SSF Position Paper on the Public Order Act – April 14

The Public Order Act of 1961 remains one of the most enduring colonial-era laws in The
Gambia, used for decades to suppress peaceful assembly and silence dissent. Despite The
Gambia’s democratic transition from dictatorship to democracy in 2016 and its global
commitments to human rights, the Act remains a powerful tool used by both the previous and
current governments to subject citizens to government scrutiny, as sections 5 of the Act requires
the Inspector General of Police (IGP’s) approval and issuance of permits for public gatherings,
granting the IGP sweeping discretion to deny citizens the right of to assemble and protest –
thereby effectively criminalising protest and silencing dissent.

During the dictatorial regime of former President Yahya Jammeh, the Public Order Act had been
one of the most misused laws in The Gambia. The Act granted the Police almost total discretion
to deny permits and arrest peaceful protesters, mostly human rights activists, who, despite the
odds, insist on making their voices heard about pressing issues in the country. Such individuals
would be manhandled by the police (physically and mentally tortured), arrested and criminally
charged for merely exercising their constitutionally given rights – peacefully.

This same narrative under former President Jammeh has been unfortunately inherited by the
current government/ Police force under President Adama Barrow, further heightening the denial
of citizens’ right to peaceful assembly, while registering a skyrocketed score of police
intolerance, repression and brutality against protesters.

This position paper makes arguments for the reform of the Public Order Act and therefore calls
on civil society actors, human rights institutions and political parties to intensify pressure on the
Gambian government to amend the Act. The Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission
(TRRC) and the National Human Rights Commission have already documented how this law
was weaponised under authoritarian rule and both the recommendations and advisory notes have
respectively called for the amendment of the said law.

The Gambia must not carry colonial-era repression into its future. Reforming the Public Order
Act is not merely legal housekeeping – it is a litmus test for the country’s commitment to civic
freedom, accountability, and human dignity.