The Saga Continues

Those of you following my blog will be interested to know that Gambia has refused so far to respond to the J entered on June 6, 2008 in favor of Chief Manneh. You should also know that we have not been idle. I am pleased now to report that United Nations will likely get directly involved in the Chief Manneh case.

On Aug 22 the Freedom Now Orgn announced that it will pursue the case before the U.N.We are thus seeking the Manneh family's support to do so and I have offered the services of our law firm in the drafting of the necessary petition to that august body. This orgn's decision to support Manneh is epochal and rare since it carefully chooses its battles on behalf of prisoners of conscience worldwide. Its last such petition was filed on June18, 2008, on behalf of Aung Kyi of Burma who has been held under house arrest in Rangoon, Burma, for 12 years even though she is the demoratically elected leader of that country. Although we believe that Manneh is dead we have no accountability or even acknowledgment of this. The filing of this petition for Manneh will give him legal,political and publc relations efforts worldwide as one of only a handful of prisoners placed on this high pedestal. Stay tuned dear reader.

Judgment Day for Chief Manneh

WOW!!! The ECOWAS Court has just delivered a strong judgment(June 5,2008)in favor of Chief Manneh against the West African country of Gambia. In the Court's first human rights decision it declared the arrest and detention of Manneh on June 6,2006, to be illegal and ordered Gambian authorities to immediately release him. As our proof established, Manneh disappeared on that date and has never been accounted for though he is believed to have been killed.

In this case of first impression, the family of Manneh was awarded the sum of $100,000 as damages to be paid by Gambia. You will recall that Gambia has consistently refused to produce Manneh or give an account of what happened to him.

I am pleased that I was a part of the team that assisted in the prosecution of this suit and congratulate the Media Foundation of West Africa for its dogged persistence in seeing this matter through to judgment.

I will report on further developments as they occur. Till next time...

Manneh Case Redux

On my last post I indicated that the five state Gambian policemen who abducted Manneh had been summoned to the ECOWAS Court in Nigeria to give testimony and explain what they did to Manneh who was last seen in their custody on June 6, 2006. They were to appear last week before the Court. In defiance of the Court's order, all five refused to appear. Consequently, the Court set the date for the final, final judgment for June 5, 2008. I sincerely believe that at long last a strong judgment will be rendered against Gambia.

I should also mention another related incident. One of our witnesses at the last hearing was a Gambian journalist named Yahya Dampha who had named some of those involved in Manneh's abduction. He presently lives in Senegal as an exile. Last week the Gambian govt attempted to kidnap him while he was at his new home in Senegal. He recognized one of those persons to be one of the apparati of the Gambian Intelligence agency. Fortunately, his neighbors came to his aid and prevented the kidnapping. Prior to this, he was receiving threatening phone calls. Was it a mere coincidence that the attempt was made the day before the five police agents were to come to the ECOWAS Court and give testimony. I leave it to the reader's imagination as to how all this fits together and how ominous this portends for Yahya's future unless he gets out of Senegal. Stay in touch...

New Suit in Sierra Leone

After months of work and preparation, the lawsuit challenging the criminal libel and sedition laws of Sierra Leone has now been filed with the Supreme Court of that country. This challenge is the first of its kind in West Africa, and if won, will start to change the culture of this area concerning the ability of journalists and citizens to criticize their government.

This matter was one that I addressed with the Minister of Information of that country on Nov 14. At that time, he encouraged the bringing of this suit and indicated that a serious review of the new democratic regime's position on this repressive law. Our challenge is based on the point that this law is unconstitutional and should thus be stricken. The Supreme Court will now schedule the case for argument sometime in the months ahead assuming that the govt actually decides to oppose our position.

Stay tuned...

Manneh Case Update

Well here I am into the middle of Feb and I doubt if anyone is still checking the blog. In the event someone is out there in the ether, here we go. The Chief Manneh case was to come to Judgment on Jan 31 but did not. Instead, the ECOWAS Court continued the case to Mar 14 at which time it ordered the five policemen who arrested Manneh to come to the Court and explain what there actions were and what they did with Manneh who has now "disappeared" since June 6, 2006. Of course our testimony establishes that he was dying in the prison hospital without records some considerable time later. It appears that the Court intends to cause these policemen to be subject to cross-examination for their deeds. Our concern is simply that Gambia will not allow them to come to the Court, and if they do, they will simply lie b/c to do otherwise will likely mean death to them. Hopefully, justice though ponderously slow will ultimately win out. Obviously, the case will not end on Mar 14 but be subject to further proceedings. C'est la guerre and till next time...

