. It is tempting to disregard the report as the ranting of some disgruntled elements “full of sound and fury but signifying nothing”. Ignoring the report smacks of naivety; it is like playing the ostrich. Donors consider such reports in their dealings with beneficiary countries. It is unlikely that countries with poor human rights records will attract support from donor countries.

Since it is possible that our poor human rights record could discourage donors from lending a helping hand to us in times of need, the authorities should do their best to comply with the Amnesty International report.

Although the report did not specifically mention it, we nonetheless call on the government to repeal the two draconian press laws – the Criminal (Amendment) Code 2004 and the Newspaper Registration Act 2004. We hold that both laws get in the way of our work as journalists. They should also do all that they can to get Chief Ebrima Manneh for us.

It is clear from the report that the world is increasingly becoming intolerant of governments that abuse human rights. It is also clear that the world wants to see the independence of the judiciary respected. We must move along with the mores of the time. The twelfth point of the Amnesty International recommendations is very important. It says: “Fully co-operate with the UN-ECOWAS joint investigation into the killing of 50 migrants, including 44 Ghanaians, to ensure that investigations can be carried out promptly and without interference to ensure that suspected perpetrators are brought to justice.”

We would also like to add that investigations into the murder of Deyda Hydara should be carried out to their logical conclusions. In respect of the Deyda Hydara murder, we are not calling for vengeance; we are simply calling for justice.

The earlier the authorities act on the Amnesty International report, the better for the people and government of The Gambia. We need all the financial support that we can get in this period of recession. It is important that the authorities issue a statement in response to the allegations in the Amnesty International report in order to clear the air.

“Man is a wolf to man.”

Titus Maccius Plautus

Amnesty International on Gambia’s Human Right Record

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 06:00:52 GMT

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Amnesty International, a human rights organisation with a global movement of 2.2 million people in more than 150 countries and territories who campaign to end grave abuses of human rights, has called on the Gambian government to incorporate international human rights law and standards into national laws and to cease the use of torture in detention and extra judicial executions.

This is contained in its latest report on The Gambia, which documents what it termed as human rights violations that have taken place over the past two years. It also called on the Gambian government to release all those detained without charge and to protect the access of all Gambians to a free and impartial judicial system.

Among others, the Amnesty International report highlighted issues ranging from rights to fair trial, absence of adequate remedies, unlawful arrest and detention, enforced disappearances, and torture and ill treatment in detention.

The report however issued some recommendations to the government of The Gambia, the international community and international donor community.

According to the report, Amnesty International urges the Gambian government to comply with the order handed down by the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice in June 2008 to release Chief Ebrima Manneh from ‘unlawful’ detention without further delay and pay US$100, 000 in damages.

The report also recommended to the government to organise full reparation, including compensation, restitution, rehabilitation, satisfaction and guarantees of non-repetition for the victims of torture and ill treatment, unlawful arrest and detention, extra-judicial execution and enforced disappearances.

It also urged ECOWAS and the African Union to publicly condemn instances of human rights violations, including arbitrary arrest, torture, extra-judicial executions and enforced disappearances, which come to their attention, and address such concerns to Gambian authorities.

To the international donor community, the Amnesty report urges the community to substantially increase funding for civil society and non-governmental human rights organisations, especially The Gambia Bar Association.

The report also urged the international donor community to strongly encourage the government of The Gambia to comply with the ruling handed down by ECOWAS Community Court of Justice to release Chief Ebrima Manneh.

Consultative Meeting on Women’s Human Rights Ends.

