Gambia

Thousands celebrated in the streets in an unprecedented display of disdain for the president’s 22 year rule.

“”The climate of fear worsened over the last 12 months, with people perceived to be gay or lesbian increasingly targeted,” said Amnesty’s West Africa researcher Sabrina Mahtani.

Jennifer Lukawsk recently served as the registered foreign agent for Gambia, a western African regime known for its human rights abuses, including repeated threats to behead gay people.

U.S. National Security Adviser Susan Rice condemned on Saturday the president of Gambia’s pledge to slit the throats of gay men in his country as “unconscionable.”

Jammeh is one of Africa’s most vocal anti-gay leaders and has previously threatened to behead sexual minorities found in his country.

The decision to drop Gambia from special trade status under the African Growth and Opportunity Act of 2000 came amid news that three Gambian men had been arrested and accused of homosexuality.

WASHINGTON — The White House is admonishing Gambia for human rights abuses and says it’s deeply concerned by the government’s failure to protect citizens. White House spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan says Gambia’s government won’t let a U.N. investigator probe reports of torture and detention of people based on their sexual orientation or political views.

DAKAR, Senegal — The Gambian government has lashed out at Western donor nations that have criticized a new law that punishes some homosexual acts with life in prison. The European Union and the United States recently expressed dismay at the law and discrimination against gay people in the West African country.

DAKAR, Senegal — The U.S. State Department has condemned the decision by Gambia’s president to approve a law imposing life imprisonment for some homosexual acts.

DAKAR, Senegal — The president of Gambia has signed a bill into law that calls for life imprisonment for some homosexual acts, the latest African country to codify harsh penalties for the gay community.