I was just browsing some Amnesty International site and ran into a
comprehensive chronice of some of the human rights violations perpetrated on
innocent Gambians by the regime.

I have tried to cut out some of the unnecessary tidbits.

Here goes:

Human rights violations during the election period

The main opposition party, the United Democratic Party (UDP), led by the
vice-chairman of the Gambian Bar Association, Ousainu Darboe, was registered
at the earliest opportunity in early September 1996 along with the Alliance
for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC), formed by the military
leader, Chairman of the Armed Forces Provisional Ruling Council (AFPRC),
Yahya Jammeh, and two other parties [2]. All four parties contested the
presidential election later that month.

Some long-term prisoners of conscience remained held during the election
period. Before campaigning started, the President of the Provisional
Independent Electoral Commission, Gabriel Roberts, made a public appeal for
the release of all political prisoners to allow them to freely participate in
the elections. This included 25 alleged supporters of the former ruling
party, the People's Progressive Party (PPP), who had been held since October
1995, and leading members of the previous administration held since July
1994. However, the government refused to release them on the grounds that
they must stay in custody to answer charges against them. Some had been
charged with sedition, others with theft or abuse of public office. They were
finally released in two measures of amnesty in November 1996 and February
1997 when all charges were dropped. Amnesty International believes most of
those released were prisoners of conscience.

Others, members of the UDP have been subjected to harassment, short term
imprisonment and torture. By 21 September 1996 at least 12 UDP members had
been arrested in various places, some for collecting signatures of support.
Of these, at least five remained held in December 1996. After an intervention
by Gabriel Roberts in mid-December 1996, UDP candidate for Jarra West,
Kemeseng Jammeh, was released with two others. These three had been ordered
released by a magistrate on 5 December 1996 but had been immediately
re-arrested by security officers, apparently acting on official instructions.

On 30 September 1996, two UDP supporters, Wassa Janneh and Dembo Karang
Bojang, were arrested at their homes and held at Brikama Police Station, some
25 kilometres outside Banjul, before being released on bail later the same
day. However, they were rearrested the following day. Wassa Janneh was
questioned about statements he had made at a recent UDP rally in Gunjur, some
40 kilometres south of Banjul, and Dembo Karang Bojang was reportedly
arrested for patrolling the streets on the day of the presidential election
on the grounds that this could influence voters. Demba Karang Bojang was
released after a few days in custody, but Wassa Janneh remained held until
late December. Wassa Janneh was again arrested, and tortured in June 1997
(see below).

A few days later, on 3 October 1996, Buba Ayi Sanneh, a UDP supporter, was
arrested on suspicion of attempting to cause breach of the peace after he had
approached the Assistant Commissioner of Western Division to advise him that
the recent arrest of these two UDP supporters might provoke a demonstration
which could result in divisions and unrest in the area. On the same day,
Ansumana Bojang, another UDP supporter, was arrested at his home and detained
at Bundung police station. No reason was given for his arrest. Both were set
free on bail on 7 October 1996. Also freed on bail the same day was Fabakary
Taal, a journalist and member of the UDP, who had previously been held for 10
days in July 1996 for distributing his student newsletter at the celebrations
to mark the second anniversary of the military coup. Fabakary Taal was
alleged to have physically assaulted an APRC militant. All three were finally
released without charge on 18 November 1996.

UDP supporters have also been subjected to severe ill-treatment at the hands
of the authorities and of supporters of the ruling party. On 22 September
1996, the last Sunday before the presidential election, there were many
political rallies held by both the UDP and the APRC. At one UDP rally in
Lamin, just as it was getting dark, soldiers, some in civilian clothes,
arrived by truck and, according to eye-witnesses, they jumped from the
trucks, grabbed a group of UDP supporters and beat them with fists, cutlasses
and/or boots before getting back on the truck and moving on to find another
group of opposition supporters. This reportedly continued for several hours.
Later in the evening, there was a substantial army presence at Denton Bridge
which is the only thoroughfare to reach the capital, Banjul, at the time that
UDP supporters were arriving home from a political rally. Vehicles containing
some 100-200 supporters were stopped and the occupants were ordered to lie
face down on the ground and were severely beaten with sticks and other
weapons, possibly including rubber truncheons. It is reported that a senior
military member of the government was present and even encouraging the
military in their acts of violence. Some were escorted back to the Atlantic
Barracks in Banjul, where they were again kicked, whipped and beaten. Those
who were not so severely injured then scattered and tried to make their way
home. On reaching Denton Bridge, some were again assaulted by soldiers. The
authorities claimed that the UDP trucks were laden with cutlasses and stones;
however, independent sources suggest that the photographic evidence used to
support this claim was fabricated. The authorities also claimed that UDP
supporters attacked an APRC convoy; again, independent sources said this
allegation was without foundation. Three people are reported to have died
later as a result of their ill-treatment. Such deliberate use of cruel,
inhuman and degrading treatment is contrary to international standards and in
particular to the Gambia's obligations under the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights.

