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President Yahya Jammeh, pictured in 2011. (AFP Photo/Seyllou) |
The European Union cancelled 22 million euros ($26 million) in budget support to Gambia in 2010 due to concerns over human rights and governance, a report released Thursday showed.
"The €22 million initially
allocated for general budget support was cancelled on the basis of
concerns over human rights and governance in the country," according to
the 2011 European Union-Gambia cooperation report.
The report had been handed to President Yahya Jammeh in May.
An EU official, speaking on
condition of anonymity, told AFP that new EU guidelines adopted in May
"foresee an even stronger link between budget support and the commitment
and record of countries to democracy, human rights and rule of law."
The European Union remains the
leading aid provider for Gambia, with a total of 65.4 million euros of
grants allocated for the period 2008-2013.
The west African nation, the smallest on the mainland, has long been dogged by rights concerns under Jammeh's administration.
The regime of the man who says he
can cure AIDS is often pilloried for human rights abuses, enforced
disappearances, extra-judicial killings, torture and the muzzling of
journalists.
Elections in November last year
were boycotted by observers from the main west African bloc which
reported "an unacceptable level of control of the electronic media by
the party in power ... and an opposition and electorate cowed by
repression and intimidation."
Gambia, which has a population of
1.8 million and per capita gross domestic product (GDP) of $485,
survives mostly off tourism, luring sun-worshipping Europeans to its
sweeping, palm-fringed coastline, and agriculture.
Source: AFP
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