banks were the most prolific financers of the biggest fossil fuel extraction projects in the world. The government published its new Ecological Planning Strategy, including a pledge to end coal power use by 2027 having failed to meet its initial 2022 target. In November, the Council of State again fined the government for failing to adequately tackle air pollution. REFUGEES’ AND MIGRANTS’ RIGHTS Parliament approved a discriminatory, xenophobic “immigration control” law, which the Defender of Rights and National Commission for Human Rights had called to be rejected on human rights grounds. The law expanded administrative powers to detain and expel foreign nationals deemed a “threat to public order” or to have failed to “respect republican values”, regardless of residency status and without precise criteria. It also undermined the right to family life, housing and health and re-criminalized “irregular” residency, an offence previously abolished in 2012. Barriers to residency renewal, regularization and appeal rights made the position of migrants more precarious, while diminishing judicial expertise at asylum courts reduced access to justice for asylum seekers. The practice of administrative detention for children was retained in Mayotte. Challenges to multiple provisions of the new law were brought before the Constitutional Council in December. Throughout the year, France issued expulsion orders to, and detained citizens from, countries where a forced return could amount to refoulement, including Syria, Iran, Sudan, Afghanistan and Haiti. In November, the interior minister ordered the deportation of an Uzbek national, “Mr A”, disregarding a European Court of Human Rights decision prohibiting his expulsion due to risk of torture. In December, the Council of State denounced the deportation and instructed the government to take all necessary action to ensure Mr A’s return to France. 174 In February, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child expressed deep concern about the detention of asylum-seeking families with children as well as unaccompanied children. It also criticized inhumane accommodation and age-testing methods. 1. “France: Intrusive Olympics surveillance technologies could usher in a dystopian future”, 20 March 2. “France: Resumption of baseless and flawed Hassan Diab prosecution undermines effective justice for victims of 1980 synagogue bomb attack”, 15 March GAMBIA Republic of the Gambia Despite significant progress in the realization of the right to truth, justice and reparation for the massive human rights violations committed during the Yahya Jammeh presidency, there were delays in providing access to justice and adequate reparations to victims. Draconian laws continued to threaten human rights, including the right to freedom of expression and media freedom. A national law to prevent and punish the use of torture was passed. The ban on female genital mutilation was not effectively enforced. Court proceedings started into the deaths in 2022 of more than 60 children after ingesting a cough syrup. The right to a healthy environment was threatened by overfishing and fishmeal factories. BACKGROUND The year saw judicial cases linked to crimes committed during the 22-year rule of former president Yahya Jammeh. In April, Ousman Sonko, former minister in Yahya Jammeh’s government, was charged in a federal court in Switzerland for crimes against humanity, including participating, ordering, facilitating and/or failing to prevent murders, acts of torture, rapes and illegal detention. Another trial of an alleged former jungler (member of a paramilitary death squad) continued in The State of the World’s Human Rights