quote:Gambia vows to execute all death row inmates by September, sparking outcry
(CNN) -- Gambia plans to execute all death row prisoners by September, the president said this week, sparking condemnation from human rights groups worldwide.
The tiny West African nation last executed an inmate about 30 years ago. It is unclear what prompted the change in stance.
By the end of last year, Gambia had 44 people on death row, including two women, according to human rights activists.
Death row convicts will be executed by mid-September, President Yahya Jammeh said in a speech on state media Sunday that was rebroadcast Monday.
"All those guilty of serious crimes and are condemned will face the full force of the law," he said. "All punishments prescribed by law will be maintained in the country to ensure that criminals get what they deserve: that is, that those who kill are killed ... By the middle of next month, all the death sentences would have been carried out to the letter."
The nation imposes capital punishment for various crimes, including murder and treason, the latter commonly used to stifle dissent in some African nations.
In 2010, British human rights group Reprieve said Gambia had introduced the death penalty for those found with more than 250 grams of cocaine or heroin. It's unclear whether the law still stands.
Amnesty International, the French government and other rights groups condemned the execution order.
"President Jammeh's comments are deeply troubling and will undoubtedly cause severe anguish to those on death row and their families," said Audrey Gaughran, the Africa director for Amnesty. "Any attempt to carry out this threat would be both deeply shocking and a major setback for human rights in Gambia."
International standards on fair trials are not followed in the country, according to Gaughran.
"Death sentences are known to be used as a tool against the political opposition," she said. "The number of grossly unfair trials is shocking and an especially serious concern in cases where the death penalty is handed down."
In 2009, Jammeh made a similar threat to resume executions, but did not act on it, Amnesty said. Nonetheless, the new threat raises concern in the nation, the group said.
The former British colony is surrounded by Senegal and has a population of 1.3 million.
Jammeh took power in a military coup in 1994, and was elected president two years later. The government represses political opposition groups, and the president has won all elections since he came to power. Most of the polls are tainted by allegations of fraud.
Gambia's human rights record has drawn steady criticism since his election, but the president has won supporters by building new hospitals, schools and other infrastructure.
I'm against the death penalty, but often if one reads what these criminals are doing to their poor victms, I waver...
Posts: 5454 | From: Holland | Registered: Aug 2008
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africa » gambia Monday, May 19, 2008 Yes, here they go again at the Daily Observer jumping on the President's bandwagon - we hear some of you moan. Well, moan some more because we think this President of ours keeps saying exactly what we think here at the Daily Observer.
We have said it before and we will say it again. This is a Muslim and Christian country. Both the Holy Koran and the Holy Bible condemn homosexuality - pure and simple. So I hear you say that both the Koran and the Bible also condemn theft, adultery, lying, etc.
Correct - but we do not pass laws to make theft, adultery, lying and all other evil deeds acceptable. But we tolerate them, I hear you say. Yes indeed we do, to an extent.
Tolerance is indeed a virtue and without tolerance we would have much conflict in society. But I do not want anyone to abuse that tolerance either.
Unfortunately, homosexuals do by demanding that non-homosexuals should accept their life-style. Well, the life-style in The Gambia is one based around Family and Religion. Like God's Adam and Eve, the Family is based around Mother (female), Father (male) and the rest of the extended family. Tony Blair's definition of "marriage" and "family" as being of whatever conjecture (even man and goat!) does not apply in our religious context.
Look, we are not interested in stoning anyone, even homosexuals. What our President is saying, and we agree with him totally ("as usual" I hear you moan!) is this: Ours is a society guided by religious principles.
Those religious principles leave no room for homosexuality. Sex and marriage in our culture is between man and woman. Sex and marriage between a man and a man, a woman and a woman, is viewed as irreligious and gross by the vast majority of our people here (just as in the West they would view sex and marriage between a man and a goat)!
So, please respect our religions, cultures and traditions by keeping your homosexuality out of our country.
President Jammeh last year claimed to have found a cure for Aids Gay rights activists have condemned Gambian President Yahya Jammeh's threat to behead homosexuals.
Last week he told a political rally that gay people had 24 hours to leave the country.
He promised "stricter laws than Iran" on homosexuality and said he would "cut off the head" of any gay person found in The Gambia.
Carey Johnson of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Council said the comments were "disgraceful".
"What president Jammeh fails to realise is that there are a significant population of Gambians who are gay, and he has no right to ask them to leave," Mr Johnson said.
The Gambia is a country of believers... sinful and immoral practices [such] as homosexuality will not be tolerated in this country
Yahya Jammeh President of The Gambia
The speech was "doubly disgraceful" because The Gambia is the host country for the African Commission on Human and People's Rights, he said.
Mr Johnson said the speech, part of President Jammeh's 13-day tour of the country, was an attempt to scapegoat gay people and blame them for the country's ills.
"He's fighting to maintain his control over the country, he finds the weakest group and lays all the problems at their door," Mr Johnson said.
'History of homophobia'
"The Gambia is a country of believers... sinful and immoral practices [such] as homosexuality will not be tolerated in this country," the president told a crowd at a political rally on May 15.
"Jammeh has a long history of homophobia," said British gay rights activist Peter Tatchell.
"If he tries to carry out these threats, international aid donors are likely to withdraw their support, and foreign tourists will stay away in droves, thereby damaging the Gambian economy," he added.
Correspondents say a number of homosexual men have fled to The Gambia from neighbouring Senegal after a crackdown there following arrests at a "gay wedding" in February.
Both countries are predominantly Muslim and President Jammeh cultivates an image of being a devout Muslim.
In February last year, he was condemned by campaigners when he claimed to have cured people of HIV and Aids.
His "cure" was a mixture of herbs that patients ate and spread on their bodies.
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He could be gay. Many of the loudest denouncers of gay people are gays themselves.
They have nothing against your lifestyle, because they live it.
They just want it to remain a closet ritual... like the Catholic Church Priesthood, the Boy's Scout and Girls Guide, Muslim Clerics and elites, the Black Baptist Christians, Ashkenazi Jewish Rabbis, etc, etc....
Eh, not so?
Posts: 7419 | From: North America | Registered: Mar 2009
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