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![The MFWA delegation in a group photograph with President Adama Barrow, MFWA](https://ifex.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/gambia-mfwa-barrow-22-march-2017-final.jpg)
New dawn for Gambia as president discusses free expression
The Media Foundation for West Africa met with Gambian President Adama Barrow to discuss press freedom and impunity for crimes against journalists under the Jammeh regime.
![Journalists cast shadows as they await former Gambian President Yahya Jammeh's arrival at the airport of Banjul, Gambia, 21 January 2017, REUTERS/Thierry Gouegnon](https://ifex.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/gambia-journalists-shadow-21march2017-reuters.jpg)
Media freedom group to address impunity, censorship in mission to The Gambia
The unexpected defeat of Yahya Jammeh in the 2016 elections and the subsequent assumption of power of President Adama Barrow opens a window of opportunity for press freedom, freedom of expression and media development.
![People cheer as President Adama Barrow, centre, arrives in the Westfield neighborhood of Serrekunda, Gambia, 26 January 2017, AP Photo/Sylvain Cherkaoui](https://ifex.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/gambia_barrow_3feb2017_apimages_cropped.jpg)
Gambia’s new president urged to release political prisoners, protect free speech
Mindful of the repressive freedom of expression conditions in The Gambia under the rule of Yahya Jammeh, the MFWA calls on President Barrow to undertake reforms that will promote and defend the rights of the Gambian people to freely express themselves.
![Supporters of president-elect Adama Barrow celebrate Barrow's election victory in Banjul, Gambia, 2 December 2016 , REUTERS/Thierry Gouegnon](https://ifex.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/gambia_barrow_supporters_cropped.jpg)
Dissenters worry as Gambia presidency set to change
The state of emergency declared by outgoing President Jammeh raises fears of further repression against opposition ahead of the January 19 inauguration of a new president.
![Supporters of president-elect Adama Barrow celebrate Barrow's election victory in Banjul, Gambia, 2 December 2016 , REUTERS/Thierry Gouegnon](https://ifex.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/gambia_barrow_supporters_cropped.jpg)
Dissenters worry as Gambia presidency set to change
The state of emergency declared by outgoing President Jammeh raises fears of further repression against opposition ahead of the January 19 inauguration of a new president.
![Gambians wait to cast their vote at a polling station in Banjul, Gambia, on 1 December 2016, AP Photo/Jerome Delay](https://ifex.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/gambia-polling-station-ap.jpg)
Opposition sympathizers arrested for wearing #Gambiahasdecided shirts
The government of President Yahya Jammeh, defeated in Gambia’s December presidential election, has arbitrarily arrested opposition sympathizers and closed three independent radio stations in the past week.
![Link to: 12 years on: No justice for murdered Gambian journalist Deyda Hydara](https://ifex.org/wp-content/themes/ifex/assets/images/placeholder.png)
12 years on: No justice for murdered Gambian journalist Deyda Hydara
After Deyda Hydara’s murder in 2004, the state opened an investigation which was closed in less than a month. No arrests were made and no one was held responsible for the murder.
![Gambians wait to cast their vote at a polling station in Banjul, The Gambia, 1 December 2016, AP Photo/Jerome Delay](https://ifex.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/gambia_pollingstation_1dec2016_apimages.jpg)
Government blocks Internet, international phone calls as Gambia goes to the polls
Internet shutdowns and communication blockages contravene international laws and infringe on the rights of citizens to freely express themselves and access critical information.
![MFWA](https://ifex.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/gambia_journalist_ceesay_cropped.jpg)
Gambian journalist and torture survivor Alhagie Abdoulie Ceesay sentenced to prison in absentia
A High Court in The Gambia has sentenced exiled journalist and manager of Taranga FM, Alhagie Abdoulie Ceesay, to a total of four years imprisonment.
![Gambian president Yahya Jammeh speaks at the UN General Assembly in New York, 27 September 2013, REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton](https://ifex.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/gambia_jammeh_3nov2016_reuters.jpg)
Hold Gambia accountable: 36 West African civil society groups petition ECOWAS
The Media Foundation for West Africa and other 35 civil society organisations have petitioned ECOWAS over The Gambia’s continued refusal to comply with judgments on rights violations against three journalists.
![The entrance of the International Criminal Court (ICC) is seen in The Hague, Netherlands, 3 March 2011, REUTERS/Jerry Lampen/File Photo](https://ifex.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/internationalcriminalcourt_31oct2016_reuters.jpg)
Gambia’s ICC withdrawal threatens human rights
A nation that often deprives citizens of basic civil liberties has just removed a major mechanism of protection.
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A new dawn for free expression: Country profile of The Gambia
The smallest and most densely populated country on the African continent, the Gambia is a popular tourist destination. Yet, until recently, beneath the idyllic surface there was a dark undercurrent where paramilitaries preyed on those who spoke out against former President Yahya Jammeh, killing, torturing and disappearing journalists and opposition activists. The election of a new government, one that has pledged to end violations and to bring justice to victims, brings hope for the hard fought for establishment of democracy.
![MFWA](https://ifex.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/manneh-idvedjpg.jpg)
Chief Ebrima Manneh: Remembering the disappeared
On the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, the MFWA remembers a disappeared Gambian journalist.
![Gambian President Yahya Jammeh, centre, leaves a central Banjul polling station after casting his vote for president, on 22 September 2006, AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, FILE](https://ifex.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/gambia_yahya_jammeh_22july2016_apimages__641x427.jpg)
22 years of Jammeh
What’s it really like to live 22 years under the shadow of a president responsible for a growing list of human rights violations?
![Residents walk on an empty street in Banjul, The Gambia, 30 December 2014, AP Photo/Jason Florio](https://ifex.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/gambia_banjul_street_21july2016_apimages.jpg)
Nineteen people jailed for demonstrating without a permit in The Gambia
The convicted persons were arrested on April 16 following the arrest of and death in custody of senior UDP member Solo Sandeng. Sandeng and over a dozen others were arrested on April 14 while protesting for electoral reforms in The Gambia.
![Link to: Two years on, Gambia yet to comply with ECOWAS Court ruling on murder of Deyda Hydara](https://ifex.org/wp-content/themes/ifex/assets/images/placeholder.png)
Two years on, Gambia yet to comply with ECOWAS Court ruling on murder of Deyda Hydara
Today June 10, 2016, marks two years after the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice found that the Gambian government failed to conduct a proper investigation into the murder of journalist Deyda Hydara.