Germany for his suspected involvement in the killings of about 55 West African migrants in July 2005. In December, the National Assembly passed the anti-corruption bill. RIGHT TO TRUTH, JUSTICE AND REPARATION In April, a study commissioned by Journalists for Justice, a not-for-profit organization, highlighted shortcomings in the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC)’s reparation programme, including lack of communication, a limited definition of “victim”, the exclusion of some survivors of sexual and gender-based violence, and inadequate monetary compensation. The study notably echoed the concerns of a victims-led organization and the findings of a 2022 report by several NGOs, including the International Center for Transitional Justice on reparations for survivors of sexual and gender-based violence in Gambia. In May, the government issued an implementation plan for the TRRC’s recommendations and announced that the EU had pledged EUR 9 million to help Gambia in the transitional justice process in partnership with the UN Development Programme, which would provide technical support. The implementation plan provided for the creation of a Special Prosecutor’s Office and a hybrid court in collaboration with ECOWAS “to try those with the greatest responsibility”. In July, the government stated that it would establish a taskforce, which would include members of civil society, to expand the work already done by the TRRC on enforced disappearance. In July, the ECOWAS Court of Justice ruled that Gambia had violated the right to life of Saul Ndow, a critic of Yahya Jammeh’s government – who was subjected to enforced disappearance – and that despite the establishment of the TRRC, the almost 10year delay in prosecuting those suspected to be responsible was unreasonable. The court also ordered the government to implement the TRRC’s recommendations. The State of the World’s Human Rights FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION According to the World Press Freedom Index of Reporters Without Borders, Gambia ranked 46th in the world and fifth in Africa in 2023. The organization noted that the country had made progress but also called on the government to abolish draconian media laws which continued to restrict the right to freedom of expression and media freedom. Section 51 of the Criminal Code Act, for example, criminalizes sedition against the president, and section 59 creates the vague offence of publishing false news with intent to “cause fear and alarm to the public”, punishable by two years’ imprisonment. In June, the Gambian Press Union condemned the assault on two journalists at a political event and called on the police to investigate the incident and end the cycle of impunity. According to the organization, none of the 15 cases of assault on journalists they had recorded from 2017 to 2022 had been investigated. TORTURE AND OTHER ILL-TREATMENT In March, the Prevention against Torture Act was passed by the National Assembly. The law aimed to prevent, and ensure accountability for, acts of torture and other illtreatment. WOMEN’S AND GIRLS’ RIGHTS The Sexual Offences Act continued to exclude marital rape as an offence, despite previous calls by human rights activists to criminalize it. In March, the head of the UN reproductive and sexual health agency stated that one in every two young girls in Gambia had undergone female genital mutilation, and that despite the fact that it was outlawed in 2015, there had been little enforcement, with only two cases going to trial and no convictions. She also noted that period poverty – the inability to pay for menstrual hygiene products – was rife throughout the country, particularly in rural areas. In August, three women were sentenced by a magistrate’s court in the Central River Region to a fine of 175