A prominent Gambian journalist was killed in a pre-meditated operation by well-organised professionals says media watchdog, Reporters Without Borders. Deida Hydara's death three weeks ago had striking similarities with murders of other critics of the regime of President Yahya Jammeh, the group says. They have called for an independent commission to investigate.

Thousands of people thronged the streets of Banjul in December in a peaceful protest against the murder of one of the Gambia's leading journalists by unidentified gunmen. About 300 journalists - virtually the entire press corps of this small West African country - marched through the streets to protest at the killing of Deyda Hydara, a newspaper editor and veteran campaigner for press freedom, who was shot dead.

The Gambia's Council of Ministers has decided to revoke the Act passed two years ago establishing a National Media Commission that was considered repressive and unacceptable by all standards. Now, the Executive has drafted a new Bill to repeal the infamous NMC Act No.7 of 2002, which was enacted despite numerous appeals and protests from local and international press freedom organizations against its passage.

Gambia has decided to revoke a controversial 2002 media law requiring journalists and the privately owned press to register with a state-run commission, a local radio station reported on Wednesday. Local media and international organisations from the start condemned the media commission set up by the law, which had the powers of a court and whose chairperson was appointed by the head of state.

The Roman Catholic Church has voiced its opposition to the use of condoms to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS in Gambia, challenging a government-backed prevention campaign based on the distribution of cheap contraceptives to the country's youth. Father Edward Gomez advised the Catholic youths to seek more knowledge about their faith and its teaching on the issue of HIV/AIDS and not be "misled by public opinion that condoms should be made easily accessible for sex".

The African Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Studies, ACDHRS, last Wednesday held a one-day National Consultative Workshop on The Ratification and Implementation to the African Chartered on Human and Peoples' on the Rights of women in Africa at the Kairaba Beach Hotel. This National Consultative Workshop is part of the campaign strategy spearheaded by the Coalition of Women's Organisation in Africa to encourage African governments to ratify the protocol.

During the early morning hours of 15 August 2004, BBC Banjul correspondent Ebrima Sillah's house was set ablaze by suspected arsonists. Sillah, who was alone in the house, was sleeping when the arsonists attacked. According to Media Foundation for West Africa sources in The Gambia, the incident occurred in Sillah's home village of Jamburu, 30 km southwest of the capital, Banjul. The attackers reportedly doused the house's sitting room with petrol before setting it on fire.

Gambia's anti-corruption commission began its hearing on Monday, with ministers publicly detailing how they paid for their possessions, including even their wives' jewellery. The commission will sit for three months but no elected member of parliament will have to appear and neither will the president, leaving some Gambians to question the likely impact of the hearings. 24 hours after the Commission started, it was adjourned for celebrations to mark the 10th anniversary of President Jammeh taking power in a military coup.

The sexual abuse of children in the Gambia is increasing as a result of rising poverty in the small West African country and Gambian men rather than European tourists are mainly responsible for the phenomenon, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said in new report published this week. Gambia has long been linked with sex tourism, but the UNICEF study, published on Wednesday, found that the main abusers of local children were male Gambian "Sugar Daddies." “The Sugar Daddy Syndrome,” explained Cheryl Faye, head of UNICEF in Gambia, “is the abuse of young girls lured by money or other gifts - perhaps some shoes or a mobile phone - into sex.”

Impoverished child refugees in Gambia are turning to prostitution with European visitors, compounding the West African country's sex-tourism problem, according to a U.N. children's fund report issued on Wednesday. Experts from UNICEF, which issued the report on sex abuse in Gambia, said they were concerned the country is increasingly a destination for sex tourists as countries in south-east Asia take steps to shake off their image as havens for paedophiles.

The printing press of Gambia’s most outspoken newspaper, The Independent, has been burned down by armed men for the second time in six months, employees of the bi-weekly publication said on Friday. The Independent has been a consistent critic of President Yahya Jammeh. Its staff have frequently complained of harassment by the authorities.

The International Roots Foundation (IRF) will hold its biennial Roots Cultural event from June 26 to July 2 in 2004 in The Gambia. The program offers a close encounter with Roots Culture - a diverse culture and heritage and a unique celebration of a full circle of the encounters of life.

The Banjul Charter commonly known as the African Charter on Human and People's Rights was formally adopted in 1981. The rationale behind the treaty was to challenge Africa's own neglect of human rights abuses in the post-colonial period, and to urge members of the OAU, now the AU, to adopt a regional human rights instrument. This paper presents a brief introduction to the tenants of the Banjul Charter, procedures and areas of divergence. It examines the rationale behind keeping the proceedings of relevant bodies confidential. It critically analyses the achievements of some African states in implementing human rights and their relationships with the OAU, and provides a view of what future role the AU might play in the protection process.

Project Stop The Sahara is embarking on a grand design to plant 14 million Mahogany trees over a 350-kilometre stretch along The Gambia's northern borders with Senegal, as an ecological answer to the southward advance of the Sahara desert. Its founder and coordinator Beppie Smits says Project Stop The Sahara is an uncompromising attempt to check the rapid and relentless encroachment of the Sahara Desert southwards into the Senegambia region.

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, training and research and publication in the procedures of African treaty mechanisms. The Institute is recruiting a Senior Program Officer to coordinate its program activities.

A new report by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions on core labour standards in Gambia, produced to coincide with the trade policy review of Gambia at the WTO, criticises Gambia's lack of compliance with the eight ILO conventions known as "Core Labour Standards". The report notes legal restrictions on the right to organise and, furthermore, that civil servants cannot exercise this right. The Labour Act imposes general restrictions on the right to strike, and civil service employees are completely denied the right to strike. More than half the workforce is employed in the informal economy, depriving workers of necessary protections and making existing legislation hard to enforce.

The International Press Institute (IPI), the global network of editors, media executives and leading journalists, says it is "deeply concerned" over the safety of Alagi Yorro Jallow, managing editor of the private, bi-weekly Independent newspaper. According to information before IPI, Yorro Jallow received a letter, dated 13 January 2004, in which a previously unknown group called the "Green Boys" threatened to "eliminate" him if the Independent continued to publish stories about Baba Jobe, majority leader in the National Assembly.

A nationwide campaign to vaccinate 750,000 children against measles in The Gambia has been a resounding success, health officials said on Wednesday. "We are very glad with the response we got. We are still compiling the figures, but at least 90 percent of our target was attained," Robert Nimson, deputy manager of the Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI), told IRIN.

Gambia's firebrand opposition leader Lamine Waa Juwara, who is awaiting trial on sedition charges, has been re-arrested after his bail order was revoked by a judge.

Satou carefully takes a pen in her hand, concentrates hard and slowly writes her name on a piece of paper. The group of colourfully dressed women bursts into applause and cheers. Satou lowers her eyes and smiles shyly, but her pride, confidence and self-esteem shine through. Satou is one of many illiterate and formerly illiterate women in the Mamudfana village Mothers' Club in The Gambia. They are coming together, with the support of UNICEF, to break down the barriers to education, including poverty, traditional customs such as early marriage and a resistance to educating girls.