[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 456 Agreed to Senate (ATS)]
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117th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. RES. 456
Expressing support for a free, fair, and peaceful December 4, 2021,
election in The Gambia.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
November 18, 2021
Mr. Durbin (for himself, Mr. Risch, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Coons, Mr. Rounds,
Mr. Boozman, Mr. Cardin, and Mr. Rubio) submitted the following
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
April 6, 2022
Reported by Mr. Menendez, with an amendment and an amendment to the
preamble
May 11, 2022
Considered, amended, and agreed to with an amended preamble
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Expressing support for a free, fair, and peaceful December 4, 2021,
election in The Gambia.
Whereas, in 1965, The Gambia became independent from Great Britain;
Whereas, in 1970, The Gambia became a republic following a public referendum,
and Dawda Jawara was elected president and subsequently reelected an
additional five times;
Whereas, from 1970 to 1994, The Gambia was one of Africa's longest running
democracies and home to the continent's human rights body, the African
Commission on Human and People's Rights;
Whereas, in 1994, President Jawara was forcibly removed from office in a coup by
the Armed Forces Provisional Ruling Council (AFPRC), led by Lieutenant
Yahya Jammeh;
Whereas, after two years of direct AFPRC rule that was heavily criticized by the
international community, a flawed constitutional reform process occurred
and The Gambia scheduled a new presidential election;
Whereas, in the lead up to the September 1996 presidential election, the Jammeh
military government outlawed the country's main opposition parties,
restricted media freedom, prohibited meetings between rival candidates
and foreign diplomats, and used soldiers to attack opposition rallies;
Whereas Jammeh won the 1996 presidential election in a process widely regarded
as flawed by international observers;
Whereas President Jammeh won reelection in 2001, 2006, and 2011 in electoral
processes marred by political repression, intimidation, and technical
flaws;
Whereas Jammeh's presidency saw targeted violence and widespread gross human
rights violations, particularly against members of the media, including
the murder of editor Deyda Hydara and the disappearance of journalist
Ebrima Manneh;
Whereas President Jammeh personally ordered the kidnapping and torture of
individuals he accused of ``witchcraft'' and threatened others over
their sexual orientation;
Whereas thousands of Gambians fled into exile out of concern for their safety,
becoming refugees in Africa at large and elsewhere;
Whereas the Jammeh government's human rights record was widely criticized by
regional and international human rights groups, as well as the United
States, the European Union, and members of the United States Senate;
Whereas, in December 2016, opposition grand coalition candidate Adama Barrow,
who campaigned on the promise of electoral and constitutional reform,
won an upset election victory against President Jammeh;
Whereas, immediately after the 2016 election, Jammeh publicly accepted the
defeat, but then later rejected the results and refused to depart the
presidency;
Whereas Jammeh's refusal to accept defeat was widely condemned, with the African
Union refusing to recognize him as president and the Economic Community
of West African States deploying an international intervention force to
The Gambia;
Whereas, on January 19, 2017, Barrow was sworn in as president at the Gambian
Embassy in Senegal;
Whereas, on January 20, 2017, Jammeh and his family departed The Gambia,
reportedly stealing more than $1,000,000,000 from state coffers,
eventually to appear in Equatorial Guinea, where he remains in political
exile with impunity;
Whereas President Barrow initially agreed to limit his term to a three-year
transition ending on January 19, 2020, but later stated his intent to
serve the full five-year constitutional term;
Whereas the Gambian Truth, Reconciliation, and Reparations Commission (TRRC) was
established by an act of the Gambian Parliament to examine abuses
committed during the Jammeh era and make recommendations as to whom to
hold accountable;
Whereas more than 370 victims and former government officials testified at
widely viewed TRRC hearings that documented widespread human rights
abuses;
Whereas on November 25, 2021, the TRRC submitted its final report to President
Barrow detailing the death of more than 240 people, torture, rape, and
disappearances under the Jammeh regime;
Whereas on December 4, 2021, The Gambia held the first post-Jammeh era
presidential election, which included six presidential candidates;
Whereas the December 4, 2021 election occurred peacefully, with high voter
turnout and under the observation of a significant number of domestic
and international monitors;
Whereas, on December 5, 2021, The Gambia's Independent Electoral Commission
(IEC) announced the results, showing that President Barrow had won
reelection;
Whereas, on December 5, 2021, domestic election observers and other stakeholders
released a joint statement noting that ``the elections were conducted
generally in an atmosphere of transparency and fairness as observed by
domestic and international observers'' and reminded candidates of the
Code of Conduct for Peaceful Elections provision to ``accept the results
of the election as announced by the Chairperson of the IEC'';
Whereas, on December 5, 2021, former President of Sierra Leone Ernest Bai
Koroma, who led an election observation mission from the Economic
Community of West African States (ECOWAS), appealed to all the Gambian
candidates ``to accept the outcome of the election in good faith'';
Whereas, on December 24, 2021, the Gambia Truth, Reconciliation, and Reparations
Commission published its findings that former President Jammeh was
responsible for more than 20 years of killings, torture, and rape and
recommended that those responsible be prosecuted, saying, ``To forgive
and forget with impunity the violations and abuses ... would not only
undermine reconciliation but would also constitute a massive and
egregious cover-up of the crimes committed.'';
Whereas, on December 28, 2021, the Gambia Supreme Court dismissed a challenge to
the election results; and
Whereas, on January 18, 2022, the Independent Electoral Commission announced
that National Assembly elections would be held on April 9, 2022: Now,
therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) congratulates the Gambian people on the successful 2016
and 2021 presidential elections and the April 2022 legislative
election;
(2) supports the courageous and necessary work and
recommendations of the Truth, Reconciliation, and Reparations
Commission to bring accountability, healing, and reconciliation
to the nation, and calls on the government to follow through
with appropriate actions with regards to justice,
accountability, and reparations for victims; and
(3) expresses the support of the American people in The
Gambia's continued and noteworthy democratic path forward.
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