CONTEXT
Gambia is often hailed as one of Africa's few democracies and, accordingly, little international attention is paid when human rights violations occur. Presidential and parliamentary elections returned President Dawda Jawara to office for a fifth term in 1992. Also in 1992, the government announced an amnesty for coup plotters who had participated in an unsuccessful coup attempt in 1981. There have been some reports by Amnesty International of ill-treatment of prisoners in custody by police officers, but abuse of prisoners is not endemic and police are held accountable. Prison conditions are below standard and prisoners receive inadequate medical care and nutrition.
Despite the fact that the African Commission on Human and People's Rights and the regional African Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Studies are based in Gambia, the local human rights community is small. The International Society for Human Rights is the main organization, and its stress is human rights education work. There is also another research and education center, the Foundation for Research on Women's Health, Productivity and the Environment (BAFROW), which concentrates on issues affecting women's health and productivity. There is little or no documentation or advocacy work being done in the Gambia, and that is a gap that should be filled.
History
A unique organization in many ways, the Centre was established by the Gambian government soon after the the establishment of the African Commission. It was set up in 1989 as a regional organization to cooperate with other African and international institutions on human rights issues. It has been granted diplomatic immunity by the Gambian government.
Mandate
Its mandate is exclusively to promote human rights.
Structure
The office is divided into six core programs: human rights procedures (raising awareness of international human rights procedures); a research program (conducting and commissioning studies on human rights problems, including one on prisons); a publications unit (a newsletter and occasional papers); a human rights internship program to enable African and other interns to work at the Centre; a documentation programme; and a training and education program. The Centre has a professional staff of seven.
Program
The Centre has done a number of training workshops for NGOs and law enforcement officials on human rights standards. As a result of a funding crunch, the programs have been collapsed for the time being, and staff are working only on programs that still have funding.
History
The African Society of International and Comparative Law was founded in 1986, and was previously based in London, until it moved to Gambia in 1993. It has a membership of approximately 550.
Mandate
The organization's objective is the advancement of public education in law and related areas in Africa.
Structure
There are two full-time staff members in Gambia and two in England.
Program
The Society hopes to create a network of interested lawyers and scholars on the African continent and to play a role in an African contribution to international law. It plans to help establish branches of the organization in other African countries. The Society publishes a newsletter and law journal. It has plans to start a legal aid and education project in Gambia, to initiate and encourage law reporting services in different countries, to write a commentary on the African and OAU Charters, and to produce a yearbook on state practice in Africa.
(BAFROW)
History
The Foundation was set up in 1991 as a research project to study and work on issues that pertain to women's health and productivity. It was formed because of a lack of empirical data on women's issues from which to analyze issues related to women's health for policy formulation.
Mandate
The organization's purpose is to conduct research on issues, including environmental issues, that affect women's health and productivity.
Structure
The office has two full-time staff members.
Program
The organization has done extensive work on female genital mutilation, both researching its prevalence as well as providing information and education sessions to women to end the practice. It is interested in setting up a temporary shelter for girls who are fleeing genital mutilation. Other issues on which the organization has worked include access to schooling for girls and the implications of polygamy for women.
(ISHR-Gambia)
History
The Gambian section of the International Society for Human Rights was established in December 1991. Although it is formally affiliated to its German counterpart and receives rent money from them, its program activities are independently determined.
Mandate
The organization is an education and advocacy group.
Structure
It is headed by the International Governing Council based in Germany and a National Executive Committee of five members.
Program
ISHR-Gambia's activities include seminars and workshops, as well as investigating human rights abuses and filing communications with the African Commission on Human and People's Rights. The organization includes the following committees: youth, welfare, bilingual (translation of human rights documents into local languages), and women. It has published reports on prison conditions, lobbied for law reform, written articles and produced a newsletter. It also views itself as a regional group and has travelled to Guinea on a fact-finding mission and assisted a human rights group there obtain observer status with the African Commission.
- Binaifer Nowrojee
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