On February 18, 1965, when the representatives of Britain's queen mounted the dais at the MacCarthy Square (now July 22nd Square) situated in the centre of then Bathurst (now Banjul), to deliver the instruments of independence to Prime Minister Dawda Kairaba Jawara, many people were sceptical of the country's survival, considering its physical size and poor infrastructure, among other disadvantages.
That scepticism was also aptly captured in a book published two years later by an American writer/journalist; Berkeley Rice, entitled Enter Gambia, Birth of an Improbable Nation in which he highlighted the symptoms that made the Gambia unlikely to survive as an independent nation.
That was in addition to those who had opposed the Gambia's independence and had campaigned for it to be incorporated into Senegal, albeit with a special status, which however was vehemently opposed by a majority of educated Gambians, particularly the elites.
Despite all those gloomy predictions however, the Gambia not only survived as an independent nation, but it later became a beacon of peace and stability in an unstable sub-region, thus attracting many refugees and economic migrants from the sub-region and beyond.
It was no doubt as a result of such stability and adherence to democratic principles that the then Organization of African Unity chose the Gambia in 1987 to host its premier human rights organ, the African Commission for Human and People's Rights, as well as hosting other human rights bodies including the African Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Studies. Banjul was dubbed the "human rights capital" of Africa.
The Gambia was thus for a long time one of very few African countries that not only remained a multi-party democracy when virtually all its neighbours had introduced one-party rule, but also escaped the military coups that became commonplace in Africa.
However, all that came to an abrupt end in 1994 when a group of junior military officers led by then Captain Yahya Jammeh staged a coup, removing the government of President Dawda Kairaba Jawara, which had ruled the impoverished nation for almost three decades.
When the military took over, many ordinary Gambians welcomed them with open arms as they were eager for change. But it did not take long before most of those who welcomed the coup realized the folly of military rule, especially when the junta began to restrict the basic rights of the people.
As the junta consolidated power with Yahya Jammeh as its chairman, and later elected him as President of the second republic through an election whose credibility was questionable, the downward slide of the country's human rights record and the respect for the rule of law also became evident.
In addition to the widespread abuse of people's basic human rights, there was also an assault on freedom of expression, with frequent intimidation and harassment of opposition members, human rights defenders and journalists, including the arbitrary closing down of media houses critical of the government.
The very first act of the regime was to muzzle civil society to an extent that it was rendered almost completely ineffective to challenge the decisions and actions of the regime and its agents. This was achieved through enforced disappearances, illegal detention, denial of due process and the abuse and harassment of critics, virtually paralyzing civil society's ability to act.
The regime violently suppressed a student demonstration in 2000, when security forces shot at least 14 young children, whose only crime was to come out into the streets to vent grievances they wanted addressed by the authorities.
Unresolved crimes attributed to the regime or its agents include the killing in 2005 of 50 West African migrants (mostly Ghanaians), who may have been trying to use the Gambia to get to Europe but who were apparently suspected by the authorities to have been mercenaries recruited to overthrow the regime.
There was also the killing by yet unidentified assailants of a prominent Gambian journalist, Deyda Hydara and the "disappearance" of another journalist, Ebrima 'Chief' Manneh after his arrest by state agents in 2006. Neither case has been investigated by the police.
And in 2012 President Jammeh defied appeals for clemency from both Africa and the international community and went ahead to execute nine death row inmates, thus breaking a 30-year moratorium on the death penalty.
While President Jammeh has since coming to power in 1994 contested and won four elections, their credibility has been questioned. Not only was the opposition constantly intimidated and harassed, but they were often denied their constitutional rights to canvass freely for votes. ECOWAS decided not to send observers to the last presidential election in 2011 as it was convinced that the process was not free and fair.
It is also ironical and a paradox for a country that continues to disregard the most basic human rights of its citizens to continue to play host to the continent's main human rights organ. This is no doubt why there have been calls by civil society groups across Africa and the international community for the African Commission on Human and People's Rights to be relocated from Banjul.
The fact that there have been about 10 attempts to overthrow the Jammeh regime since 1994 indicates the grievances that Gambians harbour. Rather than blame "terrorists and their foreign backers" for those attempts, President Jammeh needs to look at his own style of administration.
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It is also time that both the African Union and the international community take urgent action to safeguard the rights and dignities of the people of the Gambia. While several heads of states are in Gambia to celebrate 50 years of independence, many Gambians, including those still detained by the regime and those who live in fear, have little to celebrate.
Perhaps the best way to mark Gambia's 50 years of independence is for the international community, in particular countries in the region, to:
- take a stand on Gambia's poor human rights record, and
- help to end 20 years of a culture of fear and repression by asking Gambia to protect human rights defenders and journalists and to repeal laws restricting freedom of expression.
Demba Jawo is a veteran Gambian journalist with more than 30 years' experience. He has served in various capacities in the media in the Gambia, including president of the Gambia Press Union. He recently retired from the African Press Agency in Dakar, Senegal and is now a media consultant and trainer.
