To commemorate the UN International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, which falls on November 2, the MFWA is beginning a three-week long campaign to end impunity in The Gambia. President Yahya Jammeh celebrated two decades as the head of state of The Gambia in July of this year. Those two decades have been marred by massive human rights violations and impunity.
Under President Jammeh’s rule, Gambians have experienced 20 years of fear marked by extrajudicial killings, torture, enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests and detentions, and gross violations of freedom of expression. These ongoing gross and systematic abuses violate The Gambia’s obligations under international human rights treaties, the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and the country’s national constitution. In addition, the culture of impunity resulting from the lack of accountability and justice has facilitated the perpetration of further human rights violations.
For the next three weeks, the MFWA will be campaigning to end impunity in The Gambia by publicising the Jammeh government’s crimes and petitioning governments and intergovernmental organisations to hold President Jammeh accountable.
Follow our campaign on our website, Facebook, and Twitter using the hashtags #EndImpunity #20YrsOfFear .
