Stop the execution spree in Gambia

This text action is now closed and we have sent all names received to the Gambian authorities. However, you can email the Gambian authorities directly. Take action: end the execution spree in Gambia

‘These past few days have been something like a nightmare. We don't know what’s happening – who is dead and who is alive. And we don’t know who will be next.' - wife of a death row prisoner in Gambia

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On Thursday 23 August eight men and one woman on death row in Gambia were dragged from their cells without warning. They were lined up and shot by firing squad. They died without being able to say good bye to their families, or even tell them what was happening.

They were the first people to be executed in the country since 1985. Their deaths confirm that President Yahya Jammeh was not bluffing when he threatened to kill all death row inmates by the middle of September. Now at least 38 others are at serious risk of meeting the same end - many of them on death row having been charged with 'treason', a charge often used to punish political dissent. Find out more about the executions

We have no time to waste – Text and tell President Jammeh to stop his sickening plan

Don’t let this killing spree continue.

This text action is now closed. However, we now have an online action targeting the Gambian authorities. Send an email now

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What happens to your text?

Send us a text and we’ll add your name, but not your phone number, to the letter below which we’ll give to the Gambian authorities.

The message we'll send on your behalf

I am writing to you to urge that you immediately retract the call for the execution of all death row inmates in Gambia.

The execution of nine people between 22 – 26 August represented an end to 27 years without any judicial killing in the country and gave Gambia the undesirable status of being the only West African country to execute prisoners in recent years.

I am deeply concerned that these executions were undertaken in secret, without the prisoners or their families being informed in advance. Executing people in this way is in violation of international law.

A large number of death row prisoners in Gambia were convicted after an unfair trial, without access to lawyers or a full appeals process. Please ensure a comprehensive review of all death penalty cases is undertaken, and that all inmates received a fair trial.

I call on you to immediately impose a moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty. Please commute all death sentences to terms of imprisonment.

Prefer to write your own letter? Get contact details and more information

President Jammeh's commitment to kill at least 46 people

The executions of nine death row inmates in Gambia comes after statements made by President Jammeh on 19 and 20 August. He told the world that his country would execute everyone on death row by mid-September.  

At least 38 people remain on death row. The president has committed to kill them all in a matter of weeks.

As you probably know, we oppose the death penalty in all forms. But in Gambia this cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment is often used to punish political dissent, disguised as ‘treason’. Many inmates claim to have had confessions tortured out of them and we are really worried that those being executed didn’t receive fair trials in the first place.

Neither the prisoners nor their families were made aware that the executions last week were going to happen and family members of those who remain on death row have been unable to access the prison or communicate with the inmates.

Executions undertaken in secret are against international law. This means that rather than ‘rid the country of all criminals’ as Jammeh claims he is doing, he is actually creating more.