Gambia
Gambia VP touts tourism, downplays human rights issues, dead journalistPosted Oct 3 2011
On Tuesday at an African tourism promotion event in New York City, Gambian Vice President Isatou Njie-Saidy headed a delegation working toward improving the negative perceptions of the country, most notably issues with human rights.
Mohamed Keita, CPJ Africa Advocacy Coordinator, mentioned during a discussion with Njie-Saidy that an Internet search of Gambia yields many results about its human right abuses.
In response, Njie-Saidy said in a CPJ article, “Do they tell you about Guantanamo Bay? Seems like a human rights issue. And, you know, in the Internet, you have a lot of garbage. … Don’t believe everything you read; you have to look in between.” She also said social media peddles untruths.
In the CPJ article, Kieta mentioned the case of Ebrimah “Chief” Manneh, a journalist who was detained in Gambian government custody for more than five years. Since his 2006 arrest at his office at the pro-government Daily Observer, his whereabouts and health have been unknown, CPJ reports.
Kieta wrote that Njie-Saidy’s government has deprived Manneh of his freedom and, more recently, announced the journalist’s death.