A very timely reminder, on FB, about our last photography workshop, in The Gambia, January 2014. Timely, because this week we look forward to holding our next workshop, in-country.
More updates on the upcoming workshop, in The Gambia, soon.
Jason Florio
January 2020 – Currently in The Gambia, West Africa
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‘Speak a new language…so that the world will be a new world’ Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī
Image © Jason Florio – A fisherman paddles along the River Gambia at Goloumbou, Senegal, West Africa. From the ‘River Gambia Expedition-1044km source-sea African odyssey‘ series
#NeverAgainGambia – Remembering Deyda Hydara, June 9, 1946 – December 16, 2004, The Gambia. Hydara was gunned down by assailants, whilst in his car, as he was returning from work, in 2004. He was a journalist and co-founder of The Point newspaper and an advocate of press freedom. Hydara was also a fierce critic of the government of President Yahya Jammeh, who was openly hostile to Gambian journalists and the media.
July 22nd, 2019 – At Gambia’s Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC) on July 22, army officer Lieutenant Malick Jatta named former President Yahya Jammeh as the mastermind behind the murder of prominent editor Deyda Hydara on December 16 , 2004. He said Jammeh had given the direct order to assassinate Hydara, an outspoken critic who was the managing editor and co-owner of independent newspaper The Point. The operation by Jammeh’s infamous hit squad, known as the Junglers, was dubbed “Magic Pen,” Jatta told the commission. CPJ – By Angela Quintal/CPJ Africa Program Coordinator, The Committee to Protect Journalists
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@jasonflorio / @floriotravels / @jasonflorio_photoprints– Instagram
Jason Florio – Vimeo / Motion
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The Gambia – everywhere you go, all eyes are on the TRRC live TV
The TRRC is an independent Gambian institution mandated to conduct research and investigations into human rights violations committed under the presidency of Yahya Jammeh. The Commission further aims to prevent a repetition of the violations and abuses suffered under the past regime by making recommendations to government and citizens aimed at ensuring the crimes of the past never recur in The Gambia. TRRC
The TRRC is currently hearing the testimonies of the victims of the 2009 witch hunts when over 1000 elders were abducted on the orders of then-President Yahya Jammeh. Paramilitary troops accompanied by ‘magicians’ from Guinea went from village to village as part of a nationwide hunt for witches. The alleged witches were made to drink ‘Kubehjaro’, a hallucinogenic substance, and then forced to confess to witchcraft. A number of people died during the ordeal, due to drinking the liquid and as a result of severe beatings, and several deaths followed due to health complications, such as kidney failure.
“I was kept for five days. When they forced me to take the medicine (‘Kubehjaro’ a hallucinogenic substance), I could no longer stand up… I fell down on the ground… ” excerpt from Sankung Balajo’s interview with Jason Florio/Helen Jones-Florio: ‘Gambia – victims, and resisters‘
Assignment queries and image licensing – Contact here
@jasonflorio / @floriotravels / @jasonflorio_photoprints– Instagram
Jason Florio – Vimeo / Motion
floriophotoNYC – Twitter
