By Ryan Aliman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

BANJUL, Gambia – Gambia’s President Yahya Jammeh has halted the execution of the 37 prisoners on death row. In a statement issued last week, President Jammeh said that the suspension is a response to “numerous appeals” from various social organizations, at home and abroad. His declaration to execute all death row prisoners last month gained many condemnations including from the European Union, the United Nations and Amnesty International.

Had the Gambian government carried out the execution, it would have marked the end of an execution-free regime that has been in place for almost 30 years.

The halt, however, is temporary. It will only remain in effect on the condition that violent crime does not rise in Gambia. “What happens next will be dictated by either declining violent crime rate, in which case the moratorium will be indefinite, or an increase in violent crime rate, in which case the moratorium will be lifted automatically,” the President stated.

Nevertheless, foreign governments, non-governmental organizations and human rights groups construe President Jammeh’s decision as a “sign of progress, however small”. According to them, his about-turn decision is an indication that public pressure on the Gambian President was successful. Sherman Nikolaus, an Amnesty International Gambia researcher notes, “for far too long the international and regional community has been far too quiet [on Gambia] – we haven’t been able to test if pressure does indeed work.”

Governments and organizations still think they can persuade President Jammeh to make the suspension of the execution permanent. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, “[we just have] to exert more sustained pressure on the [Gambian] government to clean up its human rights act.” After all, Gambia is a signatory to to the 1984 Convention against torture and other cruel and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and the 1966 International Covenant on civil and political rights, both of which refer to the death penalty.

The suspension of the execution precedes a series of pardons issued by the President.

5 days ago, President Jammeh pardoned the country’s former secretary general and head of the Civil Service, Ousman Jammeh, as well as the manager of the Kanilai Family Farms in Siffoe, Karafa Sanneh. These two were convicted for negligence of official duty, economic crimes and obtaining money by false pretense. Ousman Jammeh and Karafa Sanneh are also among the second batch of prisoners to be granted a presidential amnesty this week.

The Office of the President said that these pardons were issued “in exercise of [President Jammeh’s] prerogative of mercy”.

 

For further information, please see:

IRIN News – GAMBIA: Stepping up pressure on human rights – 20 September 2012

Jollofnews – Gambia’s Yahya Jammeh Pardons More Prisoners – 18 September 2012

Al Jazeera – Gambian leader halts executions – 15 September 2012

BBC News – Gambia’s President Jammeh halts executions amid outcry – 15 September 2012