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CASE N° GMB/01 - LAMIN WAA JUWARA - GAMBIA

Resolution adopted without a vote by the Inter-Parliamentary Council
at its 167th session (Jakarta, 21 October 2000)


The Inter-Parliamentary Council,

Referring to the outline of the case of Mr. Lamin Waa Juwara, a member of the House of Representatives of the Gambia, dissolved in 1994, as contained in the report of the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians (CL/167/12(c)­R.1), and to the relevant resolution adopted at its 166th session (May 2000),

Referring also to the report of the Secretary General on his on-site mission to the Gambia carried out from 15 to 17 June 2000 in pursuance of the decision it took at its 156th session (April/May 2000),

Recalling the following information on file:

  1. On 29 July 1998, the High Court rejected Mr. Juwara's claim for compensation for the many arbitrary arrests and periods of detention he had suffered at the hands of officials acting under the authority of the Armed Forces Provisional Ruling Council (AFPRC), which took power after the dissolution of Parliament in 1994, and ruled that the alleged conduct of the defendants in this action was not subject to the jurisdiction of the courts, since Section 13 of Schedule 2 of the 1997 Constitution guaranteed members of the AFPRC and its officers and appointees immunity from prosecution in respect of any act or omission attributable to them under the AFPRC administration;
  2. Mr. Juwara was once again arrested at his home without an arrest warrant on the night of 18 May 1998 and held incommunicado until the Supreme Court ordered his release on bail on 8 June 1998. On the night of his arrest, Mr. Juwara was subjected to severe ill-treatment by security agents, sustaining serious injuries as a result; he was reportedly denied any medical care while in prison;
  3. In June 1998 Mr. Juwara, together with others, was arraigned in Brikama Magistrate's Court and charged with “conspiracy to cause unlawful damage to property” and “causing unlawful damage to property” on account of “wilful and unlawful damage to construction works at the Brikama Mosque”; on 22 February 1999, the Brikama Magistrate's Court acquitted them, ruling that there was no case to answer; the State nevertheless filed an appeal against that judgment,

Considering the following points made and information brought to light by the mission:

  1. The authorities acknowledge that Section 13 of Schedule 2 of the 1997 Constitution indeed grants impunity to those involved in the arbitrary arrests and detentions of Mr. Juwara and bars him from obtaining compensation; the Speaker took note of the fact that Parliament has the power to adopt a law to grant compensation to victims of human rights violations;
  2. According to Mr. Juwara, repairs to the Brikama mosque, which involved erecting two pillars in front of the mosque, were initiated without the knowledge of the Imam and the Committee of Elders and during the Imam's absence; the Imam ordered the pillars to be taken down when he returned to Brikama on 17 May 1998; Mr. Juwara claims to have been unaware of those events until his own arrest in the evening of the following day when a police intervention unit, accompanied by personnel from the National Intelligence Agency, arrived at his home and took him to the local police station;
  3. During his transfer from the police station to the Central Precinct Mile Two Prison, the car carrying him was stopped at the Denton Bridge police checkpoint, where he was taken out and severely mistreated by several individuals armed with wires and sticks who assaulted and beat him for almost 30 minutes; Mr. Juwara affirms they were “political thugs” belonging to the “22 July Movement” and that one of them was its leader, Mr. Baba Jobe;
  4. After the incident, Mr. Juwara was taken to the maximum security wing of Central Precinct Mile Two Prison, where he was kept incommunicado and had to sleep on a bare cement floor; despite his severe injuries, he was not given any medical treatment; Mr. Juwara further alleges that the then Secretary of State of the Interior visited him in the morning of 18 May without making any statement; he was subsequently brought late one evening to the magistrates court in Serekunda, where the judge ordered medical treatment, but still he received none; furthermore, since he had already been detained for more than the legal 72 hours without having been charged, the judge ordered that he be so charged or otherwise released; nevertheless, he was remanded to the prison and continued in incommunicado detention until 8 June 1998, when he was finally released on bail;
  5. Immediately after his release, Mr. Juwara underwent a medical examination and obtained a medical certificate attesting to the injuries he had suffered; Mr. Juwara affirms he provided a copy of this medical certificate to the Attorney General within two weeks of his release; he had also at that time made several press statements, and many articles in several newspapers reported on his arrest and beating in considerable detail;
  6. The authorities confirmed that detention without charge for more than 72 hours was indeed unlawful and stated that every effort was being made to avoid any recurrence of such incidents;
  7. The authorities stated that there had been no investigation into Mr. Juwara's ill-treatment on the grounds that no complaint had been lodged;
  8. According to the Attorney General, Brikama Magistrate's Court had erred in law when dismissing the case since the court was only required to find prima facie evidence, which, according to him, was clearly available; he stated that a judicial reform was under way in the Gambia which would ensure that treatment of this case could be expedited,

Considering that, according to Mr. Juwara, the Brikama Mosque case was scheduled for 17 October 2000,

Bearing in mind that the Gambia is a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, both of which guarantee freedom from arbitrary arrest and detention, in addition to freedom from torture and ill-treatment; that these rights are also enshrined in the Constitution of the Gambia, Section 4 of which stipulates that “... any other law found to be inconsistent with any provision of this Constitution shall, to the extent of its inconsistency, be void”; considering that, according to Decree 31 (National Goals and Objectives Decree, 1995), adherence to the principles and objectives of, inter alia, the United Nations “shall remain the cornerstone of the foreign policy of the Gambia”,

  1. Thanks the authorities of the Gambia for having received the Secretary General and agreed to share their views with him; thanks in particular the Speaker of the National Assembly for his assistance and the efforts made to arrange the meetings with the Government authorities;
  2. Can but reiterate, in view of the observations made by the authorities to the Secretary General, its concern that Section 13 of Schedule 2 of the 1997 Constitution has the effect of granting impunity to members of the AFPRC and its officers and appointees in respect of any criminal acts they may have committed and bars Mr. Juwara from obtaining compensation for the arbitrary arrests and detentions he has suffered;
  3. Stresses that under Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which the Gambia is a party, “anyone who has been victim of unlawful arrest or detention shall have an enforceable right to compensation”, and invites the Parliament to consider adopting a law whereby compensation could be paid to victims of human rights abuses;
  4. Expresses deep concern that, contrary to the assurances it had previously received from the then Attorney General, no police investigation is being carried out into the reliable allegation that Mr. Juwara was ill-treated while in the custody of the State;
  5. Recalls that the Gambia, as a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, has a duty to conduct prompt and impartial investigation whenever there are reasonable grounds for believing that an act of torture has been committed in any territory under its jurisdiction, and urges the competent authorities to launch an investigation into Mr. Juwara's ill-treatment forthwith;
  6. Calls on the National Assembly of the Gambia, as a guardian of the human rights of the people it represents, to ensure that the executive authorities fulfil their obligations under international law to which the Gambia has subscribed;
  7. Notes that an appeal hearing in the Brikama Mosque case was scheduled for 17 October 2000, and wishes to ascertain its outcome;
  8. Requests the Secretary General to convey this decision to the parliamentary and governmental authorities as well as to Mr. Juwara;
  9. Requests the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians to continue examining this case and report to it at its next session (April 2001).


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