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International Solidarity Messages Floods In
Saturday, 25 June 2011 22:41
As Gambian Journalists Hold Congress(JollofNews) - The Gambia Press Union has been receiving floods of African Journalists, Omar Faruk Osman and the National Secretary of the West African Journalists Association (WAJA), writing on behalf of the President Muhammed Garba.
Below we reproduce, verbatim, the massages.
International Federation of Journalists
Ndey Tapha Sosseh
President
Gambian Press Union
24th June 2011
Dear friends,
It gives me great pleasure to be able to congratulate you on your triennial congress today on behalf of the IFJ and its unions worldwide. This should be indeed a tremendous commemoration of journalism but also a wonderful tribute to what your union and its leadership have achieved.
The IFJ and its affiliates are indeed very proud of your resilience and determination to confront many of the tough challenges you have been facing in the last few years. You had to face up to colleagues being harassed, beaten up, kidnapped and imprisoned. At times you had to defend the very existence of your union. Most of the time, you had to learn to navigate through choppy political waters, lobby and stand up for the interest of your members. In the end, despite scary moments, you came out of it with flying colours.
I don’t think it is an exaggeration to say that, over the years, you have acted as one of the most combative of our unions, always putting first the interests of journalists and journalism. This is not just a personal judgment but a view shared by many of our unions, who always admired the way you fought for just causes and your confidence and belief in your strength and your solidarity.
I must also congratulate you for your spirited fortitude and tremendous maturity in keeping your unity intact at all cost. This is something so rare today in Africa. Confronting so many obstacles, I am fully aware that keeping united can be crucial in building the GPU.
The whole global family of journalists has been fully aware of and given its support to your struggle. We are all full of admiration for the grit and tenacity of
your leadership during the darkest hours in the face of brutal oppression and jail conditions, and the courage and drive of your president in succeeding in putting the ordeal of Gambian journalists as a top priority for our unions, the human rights community worldwide and even governments.This is a historical record that does great credit to Ndey and to your union. I never had any doubt that your union has always been at the centre of the fight for social justice and journalists’ rights in Gambia. You have shown an indomitable fighting trade union spirit, which is a real model for many of our unions.
Finally I am well aware that on this day you will be assessing your journey with all its strength and weaknesses and I hope you will also be full of optimism and sense of achievement. I wish I could be with you for this historic celebration. My message to you is to continue the fight. These are difficult times for all of us, when the need for aware, independent and ethical journalism is greater than it has ever been. I am confident that Gambian journalists are in good hands as along as the GPU continues to thrive and to develop. In solidarity
JIM BOUMELHA
President
International Federation of Journalists
The Federation of African Journalists
Distinguished guests
Delegates,
Friends,
Brothers & Sisters
I bring fraternal greetings from the Federation of African Journalists on the occasion of holding your congress as an independent and democratic journalist organization. I wish you all the success in this
congress and more victories in the future. It is indeed a great pleasure and honour for the Federation of African Journalists to send a solidarity message to the national Congress of our great member, the Gambia Press Union. We are extremely happy that the GPU is holding its congress.
On behalf of FAJ and thousands of African journalists we salute the Gambia Press Union and its member journalists for their heroism and continuing struggle for press freedom, for better working conditions, for social justice, for democracy and for social progress.
I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate and thank GPU for its important role in the struggle of African journalists. On behalf of the Steering Committee of FAJ, I also wish to acknowledge the active participation of GPU in carrying out the programs and policies of FAJ in general and in expanding and strengthening the work of the FAJ in West Africa in particular.
You are gathered here today in this important congress of your union which brings together all working journalists in the Gambia. GPU has been known for giving journalists a voice. And we desperately need to sustain that voice. This union effectively maintained its consistency and position to defend Gambian journalists, to improve their pay and conditions, and to promote press freedom.
We note that the current environment you operate in as journalists and media practitioners has been weighed down with difficult and daunting challenges, especially to your freedom and safety. The constant harassment, intimidation and repression against journalists in the Gambia have become well known. But in the face of these clear and present dangers, you have soldiered on with uncommon courage to ensure that Gambian citizens get the necessary information they need to make informed decisions while also contributing to challenging the forces that are against social justice and democratic governance.
We salute the commendable and devoted courage that you demonstrate by your unending enthusiasm for journalistic duty. Clearly, you have defeated those who think that through oppression and other attacks on your persons, equipments and media houses they can achieve individual and generalized brutal suppression. We are with you in this struggle and will continue to condemn and denounce all forms of attacks on journalists, other media persons and outlets in the Gambia.
Let me inform you that we have been working very closely with the leadership of GPU and also the West African Journalists Association (WAJA) to carry out a campaign to protect the safety of journalists. Specifically, we are currently reaching out to the African Union (AU) and the various sub-regional blocs to achieve policy frameworks that provide for and promote safety, protection
and justice for victim journalists.
Since FAJ was established in 2008, we have stood against oppression and exploitation of journalists. Today, all kinds of threats and pressures as well as brutal murders against African journalists continue to happen with total impunity. We unite our voice with the voice of all victimised African journalists, including Gambian colleagues.
Brothers and sisters,
You are critical for your people’s struggle and for your country. You provide a significant chance to build your nation and to strengthen and give power to your people, without oppression and exploitation. We must continue to work together, indeed strengthen our working together, to help ourselves and to stake our claims forcefully and with all the strength at our collective disposal, full in the knowledge that freedom, democracy and social progress can only arise and endure as the fruits of tenacious struggle that mobilizes the people and places them squarely in the driving seat of their
destiny. We trust and appreciate the role and the big struggles of GPU. I wish you fruitful deliberations and hope that a stronger GPU emerges out of this congress.
In solidarity,
Omar Faruk Osman
President, Federation of African Journalists
President, National Union of Somali Journalists
Secretary General, East African Journalists Association
The West Africa Journalists Association
The National President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists – NUJ and President, West African Journalists Association- WAJA, MUHAMMMAD GARBA, extends the goodwill of both WAJA and NUJ to the Gambia Press Union as it convenes the Congress of its union on Sunday, June 26,2011.
GARBA notes with satisfaction the very dynamic role played by the union in recent years in encouraging the freedom of the press and in promoting democracy. Despite having suffered a number of setbacks severally, with the obvious but unsuccessful attempts by government to control the media, GARBA condemns the increased harassment of journalists in the Gambia, acts which he says are causing frustration among media professionals in the country. He however commends the resilience of GPU leadership and members, their commitment to freedom of expression and the rule of law. The President of NUJ/WAJA is worried that the Government of the Gambia had increasingly continued filing legal cases against media professionals who especially report on allegations of corruption, while security operatives have been used to block access for reporters n in several areas and to frighten many journalists into self exile, a development he states is counterproductive. He thus urges the Government of the Gambia to avail itself of the opportunity of the GPU Congress to heal such wounds.
MUHAMMAD GARBA, while expressing concern about the continuation of the independence of the press across the sub region, argues that poor professional standards and ethical violations continue to make the press vulnerable to government attacks. He appeals to all Journalists to strive at all times to adhere strictly to the code of ethics of the profession, as a way of reducing the incidences of acts of impunity against the media.
GARBA , while wishing the GPU a successful Congress, also appeals to delegates to elect credible leaders who will work assiduously with other sister Unions and Associations in the sub region in uplifting the standard of the practice of journalism.
SHU’AIBU USMAN LEMAN
National Secretary
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