Human rights violations since the elections

Arrests, torture and ill-treatment

In March 1997 three UDP members were arrested at Ousainu Darboe's house.
Demba Kanyi, Musa Kanyi and Ba Sorie Ceesay were held for a few days without
charge or trial. The police arrived to break up a gathering organized to
welcome the leader home from a Commonwealth meeting in Botswana. Many of the
participants, including women, were beaten. Demba Kanyi was reportedly
injured as a result of being beaten at the time of arrest.

On 10 April 1997 Pa Modou Faal, Secretary General of the Gambia Workers
Confederation, was arrested by agents of the National Intelligence Agency
[3]. (NIA) and held for 26 hours as he was about to leave the country for
Libya. His passport, which was confiscated when he was detained incommunicado
by the NIA in December 1996, had just been returned to him.

In May 1997, one person died in custody, apparently as a result of torture.
Yaya Drammeh had been held at Banjul's Mile Two prison since an attack by
armed men on the Gambia's second largest military camp at Farafenni, some 100
kilometres east of Banjul, in November 1996. He was under constant medical
care when he died in May. The government stated he died of a blood disorder,
but sources at the hospital claimed he had been vomiting blood, could not
speak and had injuries to the genitals when he had been brought to hospital
three days before he died. Hospital sources reportedly refused to state
whether an autopsy had been carried out and no investigations have been
started. Principle 36 of the UN Body of Principles for the Protection of All
Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment states: "Whenever the
death ... of a detained or imprisoned person occurs during his detention or
imprisonment, an inquiry into the cause of death ... shall be held by a
judicial or other authority, either on its own motion or at the instance of a
member of the family of such a person or any person who has knowledge of the
case."

On 8 June 1997 eight UDP members were arrested at the party's first regional
constituency congress in Brikama when police intervened claiming the meeting
was illegal. Their leader explained it was a congress, not a public rally, so
did not need a permit. The detainees were first taken to Brikama police
station, then to various other police stations and finally to the Banjul
headquarters of the NIA, where they were all subjected to torture on the
night of 11 June and released on bail on Friday 13 June 1997. Amongst those
arrested and tortured was a woman, Sarjo Kunjang Sanneh, who was one of those
released in the February 1997 measure of amnesty; she had been held since
December 1996. Another was Wassa Janneh, who had been previously arrested on
30 September 1996.

The victims spoke to the press immediately after their release and showed
evidence of the injuries sustained as a result of being beaten with heavy
whips while being forced to crawl on their hands and knees before security
officials. There were also allegations that a water cannon had been used on
them and that one victim, Doudou Sanyang, had been burned on his genitals. In
response, the Attorney General issued a statement that the allegations of
torture would be fully investigated; however, no investigation has yet been
started.

Since these events, the UDP has been demanding an investigation into
incidents of torture and challenging in court the requirement to obtain
advance permission for meetings and the repeated refusals to grant
permission. The ruling party does not have to fulfil the same requirements
and no other party has been refused permission or had their meetings broken
up by police.

On 27 July 1997 Yaya Sanneh, a UDP member, was brutally arrested at his home
by soldiers. A few days earlier, he had been discussing with others in
Bambali village a recent military attack, which took place at the military
base of Kartong near to the Senegalese border. One of those present
reportedly disagreed with his point of view and said he would make sure Yaya
Sanneh was arrested for saying this. Shortly after, he was arrested by
soldiers and severely beaten both during arrest and on the journey to
Farafenni police station. On the day he arrived the officer commanding the
police station ordered that he receive medical treatment. The local medical
centre then referred him to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Banjul because his
condition was worsening. He was finally discharged from hospital but had
great difficulty walking apparently as a result of the severe and sustained
beatings he had received. Yaya Sanneh himself told the press that he had also
been passing blood in his urine. The army categorically denied all reports of
ill-treatment, saying that he had been simply arrested by the army's military
police and handed over to the police for further investigation on account of
his alleged statements in support of military attacks. This denial does not
explain the physical state of Yaya Sanneh as reported in the press.

