Women who have undergone female genital mutilation in The Gambia have a higher prevalence of bacterial and viral infections, a recent study of 1348 women aged 15-54 years found.

The National Assembly is yet to work on the controversial Media Commission Bill that has raised concerned from media practitioners.

The Gambian parliament will debate on 24 April, a media bill that would empower a new National Media Commission to enforce a code of conduct for the media, register journalists and judge complaints from aggrieved parties. The Gambia Press Union has expressed concern over the new bill. "The impending enactment of the National Media Commission Act [is] not only quite draconian but a visible threat to press freedom in this country," the president of the union, Demba Jawo, told IRIN on Tuesday.

Observer’s reporter and head of Provincial Desk, Demba Sambou, has been arrested by the National Intelligence Agency officers at Bansang, while attending a presentation ceremony at the Bansang Hospital. In a telephone interview with our reporter, Mr Sambou said an NIA officer from Bansang found him at the Bansang Hospital and picked him up for interrogation at the NIA office.

A symposium by The Gambia press union voiced concerns at the denial of access to public information, problems encountered with objective reporting and the need for better-trained journalists, the following is the text of a report by The Gambian newspaper The Independent.

Alliances for Africa will hold a five day training event, which aims to enable and strengthen the capacity of women's organisations working in Gambia to effectively contribute to peace building processes within the West African sub-region.

People say they are appalled by the alarming rate of rape cases and concerned by what they described as lack of action by the government.

The secretary general of a coalition of human rights defenders in Gambia, Mohammed Lamin Sillah, has described the country's human rights record as appalling. Sillah, who is also the local Amnesty International Director, told a news conference that the frequent arrest and detention of innocent citizens, including journalists and human rights activists tarnished Gambia's human rights status.

The Institute for Human Rights & Development in Africa is a pan-African human rights organisation with its headquarters in Banjul, the Gambia. The Institute specialises in the African regional human rights system, including impact litigation in national and international fora based on African human rights treaties, and training in the procedures of African treaty mechanisms.

The High Court has asked counsel for the 33 opposition UDP supporters arrested by police in the wake of the presidential election, to find out within 48 hours if they had been released from custody as stated by the Director of Public Prosecution.

In a 2 November 2001 letter to President Yahya A.J.J. Jammeh, The International Press Institute condemned the recent arrest of Baboucar Gaye and the closure of his radio station, Citizen FM.

Less than a week after presidential elections in The Gambia there are reports of arrests of members of the opposition and human rights activists, and attacks on the homes of some senior members of the main opposition party.

In a letter sent to the President of Gambia, Amnesty
International is calling on him to immediately and unconditionally release Mohamed Lamin Sillah, Secretary General
of Amnesty International's Gambian section, who was arrested on 22 October 2001.

Contrary to widespread fears of violence and chaos, Gambia's crucial presidential poll proceeded and ended peacefully on Thursday. Reliable sources on the ground told allAfrica.com that the voter turn-out was surprisingly good, there were no major incidents and polling stations across the country closed at 1600hrs GMT.

Transparency International, an anti-corruption coalition that strives to counter the impact of corruption on international and nation business transactions, is preparing to monitor the forthcoming election in The Gambia.

Amnesty International's annual country report for 2001 on The Gambia has accused the security forces of torture and ill treatment of students during the April 2000 student demonstrations. The report states that at least 14 people were killed and dozens injured when the security forces used "excessive and indiscriminate force to break up demonstrations" organized by the Gambia Students Union to protest the alleged torture to death of a schoolboy and the rape of a school girl allegedly by members of the security forces.

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