Folks
Here we go again, APRC can never escape from the
reality: its poor human rights record is being
exposed. It is a bit sad that an organisation like
Amnesty could omit the plight of Dumo Saho and others,
Please read the attached document from Amnesty
International.
--------------------------------------------------------
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)
Download this country report as a pdf file
/web/ar2002.nsf/e115d4d1bde7ce3780256a4d006a5000/b7366c18901c6ce180256bc0003b38d7/$FILE/gambia.pd
/web/ar2002.nsf/e115d4d1bde7ce3780256a4d006a5000/b7366c18901c6ce180256bc0003b38d7/$FILE/gambia.pdf
Link to the Amnesty International library of documents
on Gambia
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