Amnesty International Report 2004 - Gambia

Covering events from January - December 2003

Freedom of expression came under repeated attack. Two men suspected of links with al-Qa'ida were unlawfully transferred to Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, after being detained incommunicado for two months in Gambia. Trials of alleged coup plotters and political opponents continued. Female genital mutilation remained widespread. Illtreatment by the security forces was reported.

Background

In September Gambia signed the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa.

Attacks on freedom of expression

In June the new National Media Commission was inaugurated. The Gambia Press Union lodged a legal action with the Supreme Court challenging the constitutionality of the Commission. The Commission has considerable quasi-judicial powers, including the power to force journalists to reveal sources and to impose mandatory licensing conditions, and lacks independence. However, the Supreme Court was not functioning so the legal action was not heard.

The Independent newspaper came under particular attack and several of its staff received death threats, were ill-treated or were detained. Its editor-in-chief, Abdoulaye Sey, was detained for three days in September by the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) following publication of an article critical of President Jammeh. NIA agents denied holding him, prompting fears for his safety. NIA agents also reportedly threatened that he would be killed if he continued to publish articles critical of the President. Abdoulaye Sey was released without charge.

In October, three unidentified men set fire to The Independent's premises. The newspaper's security guard was beaten unconscious. A police inquiry was announced but did not appear to take place. An independent radio station, Citizen FM, the target of a previous arson attack, remained closed: it had been shut down in 2001 after the government accused it of not paying taxes.

Incommunicado detention and unlawful transfer of al-Qa'ida suspects

Bisher Al-Rawi, an Iraqi national, and Jamil Al-Banna, a Jordanian national with refugee status in the United Kingdom (UK), were secretly transferred to Bagram Air Base probably in early January even though a habeas corpus application on their behalf was pending in the courts in Banjul. The men had been detained incommunicado since November 2002, when they were arrested in Banjul on their arrival from the UK where they both lived.

A Moroccan national was briefly detained in January on suspicion of links with al-Qa'ida before being expelled from the country.

Fate of suspected coup plotters

In July, two men suspected of involvement in a July 1996 attack on military barracks in Farafenni were arrested shortly after returning to the country from Liberia. The circumstances of their return were unclear. They had not been formally charged by the end of the year. Three other men sentenced to death in June 1997 for involvement in the attack were still awaiting the outcome of the state's appeal against the quashing of their sentence in late 1997. All the men remained in detention.

Two armed forces officers accused of involvement in an alleged coup plot in June 2000 were acquitted in July after charges were dropped. Charges were dropped against a third defendant, Momodou Marena, in October. The men had been detained since June 2000. Hearings in the trial of three others, including Dumo Sarho, continued until the end of the year.

Trial of political opponents

In December the judge in the trial of opposition leader Ousainou Darboe and four of his supporters, charged with the murder of a government supporter in 2000, ruled that the trial should proceed even though one of the defendants would be tried in absentia. Defence lawyers appealed against the decision arguing it was unconstitutional. The Appeal Court had not ruled by the end of the year. The charge was believed to be politically motivated.

Lamine Waa Juwara, leader of the National Democratic Action Movement, was charged with sedition in September after calling for protests against the government which he accused of corruption and economic incompetence.

Female genital mutilation

Female genital mutilation remained widespread, especially in rural areas. There was no specific legislation in Gambia prohibiting the practice.

Ill-treatment by the security forces

There were several reports of beatings of people by the security forces outside places of detention. A journalist from The Independent was allegedly beaten in Banjul in August. Three people testified before Kanifing Magistrates' Court in October that they had been illtreated in custody. One woman reportedly miscarried as a result. In May, two police officers were arrested in Brikama following accusations that they had beaten a suspect.