73. It is true that the military regime came to power by force, albeit, peacefully. This was not through the will of the people who have known only the ballot box since independence, as a means of choosing their political leaders. The military coup was therefore a grave violation of the right of Gambian people to freely choose their government as entrenched in Article 20(1) of the Charter. Article 20(1) provides: All peoples shall ... freely determine their political status... according to the policy they have freely chosen. 2 74. The rights and freedoms of individuals enshrined in the Charter can only be fully realised if governments provide structures which enable them to seek redress if they are violated. By ousting the competence of the ordinary courts to handle human rights cases, and ignoring court judgements, the Gambian military government demonstrated clearly that the courts were not independent. This is a violation of Article 26 of the Charter. Article 26 of the Charter reads: States Parties to the Charter shall have the duty to guarantee the independence of the Courts...and shall allow the establishment and improvement of appropriate national institutions entrusted with the promotion and protection of the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the present Charter. Decision of the African Commission For the above reasons, the Commission Holds a violation of the following provisions of the Charter: Articles 1, 2, 6,7(1)(d), 7(2), 9(1), 9(2), 10(1), 11, 12(1), 12(2), 20(1) and 26 of the Charter (for the period within which the violations occurred). Requests the Government of The Gambia to bring its laws in conformity with the provisions of the Charter. Algiers, Algeria, 11th May 2000. * Editor's note: Decision 60/91 has only 14 paragraphs in English and in French. For further information see ACHPR/60/91:13 1 See Communications 25/89, 74/92 and 83/92 all joint. 2 Article 20(1) See also Resolution ACHPR/RPT/8th: Annex VII, Rev. 1994 7