Home : News : Gambia News : US report makes damning criticism of Gambia’s human rights record
Gambia News : US report makes damning criticism of Gambia’s human rights record
The 2009 Human Rights Reports released by the United State Department contains quite a lot of damning criticism of the human rights and governance situation in The Gambia.
The report, made available to APA on Saturday says that while the Gambian civilian authorities generally maintained effective control of the security forces, there were some instances in which elements of the security forces acted independently.
“Human rights problems included government complicity in the abduction of citizens ; torture and abuse of detainees and prisoners, including political prisoners ; poor prison conditions ; arbitrary arrest and detention of citizens, including incommunicado detention ; denial of due process and prolonged pretrial detention ; restrictions on freedom of speech and press ; violence against women and girls, including female genital mutilation (FGM) ; forced child marriage ; trafficking in persons ; child prostitution ; discrimination against homosexual activity ; and child labor,” the report said.
The reports speaks about the abduction of about 1000 villagers by "witchdoctors" from Guinea, who were forced to drink some herbal concoctions in order to confess of being witches, which the report said resulted in several illnesses and at least two deaths.
“The Guineans, who were driven around in government vehicles, also conducted "cleansing rituals" in several government offices in Banjul, as well as in several other towns and villages,” the report said.
On torture, the report talks about several cases of torture and abuse of detainees by the security forces.
“The Indemnity Act continued to prevent victims from seeking redress in torture cases related to official actions taken by military personnel during military rule from 1994-96. The army requires victims to file formal complaints with the courts regarding alleged torture that occurred at other times. However, there were no known prosecutions in civil or military courts of security force members accused of mistreating individuals during the year,” the report states.
The report says that “while the constitution and law prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention ; however, there were numerous instances of police and security forces arbitrarily arresting and detaining citizens.”
The report also highlighted other problematic issues such as arbitrary arrests and detention, the harassment of journalists and limited opposition access to the public media, restrictions placed on freedom of assembly by the opposition, and several other social issues.
3403 times read
- Gambia is a country that i really like and should be a free country like the time of old president Daouda Jawara. What happened on these days is hate and hanger that Yaya had against his own people which is unspeakable.What goes around, comes around.
(Posted on March 25, 2010, 3:13 AM Amidou Traore)
- i tink jammeh loves gambia, bu his very stubborn , tink his right all da tym. i feel like he needs 2 own his eyes and c da image his paintin of da smiling coast. however, a feel lyk dere r sum lies in dis report.
(Posted on March 24, 2010, 2:23 PM brownie)
- please takes steps towards him mein,please mr jammeh stop detening innocent people
(Posted on March 17, 2010, 1:16 PM mr own)
- every country vault and abuse it's human rights but the one that go's over limit can be criticise.we all know about (G.T.M.O) in cuba.U.S. A know that vwry well.but as Jammeh past the limit he can be criticise.i hope 1 day he jammeh will love gambia.
(Posted on March 17, 2010, 12:48 AM A.A.SAMBOU)
|
|
|
Rate this Gambia Article
 (total 131 votes)
|
Gambia News
Gambia Archive
Newsletter
Poll: 2011- Gambia General Election
Comment on This Gambia News (4 posted)
Syndication
