“Every individual shall have the right to assemble freely with others. The exercise of this right shall be subject only to necessary restrictions provided for by law in particular those enacted in the interest of national security, the Safety, heath, ethics and rights and freedom of others”. Section 5 (5) of the Public Order Act of the Laws of the Gambia on the other hand provides that going on any procession without a license or one in which a license has been issued and the terms of the said license is violated constitutes a “cognizable offence” for which an arrest can be made without a warrant. The Respondent has made a blanket denial to Applicants allegation therefore, it is imperative on the part of the Applicants to prove their allegation by way of credible evidence that the act of the Respondent amounted to a violation of their Rights to peaceful possession. However, the Applicants failed to tender evidence to establish proof that the protest was with the approval of the Inspector General of Police of the Gambian Police Force and did not lead evidence either by means of oral or documentary in form of pictures or video to establish that indeed the acts of the Applicants was peaceful. The Applicants therefore failed to show that their act was lawful and peaceful. In light of the above and in the absence of such evidence to rationalize the alleged acts of the Respondent, the Court finds that though the protest was a peaceful protest it was nevertheless without license and therefore illegal. That the arrest that followed was not arbitrary because it was done pursuant to the Gambian Law. However, the detention that followed was nonetheless arbitrary as the period of detention went beyond the limit permitted by the law of the Gambia before the Applicants were brought to Court. ii. TORTURE, INHUMAN AND DEGRADING TREATMENT. The Applicants alleged that they were subjected to torture, inhuman and degrading treatment by agents of the Respondent from the time of arrest to the period in detention. The Respondent however denied subjecting them to any form of torture, inhuman or degrading treatment. The Respondents 17