Objet: Letter to UNITY : Journalists of Color, Inc.
À: nabj@nabj.org, info@unityjournalists.org, info@cpj.org, foreign@nytimes.com, letters@nytimes.com, foreign@washpost.com, letters@washpost.com, letters@nypost.com, news@nydailynews.com
Cc: "Amadou Ndiaye" , "Samba Prosper Mbaye" , "Fallou Gueye" , "Lamine NDIAYE" , "Lequotidien Journal"
Dear Onica,

We are writing to inform you and to express our deepest concerns about your assessment that Mister Abdoulaye Wade, President of Senegal is « an African leader of great conviction and accomplishments whose tireless work to advance democratic values, multi-party elections and transparent governance has promoted human rights and economic development in Senegal and throughout Africa. ». This declaration is baseless and here are the following facts to prove it :

In June 21st. 2008 , Boubacar Kambel Dieng and Karamoko Thioune were beaten by police officers after a soccer game during which they were interviewing the players.Those police officers involved in the beating are still on the job as if nothing has ever happened. You can learn about this by visiting CPJ website at www.cpj.org.

In August 2007,Transport Minister Farba Senghor threatened to “beat up” independent daily news Walf Grand-Place’s reporter Pape Sambaré Ndour, after calling him a “bastard.”

In June 3rd, during the international conference on World Food Security held in Rome , Italy , president Wade threatened Yakham Mbaye, editor of the daily Le Populaire, according to journalists who have witnessed the incident.

In July 2004 Madiambal Diagne, owner and managing editor of the popular independent newspaper Le Quotidien, was jailed for more than two weeks for articles he wrote in 2004 about alleged executive interference in the judiciary and corruption in the customs service. Diagne was imprisoned under a controversial national security provision known as Article 80 of the penal code.

In may of this year the Committee to Protect Journalists has reiterated its call to Senegalese authorities “to end a pattern of criminal defamation prosecutions against the press” after many journalists were brought to court to face criminal proceedings for the expression of their opinions.

In March, Papa Moussa Guèye, director of the private daily L'Exclusif, based in the city of Rufisque, 24 miles east of Dakar, was the third Senegalese journalist handed a six-month suspended prison term within a week for alleging presidential late-night “escapades.”

In April, the director Jules Diop and Editor-in-Chief Serigne Saliou Samb of private daily newspaper L'Observateur were handed six-month suspended prison sentences and heavy damages over a critical story.

In July 7, Abdou Latif Coulibaly, was prevented from traveling to the US , where he was invited to speak at a conference. He was handed an order to appear in court in July 12th , 2008 to answer questions about his latest book on the pillaging of the LONASE, the national lottery company.

The list can go longer ; and moreover nothing has prevented the authorities to do away with this controversial provision of our penal code but their willingness to keep in check and domesticate the press.

Your statement contrasts profoundly with a memo written in the june 18th, 2008 issue of the New York Times, sent from Dakar by Lydia Polgreen and titled Shadows Grow Across One of Africa ’s Bright Lights.

In New York Time’s article it is stated that “once a darling of international donors, who have spent millions to help Senegal build schools and clinics, pay off its debts and plan infrastructure projects, the country has found itself criticized by representatives of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank over public spending and policies that have worsened the effects of rising food prices.

These are the facts and they speak louder than million words. We are troubled when journalists who are supposed to inform people objectively are biais and blinded by their own interests.

Also, on the preservation of the environment issues, president Wade is far from being an example. He is known for declassifying forests in Senegal and giving them to his allies for mere political reasons despite the advice of experts in forestry not to do so. He doesn’t listen to experts who raised concerns about the deforestation and the destruction of the senegalese coast.

This year 18 children died of lead poisoning in Ngagne Diaw, a neighborhood in the suburbs of the capital, Dakar . His policies have so impoverished our people that they do whatever they can to survive, including exposing themselves to toxic such as lead.

We hope you will read more about Senegal and president Wade’s policies that are against people’s will and needs. While people are suffering and striving to

New York, July 23rd, 2008

Fron Siggil Senegal / USA

ALARMING SITUATION IN SENEGAL

We, the members of “Front Siggil Senegaal”, the U.S. chapter, are writing to inform you and to express our deepest concerns, about President Abdoulaye Wade and his regime whom we are holding accountable for destroying our people’s lives and our democratic and economic gains.

In fact, on March 19, 2000, when the Senegalese overwhelmingly elected the new president, Abdoulaye Wade, ( sending the party that has been ruling the country since its independence to the opposition) they had hoped for better living conditions and good governance.

