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Fixed Broadband Subscriptions per 100 inhabitants in 2017

Amend all laws that restrict freedom of expression, both online and offline in order to bring national legal provisions into line with international standards under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

This small west African country with a population of 2 million people expected a new dawn for reforms in civil rights after the 2016 election that ended the two decade ruling of former president Yahya Jammeh. Although journalists and media experienced a more open environment, a number of laws still restrict freedom of expression and some groups including women and LGBTQ are facing descrimination.

Actions since the 2016 transition of power are encouraging, including the Supreme Court’s ruling that a number of articles of the 2013 Information and Communication Act were unconstitutional. However, there remains an urgent need for the new administration and the Constitutional Review Commission to take concrete action to consolidate The Gambia’s human rights progress.

The Gambia

We conduct advocacy during the pre-session through direct lobbying to UN member state representatives and support local advocacy events and workshops that amplify the UPR. During the reviews, we amplify the UPR process and the recommendations our partners have drafted through live- monitoring by our local partners and on social media. We then conduct advocacy during the post- UPR period with activities such as training for government officials and events that highlight the recommendations made during the UPR. 

The country clusters are a local working group in each Uproar target country made up of our partner organisations. The clusters are organised by local lead organisations, who then coordinate local civil society and human rights defenders with digital rights expertise to engage in national-level advocacy and campaigning.

A review cycle is a four-and-half-year period within which all UN Member states’ human rights records are reviewed.  Each 4.5-year period is called a UPR cycle. In this section, you can find all recommendations made organised by cycle.

Over a hundred local and international human rights organisations are part of the wider Uproar programme. You can find them listed here.

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Gambia Cyber Security Alliance

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YMCA Africa Alliance

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In November 2019, The Gambia will be coming up for its third cycle review under the United Nations Universal Periodic Review (UPR) mechanism. Former President Yahya Jammeh, before his ouster in 2017, was renowned for his utter disregard for constitutional rights, once [stating publicly](https://thepoint.gm/africa/gambia/article/president-jammeh-meets-with-the-independent-press) that he would “not compromise or sacrifice the peace, security, stability, dignity, and the well-being of Gambians for the sake of freedom of expression.”

However, since the new administration of Adama Barrow took office in January 2017, the government has made public its intention to [review and revise](https://crc220.org/) the current regulatory framework for press freedom and freedom of expression. Indeed, in June 2017, the new Attorney General and Justice Minister Abubacarr Tambadou conceded at the Constitutional Court that the charge of “sedition” under a law that had been frequently used to silence journalists and critics under the former regime was [unconstitutional](https://freedomhouse.org/country/gambia/freedom-net/2018).

Later in February 2018, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Community Court [ruled](https://www.mediadefence.org/news/update-ecowas-court-delivers-landmark-decision-in-one-of-our-strategic-cases-challenging-the-laws-used-to-silence-and-intimidate-journalists-in-the-gambia/), sedition (Sections 51 & 52), false news (Sections 59 & 181) and false publication on the internet (Section 173). Following this ruling, the government of The Gambia [indicated](https://foroyaa.net/ecowas-court-rules-media-laws-in-gambia-violate-human-rights/) its intention to “honour” the judgement after review by the Ministry of Justice and other relevant authorities.

As The Gambia’s online user base increases, it becomes increasingly important for UPR recommendations at the upcoming review to explicitly reflect the need for the rights to freedom of opinion and expression and privacy to be protected online as well as offline, in line with the state’s obligations under Articles 17 and 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

**What is the UPR?**

### The UPR is a full assessment of a country’s human rights record.

### Every United Nations (UN) member state has its human rights record assessed, and all UN member states are involved in the review process.

### It happens every four-and-a-half years, for every member state.

**What is the OHCHR Submission, and Why Do It?**

As part of the [UPROAR project](https://cipesa.org/2018/06/internet-freedom-in-africa-and-the-universal-periodic-review/), the [Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA)](https://cipesa.org/), [Small Media](https://smallmedia.org.uk/), [The Gambia Press Union](https://gpu.gm/), [Give1 Project Gambia](https://www.facebook.com/give1project/) and the [YMCA Computer Training Centre, and Digital Studio](http://www.ymca.gm/) have made a joint stakeholder submission on digital rights in The Gambia to the United Nations’ Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights.