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 06:39:14 GMT

Friday, September 19, 2008

The Solidarity for African Women’s Rights (SOAWR) coalition had organised a three day consultative meeting on Strategies for Accelerating the ratification of the AU Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa for Mano River Union countries at Paradise Suite Hotel. In her welcoming remarks, on behalf of SOAWR, Madame Caroline Muthoni Muriithi of Equality Now Africa Regional Office, a women’s Rights organisation which is the secretariat for SOAWR, has said that solidarity for African women’s rights coalition,

(SOAWR) was created by passionate women’s rights activists and human rights organisations who wanted to ensure that the AU Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa was adopted and subsequently ratified by all the African Union member states. “Its main goal has been to advocate for the universal ratification of the Protocol; to popularise the protocol and to ensure that it is implemented in all countries and becomes part of the domestic law thus ensuring that all women in Africa benefit from the rights and freedoms provided therein,” she said. To achieve this goal she added, it seeks to increase public opinion and constituencies for the ratification of the AU Protocol leading to ratification and progress on national domestication; utilize the existing policy space and commitment sustained and expanded within the African Union Commission and the Pan- African Parliament to champion the Protocol; create visibility and awareness of the Protocol’s provisions and the real conditions facing women and girls are actively promoted through mass media and internet based campaigns; to strengthen leadership capabilities of women’s organisations to consolidate the promise of the Protocol at national and regional levels”.

Madame Muthoni Muriithi, however disclosed that the AU Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa was adopted by the African Union Heads of State and Government on 11th July 2003 and entered into force on 25th November 2005 becoming the fastest human rights instrument in Africa to come into force at such record speed. This she noted was due to the efforts of the solidarity for African womens’ rights (SOAWR) campaign together with partners and women activists across the continent. “SOAWR has in the last four years made great strides in its quest to speed up the ratification of the African Union (AU) Protocol on the Rights of Women. “Today, with a growing membership of 30 organisations in 18 African countries, SOAWR has continued to mount pressure on African Union member states. As we speak 25 out of the 53 African countries have ratified the protocol with Liberia and Zimbabwe being the latest to ratify, she concluded”.

For her parting Mrs Mary Small, facilitator to the program said that (SOAWR) is a continental coalition made up of 29 Civil Society Organisations and Development partners working towards the promotion and protection of women’s Human Rights in Africa.

She pointed out that since its inauguration in 2004, SOAWR’s main area of focus has been to get those countries that have not yet ratified the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa to do so with a sense of urgency, while at the same time encouraging states that have ratified to domesticate and implement it in their respective countries, she added.

Madame Small further stated that, despite the widespread ratification by African States of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Violence Against Women and of the instruments that constitute the International Bill of Rights (Universal Declaration on Human Rights, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights), gender issues barely appeared in political agendas across Africa. Through these different encounters and partnerships with local bodies, she revealed, it has been made abundantly clear that to tackle the underlying causes of violence, it is necessary to support and strengthen local initiatives and organisations focused on ending violence on a sub-regional basis.

Democracy and Human Rights Fund (DHRF)

Thu, 11 Sep 2008 06:38:02 GMT

Thursday, September 11, 2008

The United States Embassy in The Gambia is accepting applications for use of the Democracy and
Human Rights Fund (DHRF) which provides assistance through grants to indigenous civil society organisations or Community Based Organisations (CBOs). These grants implement small, short-term, highly targeted activities designed to show measurable results with an emphasis on change in support of human rights and democratic institutions.

Common themes that proposals may cover and encourage include, though are not limited to: Change in civil and political rights; Adherence to the Rule of Law through legal framework conducive to civil and political rights; Free and democratic electoral systems; Development of democratic principles that promote human rights and result in change; Increase access of women and ethnic groups to the judicial and to political processes.

All DHRF funded activities must have a substantive link to the promotion of democracy or human rights. Proposals must be generated in the field within the particular country context and be based on specific requests from indigenous organisations; Clearly describe how the activities will be managed; Identify the anticipated results; Be completed within 12 months; Demonstrate that a change in democracy and/or human rights practices or law will occur, or that beneficiaries will receive a new awareness or democratic and/or human rights principles; Address civil and political rights (i.e. activities that promote the rule of law or domestic and civil and legal rights; Not exceed $25,000.