On 24 September 1997, the UDP was holding a preparatory meeting in a private
house in Gunjur when its was disrupted by the police. Two UDP members, Kebba
Barrow and Sandang Bojang, were taken to the Gunjur police post. They were
held until the evening when they were released without charge. Their lawyers
were denied access to the detainees and this led party officials to believe
rumours that they had been taken to NIA headquarters where they risked being
tortured. The UDP publicised this fear. The following day the two men were
asked to report to Brikama police station and were taken to Gambia Television
to disprove allegations made by the party that they had been tortured. It
seems that they were not subjected to physical torture during their period in
police custody.

Journalists have continued to be harassed. The new Constitution has supremacy
over any other law found to be inconsistent with any of its provisions.
However, none of the repressive decrees introduced during the period of
military rule has been specifically repealed. For example, Decrees 70 and 71,
issued in February 1996, modified the Newspaper Act to increase the fine a
hundredfold for any contravention of the act. It also introduced a
requirement that a large sum, Dalasis 100,000 (US $10,000) must be provided
as a bond to re-register all existing newspapers and for all new ones.
Irregularities with the bond formalities brought proprietors and editors of
four newspapers into court for several weeks and the suspension of their
papers for one week. The long-lasting impact of these decrees has been an
increase in self-censorship to prevent any possible contravention. The effect
of these decrees, coupled with more overt forms of repression, has a lasting
impact on freedom of information in the Gambia. In January 1997 three foreign
nationals, all employed at the Daily Observer newspaper were deported from
the Gambia. In November, the paper's editor-in-chief, Ellicot Seade, was also
deported.

In July 1997, Alhaji Yorro Jallow, a stringer for the British Broadcasting
Corporation (BBC) and Alieu Badara Sowe, a freelance journalist, were held
for five days questioning after they reported that a prison riot had taken
place in the capital's Mile 2 Prison.

In October 1997, the authorities banned a very popular programme on the New
Citizen radio station, one of the few private radio stations created in
recent months. The programme had reviewed the written media thereby giving
widespread publicity to issues otherwise only available to the reading
public. This follows a similar directive in May 1997 by the Director of
Broadcasting Services for Radio Gambia and Gambia Television prohibiting them
from broadcasting programmes critical of female genital mutilation. It is
reported that this directive was issued following official pressure.

On 6 November 1997, Aldiouma Cissokho, spokesman for a collective of
Mauritanian non-governmental organizations, was arrested by the Gambian
police. The previous day, he had spoken at a press conference organized by
the collective and criticized the Mauritanian government's record on human
rights. They were in Banjul for a meeting of the African Commission on Human
and Peoples' Rights . He was released after less than two hours in custody
after interventions by members of the African Commission and delegates from
Amnesty International, the International Commission of Jurists and Human
Rights Watch who were also attending the Commission.

Death Penalty

In June 1997 four men were sentenced to death by the High Court of the Gambia
after being convicted of charges of treason for trying to overthrow the
government in an armed attack on Farafenni military camp in November 1996.
These were the first death sentences passed since the penalty was
re-introduced in 1995. They exercised their right to appeal and the
convictions and sentences were quashed in October 1997. However, they remain
held and are believed to face new charges. The precise nature of these
charges is not clear and so it remains a possibility that they again risk
being sentenced to death.

When the new Constitution was drafted Amnesty International expressed concern
that the death penalty was retained. The Constitution stipulates that the
National Assembly has the responsibility to review the desirability or
otherwise of total abolition of the death penalty within 10 years. Amnesty
International called on the authorities at that time to immediately rejoin
the worldwide trend towards the abolition of the death penalty. In the
meanwhile, the government should consider suspending executions, as
recommended by the UN Commission for Human Rights in its resolution 1997/12

Unresolved human rights violations from the period of military rule - the
need for accountability

Other cases of human rights violations remain unresolved from the period of
military rule. In November 1994, just four months after the military had
seized power, several soldiers were killed and others arrested following an
alleged attempted coup. The circumstances in which 13 of the soldiers died
remain unclear and it seems they may have been extrajudicially executed .

Captain Sadibou Haidara was Minister of the Interior in the early months of
military rule. In January 1995, he was arrested with Captain Sanna Sabally,
Vice-Chairman of the then ruling AFPRC, apparently because they disagreed
with the revised timetable for the return to civilian rule. There were
reports that both men had been ill-treated in custody. Captain Sabally was
sentenced to nine years' imprisonment. Captain Haidara died in custody six
months after arrest. It was reported that the post mortem concluded he had
died as a result of long-standing high blood pressure which caused kidney and
lung problems. However, his family dispute these findings and have repeatedly
called for an independent investigation into the reasons of his death as
required by international standards.

