URGENT ACTION

By Amnesty International

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.



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Legal Access for all Detainees

For immediate release: 29 February 2008



Nigeria: Access to lawyers a right for all detainees


Amnesty International today wrote to the Nigerian government calling on them to provide Henry Okah and Edward Atatah immediate access to lawyers and their families.

Henry Okah, presumed spokesperson of MEND (Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta) and his colleague have been held in incommunicado detention in an undisclosed location since their extradition from Angola on 14 February, despite an order by the Abuja High Court on 22 February calling for the two men to have access to lawyers and their families.

They have not been charged with a recognizable criminal offense.

“These two men are at risk of being tortured or ill-treated and should be seen by a lawyer and their families immediately,” said Erwin van der Borght, Director of Amnesty International’s Africa Programme. “They should either be charged or released from detention.”

MEND has claimed that Henry Okah was killed while in detention, but a presidential spokesman says that he is alive.

Background information

MEND is one of the largest militant groups in the Niger Delta fighting for the rights of indigenous people for a share of the natural resources in the delta and against the degradation of the environment created by the extractive companies operating in the delta.

In February 2008, MEND declared a “total war” against oil companies and their employees, including foreign workers. MEND has been responsible for attacks on pipelines, kidnappings and killings in the Niger Delta.


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Public Document
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