Gambia

URGENT: Gambia: Women's rights defenders Isatou Touray and Amie Bojang-Sissoho arrested and detained

WLUML Statement on the Arrest of Women’s Human Rights Defenders in the Gambia, Dr. Isatou Touray and Ms. Amie Bojang-Sissoho:The WLUML network is deeply concerned to learn of the arrests of our colleagues Dr. Isatou Touray and Ms. Amie Bojang-Sissoho on Monday, October 11, 2010 by an officer of the National Intelligence Agency in the Gambia. According to reports received, they had been threatened and harassed prior to their arrest, before being held in police custody until being transferred to the Mile Two Central Prison on Tuesday, October 12, 2010.

Gambie: Deux membres du Réseau international de solidarité Femmes sous lois musulmanes (WLUML) militantes contre les mutilations génitales féminines, ont été arrêtées, en Gambie

Les autorités de la Gambie ont commencé à agir contre les militants des droits des femmes qui travaillent pour la cessation des mutilations génitales féminines. Le directeur exécutif du Comité Gambie contre les pratiques traditionnelles (GAMCOTRAP) Dr. Isatou Touray, et son adjointe Amie Bojang Sissoho ont été arrêtés lundi par la police pour des raisons inexpliquées, le journal La liberté ne peut rapport. Le Dr. Touray et Madame Sissoho sont actuellement détenus au quartier général de la police dans la capitale Banjul.

Avant la fermeture des bureaux le lundi, les nouvelles atteint la communauté de presse ici que les détenus devaient être escortés par la police au tribunal régional de Kanifing, mais pour se faire dire que l'affaire serait entendue mardi. M. Touray et Mme Sissoho on s'attend à nouveau devant le tribunal mardi pour prendre plaidoyer.

Gambia: Two women’s rights activists, and WLUML networkers, arrested

WLUML has learned that prominent women’s rights activists, Dr. Isatou Touray and Ms. Amie Bojang-Sissoho of GAMCOTRAP, have been arrested and are currently awaiting trial. Please see the news report below and the Action section of the WLUML website for what you can do. "Principal Magistrate Emmanuel Nkea of the Banjul Magistrates Court yesterday, Tuesday, 12th of October, 2010 ordered that Dr Isatou Touray, the executive director of The Gambia Committee on traditional practices affecting the health of women and children (Gamcotrap) and Amie Bojang-Sissoho, programme coordinator of Gamcotrap be remanded in prison custody until the 20th of October, 2010 pending the completion of police investigation into the alleged offence said to have been committed by the duo.

Afrique: Déclaration du Caucus des Femmes Africaines à la 54ème Session de la Commission sur le Statut de la Femme

Nous représentantes de diverses organisations de la Société Civile Africaine réunies au Forum Mondial pour la Revue de Beijing 15 ans après et représentant les voix des millions de femmes et jeunes filles Africaines, Apres avoir eu des consultations avec différents acteurs avant et pendant le Forum Mondial des ONG sur les progrès enregistrés dans la mise en œuvre de le Déclaration et la Plate Forme d’Action de Beijing en Afrique,

Africa: 30 days of advocacy against Witch-hunts

29 March to 27 April 2010 (Global): The witchcraft epidemic in Africa is fueled by religious extremism. Practitioners of traditional African religions, traditional healers, witch-doctors and Christian missionaries and religious leaders incite witch-hunts on this continent. There are comparisons to be made between Africas current witch-craze, European Inquisitions and American witch-hunts. Perhaps the lessons to be learned in Africa are the same as those that needed to be learned by Europeans and Americans; there is no culture without human rights. All men and women, including Witches, have the right to live without being falsely accused, assaulted, persecuted or murdered.

Africa: Crackdowns on gays make the 'closet' safer

More than two-thirds of African countries have laws criminalizing homosexual acts, and despite accounting for a significant percentage of new infections in many countries, men who have sex with men tend to be left out of the HIV response. "[They] are going underground; they are hiding themselves and continuing to fuel the epidemic," UNAIDS executive director Michél Sidibé told IRIN/PlusNews recently. "We need to make sure these vulnerable groups have the same rights everyone enjoys: access to information, care and prevention for them and their families." IRIN/PlusNews has compiled a short list of human rights violations against gay Africans:

Gambie: Le président demande aux gays de "quitter le pays"

La Gambie, petit pays de l'ouest africain à majorité musulmane, n'aime pas les homosexuels et n'en veut pas sur son territoire.

Gambia: President tells gays to leave the country

President Alhaji Dr Yahya Jammeh, on Thursday, gave less than 24 hours (until last week Friday) ultimatum to homosexuals, drug dealers, thieves and other criminals, to leave The Gambia or face serious consequences if caught.

Gambie: Les mariages forcés accouchent de drames précoces

En Gambie, pour échapper au mariage forcé, certaines adolescentes fuguent ou se suicident, d’autres éliminent leurs époux.

WSF: The media and signs of fundamentalism: A case in the Gambia