Gambian executions strongly condemned
Nine of 47 death-row prisoners killed
BRUSSELS/ BANJUL— The European Union called on Gambia Sunday to stop executing death-row inmates and said the bloc would come up with a quick but unspecified response to executions reported last week.
Gambia has neither confirmed nor denied an Amnesty International report saying that nine of its 47 death-row inmates had been executed overnight on Thursday. An official in the president’s office said a statement would be made Monday.
But a leading opposition figure said those reported to have been executed should be paraded on television if they were still alive while international sanctions should be imposed on the West African state’s leadership if they had been executed.
President Yahya Jammeh, whose rights record has long been criticized since he seized power in 1994, said in a speech last Monday that he planned to execute all the country’s death-row inmates by mid-September.
“I strongly condemn the executions which have reportedly taken place on Thursday 23 August 2012, following President Jammeh’s stated intention to carry out all death penalties before mid-September,” EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton said in a statement.
“I demand the immediate halt of the executions,” she added.
The European Union has previously condemned death sentences passed in Gambia, but Sunday’s statement went further by indicating that action might follow.
“In light of these executions, the European Union will urgently consider an appropriate response,” Ashton said. She reminded Gambia of a commitment to respect human rights in an accord between the bloc and a number of African countries.
The EU opposes the death penalty worldwide and often issues statements asking countries to halt executions, but the language it used in Sunday’s statement was far stronger than usual, showing particular concern over the Gambian executions.
The EU plans to give Gambia about $80 million from 2008 to 2013 under a European Development Fund program. The aid funds projects in areas such as infrastructure and governance.
Jammeh’s speech — in which he said the executions would “ensure that criminals get what they deserve” — has already drawn condemnation from the African Union and Britain.