Three Ghanaians who have been unlawfully detained in The Gambia for over 8 months were released last week and deported to Senegal. The Ghanaian Diplomatic mission in Senegal has granted them refuge.

Human rights activists spotted the detainees in the Gambia?s famous mile 2 prisons, filed a suit on their behalf, In court, The Gambian authorities denied having the men in custody but a prompt physical inspection of the prison by the a combine team of activities and the government legal men confirmed the presence of the detainees and to avoid further discussion of the case in court the Gambian authorities discreetly released the men and escorted them to the border town of Amdalye

The alleged abuse of foreigners in The Gambia especially Ghanaians in recent times has come to the attention of human rights activists.

Just a few months ago a Ghanaian died shortly after being released from Gambian police custody where he was starved for several days.

It may also be e recalled that in July last year, a group of 53 foreigners including 44 Ghanaians travelling through Gambian waters to Europe were allegedly rounded up by Gambian security forces, robbed of their valuable belongings, wrongly accused as mercenaries and killed in cold blood. The Ghana government has since 01/03/2006 launched an international investigation into these deaths It has also been reported that there were survivors held by the Gambian Authorities who could help in the investigation. However, The Gambian authorities have always denied this.

The three detainees if confirmed as part of the survivors could provide crucial evidence towards the investigations into the deaths(disappearance) of the 44 Ghanaians.

In related development, human rights activists have also called on the government of Ghana, Nigeria and Senegal to lead a boycott of the forth coming AU summit in The Gambia in July to protest against the nonchalant attitude of The Gambian government towards the investigations into the alleged cold blooded murder of their citizens by Gambian security forces. The Gambian government has also grabbed media attention in recent years for its poor human rights record. The government is known to have clamped down heavily on press freedom and has failed to investigate the murder of Deyda Hydara who was an editor of a newspaper that criticises the government. There have also been several not investigated arson attacks on press houses and wanton arrests and detention of journalists without trial. The President of The Gambia also recently fired the Chief Justice, the speaker of the national assembly and the head of the electoral commission without going through laid down constitutional procedures.

Several alleged coup plotters were also put under detention without trial leading some observers to claim that the government as an excuse to get to its enemies planted the coup story.

In this new era where Africa is striving to do away with dictatorial regimes it has become ironical that leaders on the continent will allow The Gambian government with such a poor governance and human rights record to host the AU summit.