Certain types of activities do not qualify for this fund. These include the use of funds to influence the outcome of elections; training or advice, or support for police, prison or other law enforcement forces, military or any other program of internal intelligence or surveillance, building construction; vehicle purchase; long term (more than 12 months) recurring administrative costs such as building or equipment maintenance, rent, office supplies, or administrative salaries; conference or workshops that lack a specific and clear goal. The U.S. Embassy DI IRF selection committee will base their decision on potential impact, feasibility and financial soundness of the proposed activity.

If you wish to apply please send a proposal addressing the items in the sample proposal format by September 18th, 2008. To download a sample of a proposal format please go to the embassy website (http://banjul.usembassy.giv/news/us-embassy-press-release3/democracy –and-human-rights-fund-dhrf.html All proposals must have proforma invoices for purchases or services to be needed to justify line item budget. Incomplete proposals will not be considered for funding. You should keep a copy of your application for your records.

For more information, please call the U.S. Embassy on Tel. 4392856 Ext. 2300.

Witness Cross-examined in Human Trafficking Case

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 06:03:44 GMT

Monday, August 25, 2008

After the prosecution witness, Salifu Nyang, had testified against Lamin Jaiteh and Kanjura Jaiteh, who were charged with trafficking in persons and concealment of trafficking in persons, Lawyer Omar Njie cross-examined the witness.

When it was put to the witness that the accused, Lamin Jaiteh, was threatened and was under pressure when the witness was recording his cautionary statement, the witness denied it.

He also denied that he promised Lamin Jaiteh any favour and did not tell the accused that he was at the police station and the accused should abide by whatever the police told him.

Still testifying in cross-examination, the witness told the court that the counsel for the accused was not present when he recorded the cautionary statement of the accused.

Asked whether he was familiar with one Camara, who was present in court, he said he could not remember and further stated that no police officer recorded the statements from Lamin Jaiteh other than himself.

He revealed that although the accused is literate, the accused asked him to write his statement for him.

It was put to him that he was not truthful, but he denied it. He maintained that it was the accused, who chose him to write his statement for him. He confirmed that the accused surrendered himself to the police and was arrested. He also confirmed that the accused was not granted police bail but denied that he told the accused that it was not necessary for his lawyer to be present when he was recording his voluntary and cautionary statements.

Magistrate Buba Jawo at this juncture adjourned the case until 28th August 2008 for continuation of cross-examination.

Author: By Dawda Faye

Pan African Women’s Day Observed

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 03:51:19 GMT

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

The African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights {the African Commission} in collaboration with the Women’s Bureau recently celebrated Pan African Women’s Day at Paradise Suites Hotel. As part of the celebrations, a series of events, including a reception, symposium, an exhibition and cultural performances were earmarked.

The aim of the celebration was to popularise and raise awareness of Pan African Women’s day.

According to Commissioner Sonata Maiga, Special Rapporteur on the rights of women in Africa, the Pan African Women Organization (PAWO) was the first ever African women’s organization established on 31st July 1974, aimed at entrenching the notion that the rights of women are part and parcel of human rights and, therefore, should be their collective responsibility.

Commissioner Maiga disclosed that the organization has five Secretariats and that seven out of the eleven members of the commission are women. “Many states have not yet ratified the convention. Only 24 out of 53 ratified, so we should try and encourage the rest to ratify”, she urged.

Women, she noted, are the most vulnerable to HIV/AIDS, harmful traditional practices like female genital mutilation. These, she stated, could only be eradicated if women come together and fight for awareness and discrimination. Maiga finally commended President Jammeh for championing the cause of Gambian women.

Deputising for the First Lady, Madam Zinab Jammeh, on the opening of the celebration, the Secretary of State for Justice, Mrs. Marie Saine Firdaus, said that the celebration was important and close to home. She commended the African Union Commission on Human and People’s Rights and Women’s Bureau for the wonderful initiative.

Secy Firdaus focused on specific interventions, achievements and challenges faced in The Gambia in the promotion and protection of women’s rights. “ In The Gambia, we are implementing a national policy for the advancement of Women and Girls, 1999-2009, and the process of drafting a gender policy has begun. In the area of legislation, the 1997 constitution has entrenched clauses that provide for the rights of women as equal partners in national development,” she intimated.

