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1 1 (June 10, 2019)

handle is hein.crs/govzzv0001 and id is 1 raw text is: In or mig th legislative debate sinee 1914 Updated June 10, 2019 The Gambia The Gambia (Gambia) is a small West African country almost entirely surrounded by Senegal. It underwent a historic transition of power after longtime authoritarian leader Yahya Jammeh unexpectedly lost an election in December 2016. A brief political crisis over Jammeh's refusal to step down was resolved when a regional military intervention forced Jammeh into exile, enabling President- elect Adama Barrow to take office. Barrow's inauguration in early 2017 furthered a trend in which West African heads of state are increasingly chosen through elections. A political newcomer who once worked as a security guard in London, President Barrow has overseen a broad increase in political freedom and improved relations with the international community. Analysts warn that Gambia's progress remains fragile, however. Efforts to advance governance reforms and prosecute abuses committed under the former regime have been slow to advance and could stoke tensions, particularly within the security forces. U.S.-Gambia ties have warmed under President Barrow. Bilateral ties were previously strained due to Gambia's poor human rights record, and worsened after U.S. nationals of Gambian descent attempted a coup against Jammeh in 2014. (U.S. prosecutors subsequently brought charges against several of the coup plotters.) The Trump Administration has launched new health and governance assistance programs in the country, though Gambia remains a minor aid recipient within Africa. The Administration also has imposed targeted sanctions on Jammeh and his immediate family, citing authorities granted by Congress. Background and the 2016 Elections President Barrow's surprise election transformed Gambian politics, which Jammeh had dominated since seizing power in a 1994 coup d'etat. Jammeh won elections in 1996 and was re-elected three times-most recently in 2011, in polls that international observers described as neither free nor fair. An authoritarian and erratic leader, Jammeh sharply curtailed civil liberties and suppressed dissent. Repression and a crackdown on protests further marred the electoral environment ahead of the 2016 polls. With top figures in prison, Gambia's fractious opposition ultimately coalesced around Barrow, a businessman who had held a low-profile post in the opposition United Democratic Party (UDP). Barrow unexpectedly secured a narrow victory. Jammeh at first conceded defeat, but then rejected the results. Mediation by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) failed to resolve the impasse. In January 2017, troops from Senegal, Ghana, and Nigeria entered Gambia under an ECOWAS mandate, at which point Jammeh agreed to resign and accept exile in Equatorial Guinea. Barrow, who had fled to Senegal out of concern for his personal safety, returned to take office in late January 2017. Gambia at a Glance Source: CRS. Data from CIA World Factbook and the International Monetary Fund (IMF); 2018 estimates unless otherwise indicated. The Barrow Administration Barrow has taken steps to improve governance and mend ties with the region and donor community. He has pardoned scores of political prisoners and appointed an expert committee to revise the constitution. He also has launched a Truth, Reconciliation, and Reparations Commission tasked with uncovering abuses by the former regime, awarding reparations, and recommending perpetrators for amnesty or prosecution. His government has sought to identify and repatriate wealth that Jammeh allegedly hid overseas. In early 2019, the nongovernmental Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project estimated that Jammeh had orchestrated the embezzlement of nearly $1 billion in public funds and illicit revenues, although Gambian government public estimates have been far lower. Legal reforms that could help ensure greater freedom of expression, assembly, and association have been slow to advance, however, amid signs that Barrow will not uphold his campaign pledge to serve only a three-year transitional term (which would mean leaving office at the end of 2019). Instead, he appears intent on serving a full five-year term and has suggested he will run for reelection in 2021. The coalition that brought Barrow to power has fractured over whether to continue to back him, particularly after the president in March 2019 fired his Vice President, Ousainou Darboe, who leads the UDP. Darboe was unable to run for president in 2016 because he was in jail; the UDP was the largest component of Barrow's 2016 coalition and won large pluralities in 2017 legislative and 2018 local elections. Police have arrested several members of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), a tool of repression under the former regime, for the 2016 murder of an opposition figure. In 2017, a notorious former Interior Minister was arrested in Switzerland, where he faces trial for allegedly facilitating tittps:!icrsreports co nqess

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