Four Women Journalists Captured by FGM Practitioners

UNCLAS FREETOWN 000048

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR AF/PDPA: SLISENBY
DEPT ALSO FOR AF/W, G/IWI

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PGOV OIIP KPAO SL
SUBJECT: Four Women Journalists Captured by FGM Practitioners


1. Summary: On Saturday, February 6, four journalists were detained
by a women's secret society - referred to locally as "Bondo" -- in
Kenema for alleged association with media campaigns to end the
practice of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in Sierra Leone. The
women were released Sunday following police intervention and public
protests from the journalism association. End summary.


2. Manjama Balama-Samba of UN Radio and the government-sponsored
Sierra Leone Broadcasting Service (SLBS),Henrietta Kpaka of SLBS,
and Isha Jalloh and Jenneh Brima of Eastern Radio, were captured and
taken to the "Bondo Bush," the area in which the Kenema Bondo
society perform initiation ceremonies and other rituals(note: there
are Bondo "chapters" in other regions of Sierra Leone). Some were
stripped of their clothes by the Bondo members, led by Haja Massah
Kaisamba, and paraded naked through the streets of Kenema to the
Paramount Chief, Amara Bonya Vangahun.


3. The Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ) and Women in
the Media Sierra Leone (WiMSaL) issued public statements protesting
the detention as a violation of the freedom of the press and of the
women's human rights. Both organizations included in their
statements a denial of the Bondo society's assertions that the women
had spoken out against FGM. SLAJ praised the actions of the Sierra
Leone Police in bringing about the journalists' release.


4. One of the captured journalists, Manja Balama-Samba, reported by
phone to a Freetown-based colleague that the captive women were
terrified of what would happen to them. Balama-Samba herself
claimed to be an initiate of the Bondo society, and believed that
her capture was due only to her employment by UN Radio, a news
outlet that broadcasts information about the dangers of FGM.


5. Assistant Inspector General of Police Al-Shek Kamara, Eastern
Region Commander and officers from the Family Support Unit
reportedly negotiated a compromise to move the women from the Bondo
Bush to the Paramount Chief's compound. Later, they were moved to a
local radio station, where Malama-Samba was supposed to make a
public denunciation of UN Radio for broadcasting against FGM. There
were no reports yet that she actually followed through with the
demand and made the denunciation.


6. Embassy Comment: The fact that the Freetown-based media
associations dismissed charges that the women had participated in a
campaign against FGM highlights the difficulty organizations
fighting the harmful practice face. Sierra Leone has the highest
rate of infant and child mortality in the world. Nevertheless, FGM
is considered by many in Sierra Leone to be an integral part of
traditional culture, and is fiercely guarded despite all evidence of
the devastating side effects for women. End Comment.

PERRY