In June 1995, Finance Minister Ousman Koro Ceesay was found dead in the
burned-out wreckage of his car. His family continues to demand an
investigation into the circumstances of his death. Amnesty International has
also urged the government to investigate this death as reports suggest that
he had already been killed by someone close to the ruling AFPRC before the
car was set alight.

No one has been found responsible for these violations of human rights and
brought to justice.

Next steps - Amnesty International's recommendations to the Government of the
Gambia

End arbitrary detention of prisoners of conscience

The Gambian Government should:

end harassment, arrest, detention and torture of critics and opponents of the
government, including members of opposition political parties and
journalists, solely for peacefully exercising their right to freedom of
expression, association and assembly as guaranteed by the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the African Charter on Human and
Peoples' Rights.
enforce the provisions in the Gambian Constitution which stipulate:(1) Every
person shall have the right to liberty and security of person. No one shall
be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention...

(2) Any person who is arrested or detained shall be informed as soon as is
reasonably practicable and in any case within three hours, in a language that
he or she understands, of the reasons for his or her arrest or detention and
of his or her right to consult a legal practitioner.

(3) Any person who is arrested or detained - (a) for the purpose of bringing
him or her before a court in execution of the order of a court; or

(b) upon reasonable suspicion of his or her having committed, or being about
to commit, a criminal offence under the law of the Gambia,

and who is not released, shall be brought without undue delay before a court
and, in any event, within seventy-two hours.
repeal the following decrees which threaten freedom of expression and
association: - Decree 45 of June 1995 which established the National
Intelligence Agency;- Decrees 57 of 1995, 59 of 1995 and 66 of 1996 which
permit detention without trial of a person by the police, or army without
trial on the orders of the Minister of the Interior if "he is satisfied that
the arrest and detention of a person is in the interest of the security,
peace, and stability of the Gambia". The initial period of detention can last
up to 90 days and this can be renewed by the same Minister. They also nullify
writs of habeas corpus;- Decree 89 of August 1996 which bans three political
parties and denies members of the government prior to the July 1994 military
coup their rights to freedom of association.
Guarantee the safety of detainees and demonstrate opposition to torture

Amnesty International urges that:

safeguards should be introduced to protect all detainees and prisoners from
torture and ill-treatment to conform to the Gambia's international
obligations, including under the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights and the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights;
the Gambian Government should demonstrate its total opposition to torture: it
should also be made clear during the training of all officials involved in
the custody, interrogation or treatment of prisoners, especially those of the
National Intelligence Agency, that torture is a criminal act;
all complaints of torture should be impartially and effectively investigated;
the methods and findings of such investigations should be made public; and
those responsible for torture should be brought to justice;
as a sign of its commitment to human rights, the Gambia should complete the
process of becoming a party to the Convention against Torture and Other
Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. The Gambia has signed
this Convention but not yet ratified it.
Abolish the death penalty

Amnesty International is totally and unconditionally opposed to the death
penalty which it considers the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading
punishment.

The National Assembly should urgently consider total abolition of the death
penalty. Pending abolition, all death sentences should be commuted and no
further death sentences passed.
Start immediate investigations into human rights violations

The preamble to the 1997 Constitution states:

"The Constitution provides for us a fundamental law, which affirms our
commitment to freedom, justice, probity and accountability."

Yet, human rights violations have remained unpunished.

Amnesty International urges that:

the Gambian Government must follow up the public statement in June 1997 by
the Attorney General that allegations of torture would be fully investigated.
An independent inquiry should be organized to investigate the allegations of
torture, in order to bring to justice those responsible;
investigations must also be opened into the unexplained killings during the
rule of the AFPRC and the death in custody of Yaya Drammeh since the return
to civilian rule. Those responsible must be brought to justice to give a
clear message that human rights violations will not be tolerated.
****

(1) Please refer to The Gambia: A new constitution - revised draft still
threatens human rights, published by Amnesty International on 7 August 1996
(AI Index: AFR 27/07/96).
(2) The other parties are the National Reconciliation Party (NRP), led by
Amath Bah, and the People's Democratic Organisation for Independence and
Socialism (PDOIS), led by Sidia Jatta.
(3) The National Intelligence Agency was created by military decree in June
1995 and has far-reaching powers including the authority to arrest and detain
anyone suspected of threatening state security and to intercept their
communications. Despite the fact that the new Constitution, which came into
effect in January 1997, should invalidate any other laws which are
inconsistent with its provisions, the NIA remains operational.

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