president yahya jammeh on vote campaign, photo courtesy flickr source afp seyllou

BANJUL, Gambia - After being expelled under orders that left Brussels “astonished,” the European Union (EU) representative to Gambia left the country within the 72-hour deadline by boarding a Brussels Airlines flight back to the EU headquarters.

Agnès Guillaud, the European Union's chargée d’affaires in Banjul, received her expulsion orders on Friday, 5 June 2015 and was asked to leave Gambia within a strict 72-hour deadline.

The Gambia’s president, Yahyah Jammeh, expelled the European Union’s top diplomat to his country without "much explanation" an EU spokeswoman said. In response, the EU summoned the Gambian ambassador on Saturday for clarification of the expulsion.

A clear explanation has yet to be released publicly, but what is certain is that the expulsion comes at a time of tension between the EU and the Gambia on issues of international human rights.

Last December the EU blocked over $12 million in aid to the Gambia, citing its “poor human rights record” as justification for the withdrawal. With the expulsion Guillaud, on top of the recent report released by the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) stating that LGBT people must receive civil rights protections equal to those of any other citizen, to the suppression of free speech, and the unjustified execution of prisoners; Jammeh's government has become for all intents and purposes a dictatorship.

EU officials found the expulsion completely unjustified. "There appears to be no justification for the decision by the Gambian authorities. We are astonished by this announcement which came with no explanations," an EU spokeswoman said.

This expulsion comes in a wave of many anti-western political moves led by Jammeh who in 2013 withdrew his country from the British Commonwealth, with officials saying that the institution represented nothing more than “prolonged colonialism.”

The President has also received international criticism for his claim that he has a herbal remedy that can cure AIDS and his 2012 statements in which he vowed to execute dozens of prisoners in his jails during an “anti-crime” crackdown. In addition to President Jammeh's human rights abuses in terms of due process, he has openly expressed anti-homosexuality rhetoric which is an increasing phenomenon amongst many African leaders.

On 16 May 2015, the White House released a statement by U.S. National Security Advisor Susan Rice, in which she stated that the U.S. stands in solidarity the LGBT community and specifically accused President Jammeh of "unconscionable comments.....which underscore why we must continue to seek a world in which no one lives in fear of violence or persecution because of who they are or whom they love. We condemn his comments, and note these threats come amid an alarming deterioration of the broader human rights situation in The Gambia. We are deeply concerned about credible reports of torture, suspicious disappearances – including of two American citizens - and arbitrary detention at the government's hands." (Source: The White House)

In response to these accusations, Jammeh's office issued the following statement, “The National Security Advisor should instead address racism, abuses and impunity in America where lately innocent and unarmed African-Americans, for example, are being regularly shot by white police officers with impunity rather than prescribe human rights to Gambians who have a long history of civilization.”

There is no proof that the expulsion had anything to do with Jammeh's hard-line positions dedicated to his so called "preservation of social norms", or the fact that Gambia has increasingly come under fire because of its gross human rights abuses, but it remains to be seen if the government will retract the order for the expulsion of Guillaud, or continue to forge a path that will further encourage sanctions and a decrease in international aid.

Contributing Editor: @AustinBryan
LinkedIn: Austin Drake Bryan

gambian-president-yahya-jammeh-following-failed-coup-photo-courtesy-of-adam-kamran.jpg

BANJUL, Gambia - On December 30th, armed groups in Gambia carried out a coup attempt against the president, Yahya Jammeh. The harsh and restrictive leader has been in power since 1994 (due to a coup, ironically), and is globally infamous for his widespread limitations on free speech, homosexuality, "witchcraft" and other aspects.

In most coups, outside observers assume the outraged masses are solely compiled from the country that is being ruled by the usually oppressive leader that is being ousted. For example, in this instance, one would picture Gambians revolting against their Gambian leader -- right? Not so fast because in recent years, this has evolved into an assumption that is no longer safe to make. For proof, just look to the Middle East where foreign fighters from all over the world, most shockingly Western democratic countries, travel to Syria, Iraq and other turbulent regions to fight for causes they believe in strongly enough to die for.

The foreign fighter trend in the Middle East is becoming a norm among the national security community, but this did not prevent the United States from being surprised when they found that two US-Gambian nationals had traveled to Gambia to participate in the "violent overthrow of a foreign government". Eric Holder issues this statement adding that this is in strong violation of US law and that the US "condemns such conspiracies." The law that they are accused of violating is the Neutrality Act, which prohibits US citizens or residents from taking up arms or plotting against a nation at peace with the US.

Incidentally, the coup failed and the Gambian armed forces were able to stop the revolt fairly quickly. Jammeh has been quick to accuse those responsible for the coup as "terrorists" and also point fingers at multiple countries. Similar to his decades of rule, he has been ruling the country with an iron fist since the coup and has been arresting all those who may have had links to the coup. On January 11th, he did come out with a statement that he no longer believed Britain to have any involvement, however he indicates he will continue to crack down on his own country.

While the result of the coup didn't result in a lasting regime change in this case, it is important to note the continuing trend of foreigners traveling to other countries to fight. If it persists, will it create a new era of state sovereignty pitted against non-citizens from across the world?

Follow Jessamy on Twitter Twitter: @nahmias_report Africa Correspondent: @JessamyNichols