afrol News, 21 June - The US Congress has announced that The Gambia is to be removed from a key development fund, through which most of Washington's foreign aid is channelled, reacting to the severe setbacks for democracy and human rights in the country. The Gambia was only made eligible to the fund in November and had yet to receive funds.

The US Congress was advised by the board of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) that The Gambia should not receive grants from the fund, as the country no longer qualified by the MCC's criteria. The Fund had "documented evidence of growing human rights abuses, increased restrictions on political rights, civil liberties and press freedom, as well as deteriorating economic policies and anti-corruption efforts," the US Congress was informed.

Thus, authorities in The Gambia were not complying with two of the MCC's main criteria for receiving US development funds; "political rights and trade policy," according to the fund. Therefore, "the MCC Board of Directors decided to suspend The Gambia's eligibility for MCA assistance," according to the US Congress. Gambian authorities had formally been notified of this suspension - and the basis for it - on 16 June.

Gambian sources maintain that in particular the latest setbacks in political rights - in particular press freedom - had been the decisive factor for the MCC, as the recent setbacks in trade policies had been minimal. Three newspapers have been under government attack during the last few months; one of them - the most outspoken - has even been closed. Further, the use of torture has been documented.

The MCC has based its suspension on the third-party institutions that are much trusted in the US administration - mainly Freedom House, the World Bank Institute and the IMF - according to the board. The Gambia had observed negative tendencies in the assasments of all these institutions.

Freedom House deplored the "documented trend in violations of press freedoms and human rights" following the draconic 2004 media law. "Since then, there have been multiple documented cases of unexplained arrest and detention of journalists, as well as threats, arson attacks, or official raids on independent media sources. There are also increased reports of arbitrary arrests and torture by the security forces," the Washington-based organisation says in a report referred to by the MCC.

This setback in democratic and media rights also is of concern for the World Bank Institute, which sees a direct link to the situation of accountability and corruption when there is a lack of critical voices. The "significant declines in press freedom, human rights, freedom of assembly, openness and transparency, and political competition" was affrecting accountability, the Institute held. As a result, corruption was booming in The Gambia.

The suspension of aid by Washington authorities may be just the first step of donor reactions to the worsening human rights situation in The Gambia, observers hold. Also the European Union (EU) will soon be obliged to reconsider its aid policies towards The Gambia. Gambian Dictator Jahjah Yammeh currently "is getting bashing and confrontation everywhere," a well-informed Gambian source told afrol News today.

By staff writers

© afrol News

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