This report feeds into the Universal Periodic Review process, and informs the Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) as it prepares and publishes its own report on the status of human rights in The Gambia. This report will subsequently inform the decisions of participating states about the kinds of recommendations to make to The Gambia during its UPR session.

**Our Recommendations**

The submission focuses on freedom of expression, freedom of information, right to equal access and opportunity, as well as data protection and privacy. It explores relevant developments since the previous UPR review in October 2014 and makes the following recommendations:

- In compliance with international standards, as well as the rulings of the Supreme Court and the ECOWAS Community Court, repeal provisions violating freedom of expression under the Criminal Code (2014) and the Information and Communication Act (2013).

- Repeal in its entirety the Official Secrets (Amendment) Act 2008 and enact and implement a right to information law.

- Hasten efforts to provide equal access to technology and communications to all citizens, including disadvantaged and marginalised groups of the population, by removing barriers to access and improving affordability, as well as expanding infrastructure and desisting from internet disruptions.

- Reform the legislation on personal data protection and privacy in order to provide safeguards on the use of personal data and to protect the right to privacy online.

## [The full submission on The Gambia is available here.](https://cipesa.org/?wpfb_dl=290)

...

This is an edited version of a blog originally posted on the CIPESA website. The original blog is available [here](https://cipesa.org/2019/04/stakeholder-submission-to-the-un-human-rights-council-on-digital-rights-in-the-gambia/).

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CIPESA’s Ashnah Kalemera sets out the case for documenting digital rights violations and submitting evidence to the UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Submitting Evidence on Digital Rights in The Gambia

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How the global pandemic has changed human rights online in Kenya, Gambia, Jordan and Rwanda

A Digital Diagnosis: Part 2

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The Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa

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Small Media

The Gambia Factsheet.pdf

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The Gambia Stakeholder Submission UPR34.docx.pdf

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DIGITAL RIGHTS IN THE GAMBIA_ OHCHR stakeholder submission_ Session 48.docx.pdf

The Gambia Factsheet UPR48.pdf

Free expression

Justice and impunity

Digital rights

Journalists and media workers

Human rights defenders

LGBT+

Equality and non-discrimination

Privacy rights

Participation in public and political life

Due process

Torture and ill-treatment

Association and assembly

Protection from violence

Advox is a project of Global Voices. They are a global network of activists and journalists dedicated to protecting freedom of expression and free access to information online. They report on threats to online speech, share tactics for defending the work and words of netizens, and support efforts to improve Internet policy and practice worldwide.
 
Global Voices is an international, multilingual, primarily volunteer community of writers, translators, academics, and human rights activists. The non-profit reports, translates, defends and empowers freedom of expression.

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Global Voices

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A global network of activists and journalists dedicated to protecting freedom of expression and free access to information online.

In partnership with Advox Global Voices - a global network of activists and journalists dedicated to protecting freedom of expression and free access to information online.

Uproar Tools are interactive data-driven tools that aim to show you how you can use the Universal Periodic Review to improve the situation of human rights in your country. 

Uproar Tools aims to show you how you can use the Universal Periodic Review to improve the situation of human rights in your country. 

The Tools were made in partnership between Uproar and Data4Change, a non-profit organisation working at the intersection of data, design, journalism and technology, collaborating with organisations on social and policy change interventions to forge real change and lasting impact.

Uproar Tools

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Use our free interactive tools to build recommendations and tailor advocacy efforts at the Universal Periodic Review.

Uproar Tools 

Advocacy Assembly is a free multilingual e-learning platform set up in 2015 aimed at educating campaigners, activists, human rights defenders and journalists in digital rights and digital skills. 
In partnership with leading digital rights organisations and experts, Advocacy Assembly offers self-paced online courses in Arabic, English, Farsi and Spanish using a variety of videos, quizzes and slides. The courses cover topics like design, data science, investigative journalism, open source investigations, effective campaigning for social change and much more.

Advocacy Assembly

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A free multilingual platform to access courses with leading organisations such as Amnesty International, Witness and Greenpeace. 

Advocacy Assembly is a free multilingual e-learning platform to educate on digital rights and digital skills.

The Gambia

Upr cycle

Resources

Read more

Partner organisations

The Gambia cluster