By Sanna Camara

The Gambia Press Union, representing hundreds of Gambian journalists and media workers, in a statement to the 87^th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights currently underway in Banjul, drawn the attention of the continental human rights community on the dangers that journalists in The Gambia still face despite an end to dictatorship ten years ago.

The statement, delivered by the Secretary General of the union Modou S. Joof yesterday afternoon, highlights that journalists in The Gambia are not adequately protected, despite some progress in press freedom rankings. The statement further deplores a “lack of political will” from President Adama Barrow’s government to ensure the safety of journalist through proper laws and international frameworks.

President Barrow came to power riding on the back of an opposition alliance in 2016, and had acknowledged the role that journalists played in resisting the Yahya Jammeh dictatorship for two decades, resulting in so many of them paying with their lives, properties and liberties. His government enjoyed a honeymoon period with the media in the first two years in office, util he decided to ditch the transition agreement for an alliance with his predecessor’s party.

A pattern of recurrence has since emerged in the treatment of the media who report critically against his government activities, evolving into arrests, threats, exclusion of independent media while rewarding those that cooperate through economic inducements. This method, similar to Yahya Jammeh’s style of muzzling independent media, only stopped short of assassinations and torture, as arrests and physical attacks rise over the years.

“The government has not fully implemented measures like the UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists,” the GPU statement to the ACHPR stated.

Neither has the government acted to annul several draconian media laws inherited from the Jammeh regime, recommended for reform by both ECOWAS Court of Justice and the country’s Truth, Reconciliation, and Reparations Commission, TRRC. These laws in recent years, have been applied against journalists – especially those who critically report on government activities and expose corrupt practices.

Journalists still face harassment and intimidation, legal threats and lawsuits, and many restrictions that affect media independence. Overall, even though conditions have improved compared to the past, journalists still operate in an environment where their safety is not guaranteed.