UN calls for release of detained Gambian journalists

The UN has called on the Government of the Gambia to release the two journalists detained by the National Intelligence Agency in Banjul since November 8.
Addressing newsmen on Wednesday in New York, Stephane Dujarric the spokesperson to the UN Secretary-General reiterated the call by the UN High Commission for Human Rights against arbitrary detention of the journalists.
The detained journalists are Momodou Sabally, the head of the Gambia Radio and Television Services, and Bakary Fatty, a reporter for the same organisation.
Dujarric said: “Our colleagues at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said today that they are concerned that two weeks after their detention, two Gambian journalists continue to be held incommunicado.
“They have no access to family members or lawyers in the Gambia.”
The spokesperson said that Sabally and Fatty “have been detained arbitrarily by the National Intelligence Agency in Banjul since November 8 with no charges laid against them.
“A number of other people also remain incommunicado in detention.
“The Human Rights Office notes that these types of detention without charge are a clear violation of the Gambian constitution and of the country’s international human rights obligations.”
The spokesperson said that the Human Rights Office stressed the importance of the release of the detained journalists in the run-up to the presidential elections of December 1 in the country.
He said: “It is particularly crucial that the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association are fully respected.
“The Human Rights Office calls on the Government of the Gambia to release all those who are being detained for the exercise of these rights.”