The constitution, she added, has also provided equal opportunities for women in education, health and socio-economic activities. “The Gambia has also ratified the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the AU Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa,” she disclosed.

Secy Firdaus assured the organisers that The Gambia government would continue to pursue more response policies, programmes and strategies to ensure that women’s rights are effectively protected and promoted across the length and breadth of the country.

“Women and leadership is another area that The Gambia, under the Jammeh administration, prides itself. Women have been given the opportunity to participate in decision-making, both at the village, district, regional, national and international levels. Similarly the number of women holding decision-making positions in the Executive, Legislature and Judiciary have increased. However, at the regional level, women are not serving in key positions, apart from being members of committees and the few that find themselves in such positions are challenged with having the required skills and knowledge to represent the interest of other women”, she concluded.

Author: By Sarata Jabbi

DETENTION OF GAMBIAN JOURNALIST EBRIMA MANNEH

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 09:08:02 GMT

Wednesday, August 06, 2008

Here is a verbatim report of an American Senator Durbin who is calling for release of our Gambian journalist Chief Ebrima Manneh who has been missing for two years now. Senator has not only limited to the case of Manneh but many others in the world. Here goes the call.

Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, America has long been a champion and source of hope around the world for those suffering human rights violations--those holed up in dictators' prisons, those fighting for press and political freedoms, those bravely standing up to tyranny or injustice.

Many of those who have suffered, such as Vaclav Havel and Nelson Mandela, or continue to suffer this fate, such as Aung San Suu Kyi, are well-known to us. Sadly, for each one of them, there are many other, lesser known heroes being detained or harassed all over the world simply for wanting basic human freedoms.

Through our annual human rights reporting at the State Department, our diplomacy, and steady public pressure on basic human rights, the U.S. has traditionally been a source of hope for those being illegally detained or persecuted.

We should never forget what this kind of attention and pressure can accomplish and what kind of strength it provides for those being detained.

Take for example, Ngawang Sangdrol, a Tibetan nun who was detained and tortured for peacefully expressing her belief in Tibetan independence. She was freed after 12 years of imprisonment following immense public pressure. After her release she said,

I have been overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and support ..... I am deeply touched to learn that many individuals, organizations, and governments.......have worked towards my release. It is very clear to me that I have been released and allowed to come out to the free world for medical treatment and to enjoy my freedom because of international concern.

Or Gurbandurdy Durdykuliev, a political activist from Turkmenistan who in 2004 was seized and forced into a psychiatric hospital by the country's ruling dictator. His crime--requesting permission for a peaceful political rally.

He was released a few years later, just 10 days after 54 members of Congress sent a letter to the Turkmen Government about his case.

We should listen and act upon the appeal made by Aung San Suu Kyi, who has remained under house arrest in Burma for most of the last 19 years:

Those fortunate enough to live in societies where they are entitled to full political rights can reach out to help the less fortunate in other parts of our troubled planet....... Please use your liberty to promote ours.

I realize we must also work to address our own recent shortcomings by unequivocally renouncing torture and by closing the detention facility in Guantanamo--and we will continue to work toward ending these shameful legacies.

At the same time, we must continue to speak out in support of those imprisoned for advocating basic freedoms around the world.

Many of us on both sides of the aisle have been arguing that America's strength resonates not only from its military power but from the power of its ideas and inspiration, the power of its values and hope, the power of its generosity and diplomacy--its smart power.

Sadly, I worry that a measure of this leadership, of this inspiration, and of this uniquely American hope has been lost in recent years.

Accordingly, today I want focus the Senate's attention on a tragic story from the small west African Nation of The Gambia.

Chief Ebrima Manneh was a reporter for the Gambian newspaper, the Daily Observer. He was allegedly detained in July 2006 by plainclothes police officers thought to have been from the Gambian National Intelligence Agency after he tried to republish a BBC report critical of President Yahya Jammeh.

