During my recent trip to The Gambia, I noticed how difficult it is to drive down any of Banjul’s main roads without seeing a billboard praising President Yahya Jammah.  Voting for him is a “sacred duty” proclaims one.  Others portray him praying, with the headline “from darkness to light” or explain that women all support him.  Now one of Africa’s longest serving dictators will be bringing his public relations campaign to Washington, where according to documents filed with the U.S. Department of Justice, he just hired a public relations firm to help polish his image.

The firm, BGR, might want to re-think this $45,000 a month contract since Jammah’s previous lobbyist went to court to try to recover unpaid fees, according to October 16, 2006 story in Congressional Quarterly (“Lawsuit Points Up Perils of Strong Man Lobbying”).  The Gambia in turn argued that the agreement did not lead to an increase in aid (and the firm lost to the government on some counts).  Politico reports that the new BGR contract is to lobby for additional foreign aid for The Gambia.

Moreover, the previous firm also faced protest from exiles of the regime, who are already gearing up for a campaign.  Jammah took power in a 1994 military coup d’etat and has held carefully staged elections since then.

Journalists, activists, and politicians (including some who have worked with the regime) all told me that political space remains tightly controlled.  The government aims to dominate discussion of even the more innocuous issues.  In one recent example, civil society groups organized a seminar about prison conditions, in order to explore how to reduce congestion, enhance procedural access to justice, and other issues.  The Jammah government responded by banning the media from attending.  (See the article in African Human Rights Law Journal last year, which outlined a variety of similar problems.)

Gambians are bracing for more such incidents following passage of the “Criminal Code (Amendment) Act, 2013” also known as “The Principal Act,” which the National Assembly passed unanimously April 16.  The new law contains two important provisions which have already begun undermining freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, and association in the Gambia.  Section 114 expands existing criminal law which governs the provision of “false information” to civil servants.  Section 167 allows imprisonment and fines for “public disorder” offenses, including singing songs perceived as “abusive,” among other things.  For further details, see the Amnesty International press release dated May 7.

Suspending US military training — bad news for AFRICOM?

According to news reports in Gambian newspapers, President Jammah also recently ordered the Gambian military to not participate in any training or assistance from the United States.  AFRICOM’s critics should not necessarily chalk this up as an embarrassment to the Pentagon’s military command for Africa.  Some Gambian exiles believe that Jammah suspended cooperation because he fears that he could be next in the American crackdown on the drug trade in West Africa, following recent large drug busts there.  The State Department does not exactly describe The Gambia as a narco-state, and it generally lists the Gambia as an important partner in interdiction efforts.  But its 2013 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report did state that “recent seizures of large amounts of cocaine and marijuana have heightened concerns of drug-related money laundering.”

AFRICOM is however facing big troubles in Washington.  Budget cuts have potentially put it on the chopping block, just five years after it was launched with much fanfare.  According to a report last week in Defense News, AFRICOM could be re-absorbed into the other regional commands.

For an excellent introduction to Gambian politics and history, see State and Society in the Gambia since Independence, 1965-2012, edited by Saine, Ceesay, and Sall.

Last month, 80 African studies scholars based in the U.S. joined me in writing to Secretary of State John Kerry, asking him to defend and uphold the Leahy Amendment.  United by concern that a vital human rights law was being undermined by top Pentagon officials, who publicly complained that it presented an inconvenience to counter-terrorism programs in some countries, we urged America’s top diplomat to “resist any efforts to weaken the Leahy Amendment and, rather, to ensure that rule of law and accountability for human rights abuses remain core principles guiding U.S. policy toward Africa.”  Click here to read a copy of our letter and see the list of signatories, which continues to grow.

Secretary Kerry with Nigerian Foreign Minister Olugbenga Ashiru in April (State Dept Image)

Secretary Kerry has responded with a letter dated August 12, thanking the scholars: “Support for the rule of law and accountability are cornerstones of U.S. policy toward Africa, and the Leahy laws will continue to be essential tools for advancing them.”  He brought much the same message to a congressional appropriations hearing earlier this summer.  Apparently, tepid implementation of Leahy runs deeper than merely some corners of the Pentagon, with the State Department’s regional bureaus sometimes holding back information on human rights violations, and occasional disputes between embassies and Foggy Bottom.  So a new message from the top, reaffirming Leahy, will generate some ripples.

Click here to download a copy of the letter from Secretary Kerry, which emphasizes that Leahy is more than merely a putative tool for denying aid to security units that violate human rights.  It is also a tool for holding human rights violators accountable and strengthening the rule of law.

I also want to thank the Association of Concerned Africa Scholars for helping to publicize the letter.

“Support for the rule of law and accountability are cornerstones of U.S. policy toward Africa, and the Leahy laws will continue to be essential tools for advancing them.”

Kerry’s words to the African studies professors