Reports reaching Gainako indicated that the European Union has conducted an initial vote to hold back €10 Million Euros from Gambia’s road and infrastructure development fund due to its deteriorating human rights and governing records. The initial development fund of 13 million Euros was ear marked for the Gambia. However, Jammeh’s recent tirade against the EU and his reluctance to comply with the EU 17 point demand is straining relationship with the country’s most important development partner.
Author: Gainako
Nearly 7 months since his disappearance the case of missing Gambian Saul Ndow is still shrouded in mystery. In April 2013, Mr. Ndow made a trip to Dakar, Senegal where he was reportedly kidnapped by rebels alongside the Senegalese border and is currently being detained by the Gambian government. Mr. Ndow’s family are very concerned about his condition and whereabouts and are urgently appealing for his immediate release, ” This is a violation of my father’s human rights ” says Saul Ndow’s daughter Fatou Ndow “these sudden disappearances, arbitrary arrests and tortures are continuing on a wide scale. We need…
By Suntou Touray The trial of Amadou Sanneh commenced yesterday -the 6th of November, 2013. The Defense again plead with the court to free Mr. Sanneh or at least grant him bail, but the Judge, under “instruction from above,” denied the request. Lawyer Neneh Cham continues to put up a stiff defense for Amadou Sanneh and company nonetheless. The court hearing was well-attended, offering Gambians an insight into how the Judiciary is currently being used as the key instrument of the state’s persecution of its opponents, thus helping to perpetuate oppression in The Gambia. The law is supposed to…
Interview by Katharine Derderian, EU Foreign Policy Officer at Amnesty International’s European Institutions Office Dr. Amadou Scattred Janneh is the founder and Coordinator of the ‘Coalition for Change – The Gambia’, a NGO seeking to challenge the Gambia’s leadership through non-violent action. He was arrested in June 2011 for distributing t-shirts that featured the slogan “End to Dictatorship Now” and sentenced to life imprisonment in 2012 for conspiring to “overthrow the Government of the Gambia by unlawful means”. Dr. Janneh was released in September 2012 and has recently published his memoir “Standing Up Against Injustice”.
The Nigerian President Jonathan Goodluck’s looming visit to Banjul for a one day working visit scheduled for this Friday November 8th has a lot of buss to it. Nigeria, one time one of the most unstable governments in relation to military rule is now one of the strongest democracies in West Africa. The country plays a critical role in Africa not only as an economic power but as a regional security leader sending security forces to help stabilize other regional nations such as Mali. The UN, AU and ECOWAS continue to rely heavily on Nigeria for its leadership in…
It is with great sadness that I am writing with the hope that I can reach out to the Senegalese authorities following my investigations to establish whether the Senegalese authorities are living up to expectations or not but to my dismay, it turns out to be the worst of my nightmares because it beats my imagination to think that the Macky Sall’s government of all governments will in fact ignore, Isolate and seems to careless about the suffering of the children and family of the late Tabara Samba and co who were unlawfully executed by the Jammeh administration last year.
In an exclusive interview with the BBC, Gambia’s Television personality Fatou Camara has admitted joining a long list of Gambian journalists in Exile. Ms Camara was twice the Director of Press for President Jammeh during which time she regarded exile Gambian journalists as unpatriotic and out of touch with realities on the ground. Below is the full interview with the BBC Gambian TV talk show host Fatou Camara, who fled to the US after being charged with sedition, has told the BBC she will never go home while President Yahya Jammeh’s government is in power. Ms Camara, who has…
The embattled Gambian Imam who was detained incommunicado for over five months by Gambian authorities for allegedly criticizing the Jammeh government over the execution of nine prisoners has finally break his silence on the story. In an interview with the UK based International Business Times (IBT) Imam Leigh explain in details why and how he was arrested by the Gambian authorities. Imam Leigh was recently given Human Rights Defenders award by the Pan-African Human Rights Defenders Network for his defense of Human Rights in the small West African State of the Gambia. Below is Imam Leigh’s full statement as published by IBTimes.
By Sidi Sanneh The Nigerian leader’s visit to Banjul is coming at a time when his Gambian counterpart is in need of tough talk from one of the most powerful countries in Africa, and the most important country in the ECOWAS region. The recent spat of incomprehensible moves by Jammeh following his return from the recent United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York have caused disruptions in both the bilateral cooperation programs with Nigeria and with the Commonwealth Secretariat.
Gambian Civil Society Groups elevated their campaign against the Jammeh regime when they requested and were granted audience at the European Union meeting held in Brussels October 27th, 2013. The group in collaboration with other Human Rights Campaign agencies made a special case to the EU MPs to adopt tougher measures against the Jammeh regime for its total disregards for Human Rights of Gambians. In a strongly worded statement representatives made a case for action against the regime in Banjul. Below is the statement presented at the European Union meeting in Brussels: CALL FOR THE ADOPTION OF TOUGHER MEASURES…