Photos and Articles of Interest

Click here to see all of the photos from my two months in Ghana.

In addition, check out this article in the Indiana Lawyer and this one in the North Vernon Sun.

I am currently visiting my son, Craig, and his wife, Ellen, and their two daughters, Grace and Julia, in Macon, Georgia for the holidays. Best wishes to all of my readers for a healthy and happy 2008.

Back in Indiana

At long last, I am back on my blog. A week has now past and this is the first day that my internet connection is working. When I arrived home, I found that our modem connected to the wireless router was broken. A new one was installed yesterday and I am up and running.

I arrived home last Fri very late, having just made my connecting flight to Indy. I got a decent night's sleep, then we were invited to the home of the Eppersons where they had a full Thanksgiving dinner with the usual turkey and trimmings. What a great meal!

Work has been busy at the office as I adapt to the grind. When I arrived in NY from Accra, the cold weather hit my face and I was so pleased to feel the cold. Then, two days ago we had our first snow. America, there is no place like it.

I am staying in contact with the ISLP and the Media Foundation for West Africa as I help keep the momentum going that I was able to start over there. On Jan 31 we receive the Judgment of the ECOWAS Court in the Chief Manneh case and I know it will be the first decision of the Court on a human rights violation lawsuit. I anticipate a good result and maybe a landmark decision. We shall see.

I am gratified that I was able to be a part of the team that represented the Manneh family and the fight for a free press in W. Africa. A no. of other efforts by our team are moving into place and I anticipate that the new Legal Director there will assist in sustaining the momentum. I intend from time to time to make a blog and you should look for the Judgment on Jan 31 that I will explain here when it arrives. Stay tuned...

At the Wire!

What a nice day. Did little work as I chatted with various staffers saying goodbye. Kwame' came in and we had a final discussion. Then on to dinner at the African restaurant where we had guinea fowl (which tastes like pheasant only slightly smaller) so a good choice. Tilapia was also served and I had one last taste of that.

Attached is a pic of our dinner as I accepted a gift of an African shirt which the staff got for me as a going away present. I appreciated their kind words and their help during the last two months.

As I reflect over the last two months, the privations involved and endured were certainly tolerable. As an older NGO, I doubt that I could handle those difficulties that I hear the younger ones describe,i.e., no running water, no elecrticity, no a/c.

As for accomplishments, I have definitely advanced the free press, free speech agenda in various countries, the extent of which, however, will or will not be realized in the next several months and year.

I now close down my laptop and pack it for my trip home tomorrow. Sometime over the weekend I hope to make another blog. Till then....

Heading for Home

One more day in the office and that is it. Tomorrow the staff is having something at the office for me, then Kwame' and a few are taking me to a fine African dish restaurant to celebrate and have a few toasts, or at least I will do a toast to their generous hospitality during my stay.

Went to dinner alone tonight as my cook's last day was yesterday. Just as well... I told her to fix me a special African dish for last night so she fixed me Tilapia (three of them instead of the usual two) so I had six eyes staring at me while I washed it all down with Star beer.

And so it goes out here, as Linda Ellerbee used to say. Just another night on the obverse side of the planet. Can you here me Tommy across the ether? I am coming home.

Down the Stretch They Come!

One day closer. On the way home today the Accra DJ on the big radio station here announced that he was playing a song that signified a revolution in America; then the song "San Francisco" by Scott Mckensie came on and all of you who remember the late 60's will remember the tune. I do not know if one could say a revolution but things did start turning politically and in many other ways. The drug culture seems to have begun and unfortunately we have not figured out how to combat the terrible results that drugs appear to have caused. Well, thankfully, that issue or concern is not on my plate. I am trying to get all loose ends put together for my departure and am in good shape in that regard.

An observation...it has only rained twice since I have been here, once for an hour and once for a few minutes. I am told that the Dec weather turns even hotter and with more wind. In that connection, there is a wind on its way that is called the harmentun (phoenetic spelling) which they tell me is an orange mist coming out of the north, from the Sahara Desert. The orange color is due to the fine desert sand that comes in with the wind and gets on your face, on your clothes. and in your hair (not to mention,I assume your lungs). This maybe means that I came here at an ideal time weather wise.....See you in cyberspace tomorrow.