Covering events from January-December 2001

Republic of the Gambia
Head of state and government: Yahya Jammeh
Capital: Banjul
Population: 1.3 million
Official language: English
Death penalty: abolitionist in practice
2001 treaty ratifications/signatures: African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child

Human rights defenders, journalists and opposition supporters were arbitrarily detained and beaten. Members of the security forces accused of using excessive lethal force which resulted in the deaths of at least 14 people and the ill-treatment of scores of others in 2000 were granted immunity from prosecution. Civilians and members of the security forces charged with plotting to overthrow the government continued to be held without trial; the trial of one member of the security forces concluded with his conviction. Freedom of expression and of the press remained under attack. No new death sentences were passed.

Background

Legislation restricting political activities was lifted in July. However, President Jammeh was reported as warning against "disturbing the peace or the stability of the nation", saying that anyone who did so "would be buried six feet deep". Other restrictive legislation severely limiting freedom of expression remained in force.

President Jammeh won presidential elections, contested by five candidates, in October. Politically motivated murder charges brought against one of the candidates did not prevent his candidacy. His trial had not concluded at the end of the year. The electoral campaign was marred by violence between rival supporters, as well as targeted attacks on opposition leaders, reportedly by government supporters. President Jammeh's electoral victory was followed by a further crack-down on the independent media, opposition supporters and human rights defenders.

Prisoners of conscience

Human rights defenders and opposition supporters were arbitrarily detained. Freedom of expression remained under threat as journalists from the privately owned independent media were arrested, beaten and harassed.

  • In April, Dudu Kassa Jatta, a member of the Youth Wing of the opposition United Democratic Party (UDP), was detained incommunicado by the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), the security police, at their headquarters in Banjul. He was held for nearly two weeks before being released without charge. He had recently contributed to an article published in the Daily Observer in which he criticized President Jammeh.
  • In August, Alhagie Mbye, a reporter with The Independent newspaper, was detained for three days by the NIA, without charge or trial and incommunicado, following publication of an article about reports of an attempted coup. He was again detained incommunicado by the NIA for nine days in November after an article in the United Kingdom-based West Africa magazine, for which he was a correspondent, alleged electoral fraud in the presidential elections.
  • Mohamed Lamin Sillah, Secretary General of AI Gambia, was detained incommunicado for five days at the NIA headquarters in October, apparently in connection with his human rights work. Although he was released without charge, he was required to report on a regular basis to the NIA.
  • Around 40 opposition supporters were arrested in October following the presidential elections. The majority were held incommunicado by the NIA before being transferred to police custody and subsequently released on bail. Seven were charged in connection with election violence.
Impunity

In January, the government responded publicly to a report, submitted to it in September 2000, of the findings of a Commission of Inquiry into the deaths of at least 14 people and the ill-treatment of scores of others during demonstrations in April 2000. The report itself was not published. The Commission of Inquiry found security force officers largely responsible for the deaths and recommended their prosecution. It also recommended that student leaders could be prosecuted for their role in organizing the demonstrations. The government announced that it would not prosecute any of those responsible in the interests of "reconciliation", and introduced a law to grant immunity from prosecution to members of the security forces involved in the demonstrations, which was enacted by Parliament as the 2001 Indemnity Amendment Act and signed into law in May.
  • In March, a teacher sued the authorities for compensation for injuries he received, allegedly in an assault by the security forces. In July the High Court referred the case to the Supreme Court for interpretation of the constitutionality of the 2001 Indemnity Amendment Act. In December the Supreme Court ruled that the case should be heard by the High Court. A High Court ruling was pending in another complaint for damages for unlawful detention and assault related to the demonstrations.
  • The demonstrations had been in part to protest at the death of a secondary school student, Ebrima Barry, allegedly as a result of being tortured by Brikama Fire Service personnel. Seven Fire Service officers arrested in connection with his death were tried and acquitted in March 2001 on the grounds that the charges against them had not been proved beyond reasonable doubt.
Detention of suspected coup plotters
  • Out of five members of the armed forces extradited from Senegal in 1997 to face charges in connection with an attack on Kartong military post in July 1997, four had still not been charged or tried by the end of 2001. The fifth was released after successfully challenging the legality of his detention, reportedly in late 2000 or early 2001.
  • Lieutenant Landing Sanneh, detained since January 2000 on suspicion of taking part in an alleged coup attempt, was sentenced in September to 16 years' imprisonment with hard labour after trial by court martial. The defence alleged numerous procedural irregularities and that some of the evidence against him had been extorted under duress. An appeal had not been heard by the end of 2001.
  • Court hearings started in the trial of two armed forces officers and four others, arrested in June 2000 and charged in December 2000 with involvement in an alleged coup plot. Charges against a seventh man were withdrawn in December. The trial had not concluded by the end of 2001.
Torture and ill-treatment

In July, Omah Bah, court reporter with The Independent newspaper, was beaten by soldiers when he attempted to attend the trial of Lieutenant Sanneh at Yundum Army Barracks, Banjul. Although an officer intervened and senior officers dissociated themselves from the attack, those involved were not known to have been disciplined.

Female genital mutilation continued to be widely practised and not prohibited by specific legislation. Campaigners against it were denied access to state-controlled media.

Death penalty

Death sentences imposed on three men in 1999 were confirmed by the Court of Appeal. They had been convicted of treason in connection with the 1997 attack on Kartong military post. An appeal by the state to the Supreme Court, against the decision by the Court of Appeal in October 1997 to commute the sentences, from death to life imprisonment, of four men convicted in 1997 in connection with an armed attack on Farafenni military camp in 1996, had not been heard by the end of 2001. No new death sentences were known to have been passed.

Intergovernmental organizations

In October, a working group of the UN Human Rights Committee considered, under a special procedure, Gambia's compliance with its reporting obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights because of its failure to submit regular reports.

Also in October, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child considered Gambia's initial report, in which the government acknowledged that there was no standard definition of a child in Gambian legislation and that it had not defined a minimum age at which a child could be enrolled in the armed forces, bear criminal responsibility or be married.

AI country reports/visits

Statements
  • Gambia: Justice not impunity (AI Index: AFR 27/001/2001)
  • Gambia: Amnesty International demands the release of the head of its Gambian section (AI Index: AFR 27/007/2001)
  • Gambia: Secretary General of AI Gambia released but concern remains (AI Index: AFR 27/008/2001)

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