Ebrima Manneh

Who is Ebrima Manneh?

Ebrima Manneh is a Gambian journalist believed by human rights organizations to have been arrested in July 2006 and secretly held in custody since then.

A Daily Observer reporter, Manneh was reportedly arrested by state security after attempting to republish a BBC report criticizing President Yahya Jammeh shortly before an African Union meeting in Banjul; his arrest was witnessed by coworkers. Though ordered to release Manneh by an Economic Community Of West African States court, the Gambian government has denied that Manneh is imprisoned. According to AFP, an unnamed police source confirmed Manneh's arrest in April 2009, but added he believed Manneh "is no longer alive".

In June 2009, Manneh received the Special Award for journalism under threat from Amnesty International. Amnesty International considers him to be a prisoner of conscience and named him a 2011 "priority case". The Committee to Protect Journalists has also called for his release and demanded that authorities account for his disappearance. The Committee described his arrest as part of "a climate of fear created by the unsolved murder of prominent Gambian editor Deyda Hydara, a series of unsolved arsons of media houses, and a pattern of government intimidation and prosecution of journalists."