Gambian Journalists Trained on Human Rights

By Mamadou Dem Three days training for Gambian Journalist organised by the Gambia Press Union (GPU ended ) yesterday at the Gambia Telecommunication and Multimedia Institute (GTMI) campus in Kanifing. Speaking earlier on the day of the opening, Gibairu Janneh, SecretaryGeneral of the Gambia Press Union (GPU), said the importance of the training is to enable reporters to report on issues concerning human rights in a more ethical manner. According to him, human rights issues are not only detention without trial, disappearance without trace or reporting from the courts but civil and political rights should also be looked into and reported accordingly. He said the training will broaden the mind of journalists in executing their job and also build techniques and skills on the new issues of human rights. Mr. Janneh finally expressed hope that journalists will use the opportunity to gather more information. “As far as the GPU remains, capacity building will always continue,” he concluded. Lawyer Gaye Sowe, Director of Programs Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa (IHRDA), who conducted the training, in a brief statement, recalled his work at the Gambian bench which he left in 2005. He expressed gratitude for providing training for media practitioners. During the course of the training, Mr. Gaye dealt with eight topics ranging from Genesis, Concept and Components of Human Rights, Overview of the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights, Human Rights Law and International Frame Works,  Overview of Gambia Constitutional Provisions on Human Rights, Overview of Gambian Legal Instruments on Human Rights and the Importance of Human Rights in a Democracy, among others. The training was funded by the German Foreign Ministry through its embassy in Dakar, Senegal.]]>