Sen. Durbin tells Yahya Jammeh Chief Manneh’s Detention is ‘Reprehensible & Outrageous’

By Ebrima G. Sankareh, Editor-in-Chief

Sen.R. Durbin, Sen. R. Feingold, Sen. R. Casey

Sen. P. Murray, Sen. J. Liberman & Sen.T. Kennedy

In a sequel to a terse Senatorial outburst lamenting the utterly despicable human rights record of the Jammeh government and signed by six senior Senators on May 22 this year, Illinois Senior Senator and Assistant Majority Leader in The United States Senate, Richard J. Durbin has yet again, sent a damning message to Gambian dictator Yahya Jammeh. In a release sent to The Gambia Echo lamenting poor governance and human rights cases around the world, Senator Durbin expressed shock and dismay at the Jammeh government’s belligerence over the disappearance of Gambian journalist Chief Ebrima Manneh. It is  “Three years without the government even acknowledging it took one of its own citizens – without telling his family where he is being held -- this is reprehensible. It is outrageous,” he told Yahya Jammeh. According to the much-respected Illinois Senator who wields enormous political gravitas, “President Jammeh, you owe the world and Mr. Manneh’s family an answer.”  Below is the report in its entirety.

RELEASE OF POLITICAL PRISONER IN TURKMENISTAN

SENATOR RICHARD DURBIN

MAY 21, 2009

Mr./Mme President, for the past year I have been working to bring attention to human rights abuses, including little-known political prisoners languishing in prisons around the world. Too many jails still overflow with prisoners of conscience whose only crime is expecting basic freedoms, human rights, or due process.

I undertook this effort understanding it would not be easy. Few repressive regimes want to address their human rights records.

Through our annual human rights reporting at the State Department, our diplomacy, and steady public pressure on basic human rights, the US has traditionally 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.

Yet I worry that in recent years that America has not sufficiently raised its voice for these kinds of cases.

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 the appeal made by the Burmese Nobel Prize Winner Aung San Suu Kyi, who has remained under house arrest in Burma for most of the last 19 years and just this week found herself forced by the Burmese military to face new charges in a sham court proceeding: “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.”

She is in deteriorating health and was apparently moved to a notorious prison this week. I think this is clearly a situation where we know that she needs our attention and help. Most people have read the account in newspapers about her problems and understand that she was victimized by an American who somehow managed to get into her home and in entering her home and staying overnight, violated the law.

I certainly hope that at the end of the day that her house arrest will come to an end and this poor woman will be given a chance to have freedom, which she richly deserves.

Mr./Mme President, today I am pleased to report the release of one of the first of the political prisoners my efforts have focused on – specifically a case in Turkmenistan.

Earlier this year I raised my concerns with the Government of Turkmenistan about four Turkmen political prisoners. These prisoners have languished in jail for years after being convicted of spurious charges at trials that failed to meet minimum international standards. Some have families with children; some are of advanced years and reportedly in poor health.

I had hoped that the new government in Turkmenistan would take important and forward thinking steps toward releasing political prisoners from an earlier era. Earlier this month, one such political prisoner – in fact, the longest serving political prisoner in Turkmenistan-- Mukhametkuli Aymuradov, was unconditionally released after 14 long years of confinement.

I want to commend this decision and strongly encourage the Government of Turkmenistan to take similar actions for all other remaining political prisoners, including:

Gulgeldy Annaniyazov, a long-time political dissident who was arrested, apparently on charges that he did not possess valid travel documents, and sentenced to 11 years imprisonment; and Annakurban Amanklychev and Sapardurdy Khadzhiev, members of the human-rights organization, Turkmenistan Helsinki Foundation, who were sentenced to six-to-seven-years in jail for reportedly “gathering slanderous information to spread public discontent.”

The freeing of Mr. Aymuradov is an important first step, but more are needed.

Gambian Journalist

I want to conclude by returning to the still unresolved case with which I started this effort – that of journalist Chief Ebrima Manneh from the small West African Nation of The Gambia. Mr. Manneh was a reporter for the Gambian newspaper, the Daily Observer. He was allegedly detained in July 2006 by plainclothes National Intelligence Agency officials after he tried to republish a BBC report mildly critical of President Yahya Jammeh. He has been held incommunicado, without charge or trial, for three years. Amnesty International considers him a prisoner of conscience and has called for his immediate release.

Three years without the government even acknowledging it took one of its own citizens –without telling his family where he is being held -- this is reprehensible. It is outrageous.

The Media Foundation for West Africa, a regional independent nongovernmental organization based in Ghana, filed suit on Mr. Manneh’s behalf in the Community Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West Africa States in Nigeria. This court has jurisdiction to determine cases of human rights violations that occur in any member state, including The Gambia. In June 2008 the Court declared the arrest and detention of Mr. Manneh illegal and ordered his immediate release. A petition has also been filed on his behalf with the United Nations Human Rights Council’s Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, and a decision from this body is expected soon.

Yet despite the judgment of the court – as well as repeated requests by Mr. Manneh’s father, fellow journalists, and me, the Gambian Government continues to deny any involvement in his arrest or knowledge of his whereabouts.

That is why five other Senators, including Senators Feingold, Casey, Murray, Lieberman, and Kennedy joined me in a letter last month to Gambian President Jammeh about Mr. Manneh’s detention. Our request was simple – President Jammeh, you owe the world and Mr. Manneh’s family an answer.

Mr. President, America has been wrongly defined by our critics since 9/11. We need to define our values as a caring nation, dedicated to helping improve the lives of others overseas, including those living under repressive governments. Doing so is an important statement of who we are as a nation.