Amnesty International Report 1999 - Gambia

GAMBIA

At least 20 prisoners of conscience were held for short periods. At least three prisoners were reportedly tortured. Three military prisoners were sentenced to death. There were no investigations into past human rights violations.

Decrees introduced by Colonel (retired) Yahya Jammeh before the return to civilian rule in 1997 remained in force. One decree banned politicians active in government before the 1994 military coup from political activity, and another granted total immunity from prosecution to those who held power during the period of military rule. The latter decree was invoked to reject a compensation claim by Lamin Waa Juwara, a leading member of the opposition United Democratic Party (UDP), for illegal detention and mental torture (see Amnesty International Reports 1996 to 1998). An appeal against the court's verdict was pending at the end of the year. In October, two military detainees were released. They had been held without trial since a failed coup attempt in November 1994. They appeared to be the last detainees who had been arrested during the period of military rule.

Attacks on freedom of expression and association continued throughout the year. Journalists were tried or detained for short periods (see below) and some journalists from other West African countries were deported or threatened with deportation. All foreign nationals were barred by immigration officials from entering the offices of the Daily Observer newspaper in April and May.

In an important ruling in March, the High Court concluded that denying the UDP the right to hold meetings was unconstitutional and discriminatory. However, one month later a UDP rally was disrupted by armed police. A set of sensitization meetings had been approved but, as they had not been completed, the police apparently denied the UDP permission to hold the rally. In May the first UDP national congress went ahead despite the arrest in Brikama of several UDP sympathizers and the brief detention of the party's leader (see below). In July Lamin Waa Juwara was prevented from attending a UDP workshop in Mansakonko by supporters of the ruling Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction. The government initially attempted to distance itself from the incident, but subsequently explained that the workshop had been intercepted because of evidence that Lamin Waa Juwara was planning an uprising.

At least 20 prisoners of conscience were held for short periods. In May at least 10 prisoners of conscience, including UDP members and the Imam of Brikama, Alhaji Karamo Touray, were arrested in or around Brikama and held incommunicado at the headquarters of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA). They were publicly accused by the Minister of the Interior of destroying a mosque. This allegation referred to attempts to destroy a wall around part of the mosque reportedly built by a youth group – seen as pro-government – to try and prevent the Imam speaking about political issues there. Ousainu Darboe, Secretary General of the UDP, was also held for questioning for several hours. A week later the detainees appeared in court and were charged with conspiracy to commit riot and damage to a building. At least one, Lamin Waa Juwara, had reportedly been tortured in custody. Medical evidence suggested that he still had bruises, several large scars on his torso, a markedly deformed finger and an infected swollen leg some three weeks after his arrest. The government continued to deny the allegations. In June all 10 were granted bail by the Supreme Court. The trial of four of them was continuing at the end of the year.

In February Boubacar Gaye and Ebrima Sillah, of the radio station Citizen fm, were arrested, apparently in connection with broadcasts about the NIA and its role in broadcasting information in local languages from the written media. The following day Citizen fm was shut down for what the authorities called "irresponsible journalism" and failing to renew its licence. The two men were held for three days, released on bail and then detained again briefly. In late August the court ruled that Citizen fm would remain closed and fined the two men for "operating a radio station without licence". An appeal was pending at the end of the year.

In April, seven staff members of the Daily Observer newspaper were arrested and detained briefly by the immigration authorities. They were all foreign nationals and were reportedly warned against working for the newspaper. In June a Nigerian freelance journalist with the Daily Observer, Sule Musa, was detained and deported from the Gambia.

In August the editor of the Daily Observer and Demba Jawo, a reporter and President of the Gambia Press Union, were arrested and held for two days. Their arrests followed the publication of an article, which the government claimed threatened security, about a wall which collapsed at President Yahya Jammeh's residence, revealing military equipment.

Three of those arrested in July 1997 at the time of an armed attack on Kartong military post (see Amnesty International Report 1998) were sentenced to death by the High Court. They pleaded not guilty to the charges against them, although one did state that they were intending to steal arms and sell them to Senegal, but not to overthrow the government. At least two of the accused men claimed that they had been tortured. The prosecution produced a so-called independent witness to refute these allegations, but the accused claimed never to have seen the witness previously. No independent investigation into the allegations of torture was carried out. An appeal was pending at the end of the year.

There were no investigations into suspected extrajudicial executions or into allegations of torture and ill-treatment in previous years (see previous Amnesty International Reports).

In May Amnesty International asked the government to clarify the reasons for the arrests of the Imam and others in Brikama and to end their incommunicado detention. No response was received.