July
22, 2013, marks 19 years of President Yahya Jammeh's rule of West
Africa’s smallest country, The Gambia, after the 48-year old leader
ceased power in 1994 through a military coup.
The
19-year rule of President Jammeh has been characterised by brutal
repression of citizens’ rights to free expression. Freedom of speech and
media rights have remained stifled mainly through the application of
inimical laws and the meting out of stiffer punishments after
politically motivated trials.
During
the period, dozens of human rights advocates and journalists have been
exiled, others have been killed and several others have disappeared. In
The Gambia today, critical media reportage is literally outlawed, while
other rights violations continue to be perpetrated by the government
with gross impunity. For example, The Jammeh regime has refused to
comply with two human rights judgements delivered against it by the regional community Court of Justice (the ECOWAS Court) since 2010.
