Mr. Adama Barrow, the president of The Gambia, has announced that the country will abolish the death penalty. In a statement he delivered on Sunday at the McCarthy Square for the fifty-third independence anniversary celebration of the country, Barrow declared “a moratorium on the use of the death penalty in The Gambia, as a first step towards abolition.” He was however short on specific details since abolition of the death penalty in The Gambia requires both passage of a constitutional amendment bill in the National Assembly and a referendum by voters. In December 2017, the National Assembly passed a bill for the establishment of a Constitutional Review Commission to draft a new constitution for the Third Republic of The Gambia. The announcement of the members to the commission is yet to be made public.
The right to life is guaranteed in the Gambian Constitution in Section 18 which stipulates that only in a sentence of death imposed by the courts could one lose life. However, the constitution appears to be inclined towards an abolition as it states, in Subsection 3 that within ten years of the coming to force of the constitution the National Assembly “will review the desirability or otherwise of the total abolition of the death penalty in The Gambia.” Members of the National Assembly had failed to fulfill that provision during the rule of the former president Yahya Jammeh when it was, first, due for review.
The death penalty is rarely used in criminal justice enforcement since the country gained independence in 1965. Only one execution took place during the rule of former president Dawda Jawara after the 1981 rebellion to overthrow the government. Mustapha Danso was executed in September 1981 after he was convicted of the murder of the deputy commander of The Gambia Field Force, E. J. Eku Mahoney, on 27th October 1980 and for his subsequent participation in a riot at the Mile II Central Prison as well as taking part in the 1981 armed insurrection. Since then Jawara imposed a moratorium on death penalty.
But in August 2012 former president Yahya Jammeh broke that moratorium when he executed nine prisoners on death row. Among the inmates executed were two Senegalese nationals, including Ms. Tambara Samba, who was sentenced to death for the murder of her husband in a domestic dispute. Many human rights organizations, foreign governments and Gambians condemned the executions for the secretive manner in which they were conducted and without adhering to the due process of the law.
Baba Leigh, the imam of Kanifing East Central Mosque, who criticized the executions as unislamic was abducted by the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) December 2012. He criticized the government for carrying out executions on the Islamic Holiday of Eid-al-Fitr, on a day some Islamic scholars argued that no executions should be conducted by the state. Leigh, who was detained incommunicado and allegedly tortured for five months, went into exile in the United States upon his release and only where he lived until his return to The Gambia last year after Barrow took office.
Barrow also gave his commitment to improving human rights, democracy and good governance. He said the government “is preparing an Information Bill and a committee on Media Law Reform has been set up to review the existing media laws to support the drafting of a Media Law that is in line with the developments in media and communication technologies.”
The Gambia has one of the most oppressive media laws in the world. In July 2013, Jammeh’s regime amended the Information and Communication Act of 2009 that increased the penalty to fifteen years in jail or a fine of D3 million (approximately $70,000.00) for spreading what it called ‘false news’ on the ‘internet’ against the ‘government or public officials.’ Earlier in April that year, the government amended Section 114 of the Criminal Code of The Gambia which increased jail time from six months to five years and a fine from D500.00 (approximately $12) to D50,000.00 (approximately $1, 112.00) for a conviction on misdemeanor charges.
Barrow stroke a conciliatory tone in the speech calling on all Gambians to “continue to nurture the spirit of unity to build the New Gambia” that they “want and deserve.” He said that Gambians “can only continue to enjoy a peaceful atmosphere if we embrace our diversity, and as citizens selflessly contribute to making The Gambia the best it can be.” He acknowledged that Gambians “will always” have their differences but they “must learn to respect those differences” as “there is no one correct perspective.”
Prior to his visit to Turkey last week, Barrow’s government came under criticism for employing tactics used by the Jammeh’s regime to oppress Gambians. On January 31st, the police called Dr. Ismaila Ceesay, lecturer of political science at The University of The Gambia, for questioning and charged him for jeopardizing national security. Ceesay had made a statement to the Voice Newspaper on improving the security situation in the country. Students at the University of The Gambia protested his detention and participated in a demonstration at the police headquarters in Banjul where he was held until all charges against him were dropped before his release on the following day.
In a town hall meeting with Gambians he held on a visit to the Republic of Turkey, Barrow angered many of his critics when he charged that after the executive members of the United Democratic Party (UDP) were imprisoned by his predecessor, the UDP tried to recruit young intellectuals to lead the party but no one among them accepted to join the fight to end dictatorship. He said now that they have prevailed over Jammeh, there are tons of lawyers, accountants, and other professionals lining up in the State House seeking for jobs in his administration. Barrow also attacked Civil Society Organizations (CSO) criticizing his government but when Jammeh lost the December 2016 election and refused to step down CSOs were nowhere to be found. “They were all silent,” he remarked sarcastically. Barrow said that only he, with members of the coalition standing behind him, stood up to Jammeh and told him that he had to relinquish power.
The Turkey speech generated swift response from the Gambian civil society and activists. Madi Jobarteh, Program Manager of the Association of NGOs in The Gambia, condemned the speech as divisive, false and misleading and called on Barrow to be an inclusive and unifying leader. He noted that when Jammeh rejected the election results it was The Gambia Bar Association that first issued a public statement to condemn the former president and categorized his actions as treasonable. The bar association itself has issued a strongly worded statement of its own to also condemn Barrow’s speech by reminding him that when the UDP leaders were being tried, it was members of the Bar who voluntarily defended them (pro bono) free of charge. The statement went further to highlight that until the election, no one knew Barrow himself as standing up to Jammeh hence it was disingenuous on his part to now jeer citizens for not standing up to Jammeh.
Barrow reminded Gambians that despite their “ethnic, economic, gender difference,” they “are all Gambians,” and have “one Gambia” in common. The independent celebration was attended by the former president Dawda Jawara who led The Gambia to independence in 1965 and ruled the country until he was overthrown in a military coup d’état in July 1994 by Barrow’s predecessor former president Yahya Jammeh.