He has been held incommunicado, without charge or trial, for two long years. Amnesty International considers him a prisoner of conscience and has called for his immediate release.

I agree.

Recent reports suggest he is being held at the Fatoto Police Station in eastern Gambia. In July 2007, he was also reportedly escorted by the members of the Gambian Police Intervention Unit to the Royal Victoria hospital in the capital for high blood pressure treatment.

Despite repeated attempts by Manneh's father and fellow journalists, including the Committee to Protect Journalists, to seek information on Mr. Manneh, the Gambian Government continues to deny any involvement in his arrest or knowledge of his whereabouts.

My direct request to the Gambian Embassy here in Washington has also been met with shameful silence.

Last month in Nigeria, the Community Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States declared the arrest and detention of Mr. Manneh illegal and ordered Gambian officials to release him immediately.

And yet the Gambian Government ignored this court's ruling as well--even though this court has jurisdiction for human rights cases in the Gambia.

Is the Gambian Government so afraid of one of its own reporters that it cannot even acknowledge his detention?

I say to President Jammeh: Release this reporter. Let him return to his family.

Sadly, Mr. Manneh's case is not alone in The Gambia. In December 2004, a critic of President Jammeh, and press freedom advocate, Deyda Hydara, was shot and killed. His murder has yet to be solved or investigated.

The government has also enacted laws muzzling the press and imposing mandatory prison sentences for media owners if convicted of publishing defamatory or seditious material--all part of a larger deterioration of basic freedoms in The Gambia.

Madam President, the United States needs to be a forceful advocate for these kinds of blatant human rights abuses. Doing so is not only the right thing to do, but it is the smart thing to do in terms of our engagement abroad and in demonstrating our American values.

I yield the floor.

Author: CPJ

Source: None

Human Trafficking Case Kicks off

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 05:03:39 GMT

Friday, July 04, 2008

Lamin Jaiteh and Kanjura Jaiteh, who were charged with “prohibition of trafficking in persons and concealment of trafficking in persons”, on Wednesday, 2ndJuly, appeared before Principal Magistrate Buba Jawo of the Kanifing Magistrates’ Court where their case kicked off. Addressing the court, ASP Touray announced that he was representing the IGP along with Cadet Keita. He called his first witness to testify in a crowded court.

In his testimony, the witness told the court that his name was Salifu Nyang and that he was a police officer with regimental number 1696. He added that he was attached to the CID office of Kairaba Police Station. He stated that he recognised the accused persons, noting that he came to know about them at Kairaba Police Station. He further related that some thing had transpired between him and Lamin Jaiteh who was brought to his office on the said day by ASP Sawaneh who told him to record the cautionary and voluntary statements of Lamin Jaiteh.

He adduced that ASP Sawaneh told him that the accused was an agent who took money from people who wanted to travel to Spain. He indicated that he called an independent witness, Ebrima Manneh of Kotu. He went on to say that he introduced Ebrima Manneh to the accused as an independent witness. He further stated that he asked the accused to explain in Mandinka what happened but that he first read the cautionary statement form to him in Mandinka. He stated that he allowed the accused to explain what happened, adding that after explaining, he recorded the cautionary statement in the presence of the independent witness. He further adduced that he translated the statement from English to Mandinka to the accused, who acknowledged his comprehension.

Further testifying, the witness revealed that the accused signed the cautionary statement and that the independent witness also signed before he countersigned.

He said he recorded two voluntary statements because there were different charges. He added that he read the charges to the accused, which he accepted in the presence of the independent witness. He adduced that he recorded every thing and that both the accused and the independent witness signed the cautionary statements. He told the court that he also signed the voluntary statements.

Lawyer Surahata Jaiteh, the defence counsel, had some disagreement with ASP Touray concerning the voluntary statements.

The case was then adjourned to 9thJuly 2008, for a preliminary trial. Lawyer Omar Njie was also part of the defence team.

Author: By Dawda Faye