Gambian journalist at risk of disappearance in Senegal

Gambian journalist at risk of disappearance in Senegal

Yahya Danfa, a Gambian journalist living in Senegal, is at risk of enforced disappearance at the hands of Gambian security agents who are among a delegation attending an international meeting in the Senegalese capital, Dakar. He has been threatened and intimidated since leaving The Gambia.

 

On two occasions on 10 March, Yahya Danfa’s home in Dakar was visited by plain-clothed National Intelligence Agency (NIA) agents. The agents did not find Yahya Danfa, but questioned his neighbours about his whereabouts. State Security agents, including NIA personnel, are attending the summit of the leaders of the Organisation of Islamic Conference, (OIC), a conference involving 57 Islamic states, being held in Dakar on 13 – 14 March.

Amnesty International fears that Yahya Danfa risks being abducted by NIA agents and forcibly returned to The Gambia, where he could be indefinitely detained without charge, tortured or killed.

Yahya Danfa, a former journalist with the independent Foroyaa Newspaper, has been harassed since being arrested along side Amnesty International delegates during a research mission on 6 October 2007. He was released without charge on 12 October 2007 but repeated visits to his home and harassment of his family members by agents of the Gambian NIA forced him to flee the country soon after. He has received threatening telephone calls since his arrival in Senegal. His family are in hiding in The Gambia.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Amnesty International delegates Tania Bernath and Ayodele Ameen, Foroyaa Newspaper
journalist Yahya Danfa, and their driver Lamin Barrow were arrested in the eastern town of Basse on 6 October 2007 whilst visiting detention centres throughout The Gambia. The four were accused of being ‘spies’. After 48 hours in detention both Amnesty International delegates and Yahya Danfa were released on bail but told to remain in the capital, Banjul. All three were unconditionally released without charge on 12 October 2007.