Eight (8) years later, disappointment from the Senegalese is at a desperate level. As an illustration, here are the findings of Transparency International (TI) regarding the ranking of Senegal in the Corruption Perception Index: In the year 1998, Senegal was ranked 55 out of around 150 countries as being the least corrupt country; in 1999, Senegal was still in the 50’s ranking (it was ranked 58); After President Wade took office in 2000, the rank for Senegal jumped to the 60’s and 70’s: 65th in 2001, 76th in 2003, and 78th in 2005. As we can see, over the last years the ranking of Senegal in the annual Corruption Perceptions Index published by TI has been deteriorating.

Other surveys corroborate TI Senegal's findings. The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund after their last audit of the Senegalese administration "encouraged [the Senegalese administration] to vigorously implement the public expenditure management reform" and pass anti-corruption laws. Since the year 2001, these recommendations to the Senegalese government are coming like “leit motiv” from all the financial and international cooperation institutions. The Senegalese administration keeps promising to pass anti-corruption laws. The reality is that the political will and interest is not there. The U4 – Anti Corruption Resource Center says it better. There is “a wide gap between governments' anti-corruption rhetoric and the impunity enjoyed by public officials. Part of the problem may lie in the fact that anti-corruption institutions are often established to appease international actors, while governments endeavor not to alienate political allies at home through anti-corruption crackdowns.”

Afrol News in its 26 September 2007 online publication noted “the Wade government has hitherto been observed to fail to take strong action against corruption, despite the fact that Mr. Wade had made the fight against corruption one of his main election campaign issues in year 2000. Recent reports seem to indicate that corruption indeed has become more widespread under the current administration.”

On June 30, 2005, Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) has approved a grant of up to $6.5 million to assist Senegal in the development of its Millennium Challenge Compact. It notified the Congress of such approval and requested the allocation and obligation of the funds. (See Millennium Challenge Corporation Congressional Notification sent on June 30, 2005 by Mr. Frances C, McNaught, Vice President of Domestic Relations). Yet, on a surprising move, during the summer of 2007, the Senegalese republic decided to seek other funds for the same project from Dubai and the Ben Laden Group. Why such move when the funds were already secured and granted on VERY FAVORABLE terms while the funds from Dubai and the Ben Laden group were loans at the market’s interest rate? The answer without any doubt is that while the MCC funds were a grant, the control exercised by the American congress would make it difficult to embezzle the funds or divert them. At the same time, the money from Dubai and the Ben Laden Group could easily by siphoned to personal bank accounts, as it has been the case with money offered back in 2001 by the Taiwanese government to the Senegalese government.

The latest scandal with the Senegalese administrative and related to a total opacity in how the government concludes agreements and sign contract is the attribution of a phone license to SUDATEL, a Sudanese phone company. The license was attributed without any public offer. The government was the one who selected, on its own, the company that would be allowed to compete for that phone market. This is because the agreement was sealed before hand and the bid was open to a few companies just so it would not be obvious. A deeper investigation on SUDATEL by the Socialist Party (a Senegalese opposing party) reveals that SUDATEL is listed by the US government as one of the corporations that are currently financing and fueling the crimes committed in the Darfur region. (See http://www.treas.gov/offices/enforcement/ofac/actions/20070529.shtml)

Finally, President Wade has changed the law to create a senate of 100 members of which, 65 members and its president were chosen without elections by President Wade himself. The main opposition parties decided to boycott the only 35 senatorial seats placed on election, arguing that since there already exists a National Assembly, the senate is not only unnecessary but that the money to make it function could be used to improve the daily lives of the population, especially in the rural areas and that creating a senate is simply President Wade’s will to find ways to hand over the political power to his son, Karim Wade, since, he (President Wade), upon taking up office in the year 2000, dissolved the already existing senate on grounds that, that elected senate was costly.
This new senate was installed on Wednesday 26, 2007.

This new Senate and SUDATEL situation combined with the corruption level and lack of transparency by the Senegalese administration is what is leading us to take actions. One of those actions is to draw the attention of the partners of the Senegalese administration on these hidden facts. We, in fact, believe that it is our responsibility in contributing in letting the truth out about the dealings of President Wade and his government; which is the purpose of this letter.

Should you need more information about the political situation in Senegal, don’t hesitate to contact us.

Sincerely,
Amadou Ndiaye, representative of the Socialist Party, Cell. 1917-569-5877
Samba Prosper Mbaye, representative of Democratic League, Cell. 1646-548-8170
Fallou Gueye, represntative of the Union of African Workers/ Senegal , Cell. 1212-665-4924,
Mamadou Lamine Ndiaye, representative of the AFP, Cell. 1917-355-1716