THE REPUBLIC OF THE GAMBIA’S COMBINED REPORT ON THE AFRICAN CHARTER ON HUMAN & PEOPLES’ RIGHTS &
INITIAL REPORT ON THE PROTOCOL TO THE AFRICAN CHARTER ON THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN IN AFRICA
The external accountability institutions include the Ombudsman, the Judiciary and a multi-sectorial Prison’s
Committee which is mandated to monitor the affairs of prisoners, promote and protect their rights and
interests.
The Gambia Police Force Human Rights and Complaints Unit receives complaints of human rights abuses
by its officials and currently receives on average four complaints per day. The police have reported one
case of torture of a detainee and the two officials involved in the case have been demoted in rank one from
a sergeant to a corporal and the other from a corporal to a first class officer.
To prevent acts of torture in places of torture and arbitrary detention, The Gambia Police Force, National
Intelligence Agency and The Gambia Prisons Service in partnership with human rights organisations such
as the Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa and TANGO continue to train its officials and
senior management on human rights best practices. The Prison Fellowship has also undertaken a
nationwide visit to all its detention centres. The police force in collaboration with IHRDA has a human rights
training manual. Women’s Bureau has also developed a Gender Based Violence manual for the police.
The Government of The Gambia has made a commitment to criminalise torture. Accordingly, The Gambia
has signed and ratified the United Nation Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhumane or
Degrading Treatment or Punishment on the 4th July 2018 and finalising on its deposit.
The criminal
justice reform program undertaken by the Government specifically has the mandate to include torture as
part of our criminal laws. The Ministry of Justice has been working in collaboration with the Convention
against Torture Initiative (CTI) to provide training to Gambian law enforcement officers.
The Gambia has extended an invitation to human rights bodies of the UN and the African Commission on
Human and Peoples Rights to visit prisons and detention centres in the country. Prior to 2017, the African
Commission and the European Commission both requested to visit the various prisons around the country
without any success. However, in 2017, a delegation from the African Commission on Human and Peoples’
Rights visited the country and were given unlimited access to all the prisons and detention centres.
In 2017, the Special Rapporteur on Truth, Justice, Reconciliation and Non-Recurrence and the Working
Group on Enforced Disappearance or Involuntary Disappearance both conducted a visit The Gambia and
were granted access to all prisons and detention centres
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