Raising The Gambia
- CHRF Approach and the Concluding Statement

During the drafting of the Commonwealth Human Rights Forum Communique/Concluding Statement, an issue that CHRI has been following through its Ghana Office, was raised and included therein to the objection of the Foreign Minister of The Gambia.

CHRI’s Ghana Office had previously brought the matter to the attention of the Secretary General of the Commonwealth Secretariat in a letter dated 20 July 2007. Arising out of the deliberations of the CHRF, concern was reflected about incidents that had taken place within The Gambia, including a particular instance that took place during 2005, where according to survivor accounts, over 50 people of different nationalities including several Ghanaians transiting via Banjul from Dakar, Senegal, were picked up from Barra Beach by state forces and detained in custody of state forces. These individuals were held for several days without charge, were never brought before any court of competent jurisdiction. Later, some of the bodies of these persons, known to have been in custody of The Gambian state forces, were discovered. Other individuals have yet to be found and are presumed disappeared. In its Communique/Concluding Statement, the CHRF included reference to The Gambia incident under paragraph 18, that:

“In relation to the Gambia we note with grave concern the deteriorating situation in The Gambia particularly the extrajudicial killing and/or disappearances of 50 Africans in 2005, media repression, arbitrary arrests and disappearance and acts of impunity by the Gambian government. CMAG should accordingly as a matter of urgency investigate the human rights situation in The Gambia”

The matter had previously been widely reported in the media within both The Gambia and Ghana. The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) had formerly asked the Government of Ghana to appraise the public of the facts and to state what actions the government was taking to investigate the matter - the circumstances of the case creating a strong presumption that, in this instance, extrajudicial killings and/or disappearances had taken place. During August 2005, following wide public concern, the Government of Ghana informed CHRI that a joint investigation team was established. The decision of the President of The Gambia to lead a delegation to meet with the Ghanaian government and constitute the Joint Investigation Team gives indication of the strong basis found for such an investigation. In a high level meeting, attended by the President of The Gambia, a joint investigation team was constituted by the governments of Ghana and The Gambia – indicating both governments level of concern and, arguably, strong basis for the establishment of an investigation into reported killings and/or disappearances.

Having included reference to the incident and the failure to conduct a full and open investigation into the disappearance and alleged deaths of some of the victims within the CHRF Communique/Concluding Statement, the Foreign Minister of The Gambia called its inclusion into question. CHRI responded to this query via a formal letter to the Foreign Minister stating, “[that] CHRI’s ongoing stance and response to the query of the Foreign Minister of The Gambia, is that the government of The Gambia and Ghana must expedite an impartial investigation and verification of the facts, and circumstances around the killings and/or disappearances.”

The allegations in the CHRF statement do not come as new or as a surprise. The Government of Ghana’s responses to the incident have been widely publicised over the past year. CHRI has brought the issue to the attention of the President of Ghana, also Chair of the African Union, during the Jubilee People’s Assembly in Accra. There has been no response from the Gambian envoy in Accra to date. Furthermore, on 19 May 2007, CHRI officially requested the necessity of an investigation before the African Commission’s 41st ordinary session. Present during the intervention, The Gambian delegation was additionally provided with a copy of the CHRI statement and a request for response, via one of its representatives. Despite all such efforts, including CHRI having made a formal response to the query by the Foreign Minister at CHOGM, no response has been received from the Government of The Gambia.

Over time the evidence for the investigation and prosecution of the stated case is weakened. CHRI continues to be concerned that despite two years having lapsed since the incident, investigations have yet to be progressed and any investigative findings that may have taken place remain unpublished.