2. Pending (a), create an expert body to review the cases of all persons detained under the
[LDA] and make appropriate recommendations for their treatment or release;
3. Provide adequate medical and material care for persons suffering from mental health
problems in the territory of The Gambia.
Requests the Government of The Gambia to report back to the African Commission when it submits its
next periodic report in terms ofArticle 62 of the African Charter on measures taken to comply with the
recommendations and directions of the African Commission in this decision.
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Taken at the 33 Ordinary Session of the African Commission held in Niamey, Niger, May 2003.
Footnotes
1. Communication 211/98 Legal Resources Foundation/Zambia.
2. In the case of the Attorney General v Unity Dow, 1994 6 BCLR 1 Per Ammisah JP, pp. 27-30 and Aguda J.A.,
pp. 43-47, The Botswana Appeal Court correctly observed that there is a presumption that when States sign or
ratify treaties or human rights instruments, they signify their intention to be bound by and to adhere to the
obligations arising from such treaties or human rights instruments even if they do not enact domestic legislation to
effect domestic incorporation.
3. Article 14 of the Vienna Convention provides as follows:
"1. The consent of a State to be bound by a treaty is expressed by ratification when:
(a) the treaty provides for such consent to be expressed by means of ratification;
(b) it is otherwise established that the negotiating States were agreed that ratification should be required;
(c) the representative of the State has signed the treaty subject to ratification; or
(d) the intention of the State to sign the treaty subject to ratification appears from the full powers of its
representative or was expressed during the negotiation.
2. The consent of a State to be bound by a treaty is expressed by acceptance or approval under conditions similar
to those which apply to ratification.”
4. Paragraph 17 of the Introduction to the Standard Rules on the Equalisation of Opportunities for Persons with
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Disabilities (UN General Assembly Resolution 48/96 of 20 December 1993) provides that: “the term ‘disability’
summarises a great number of different functional limitations …People may be disabled by physical, intellectual or
sensory impairment, medical conditions or mental illness…”
5. Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, UN Doc A/CONF.157/23, para.5.
6. Principle 1(4) provides: “There shall be no discrimination on the grounds of mental illness. “Discrimination”
means any distinction, exclusion or preference that has an effect of nullifying or impairing equal enjoyment of
rights.”
7. General Assembly Resolution 46/119, 46 UN General Assembly ORSupp. (No. 49) at 189, UN Doc A/46/49
(1991).
8. Communication 224/98 Media Rights Agenda/Nigeria.
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9. Communication 97/93 John K. Modise/Botswana, decision reached at the 27 Ordinary Session of the African
Commission held in 2000.
10. Article 3 of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Disabled Persons, UNGA Resolution 3447(XXX) of
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9 December 1975, provides that“Disabled persons have the inherent right to respect for their human dignity.
Disabled persons, whatever the origin, nature and seriousness of their handicaps and disabilities, have the same
fundamental rights as their fellow citizens of the same age, which implies first and foremost the right to enjoy a
decent life, as normal and as full as possible.”
11. Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948.
12. Consolidated communications 147/95, 149/95 [sic] Sir Dawda K. Jawara/The Gambia.
13. Communication 211/98 Legal Resources Foundation/Zambia.
14. Section 2 of the Lunatics Detention Act Cap 40:05, Laws of The Gambia.
15. See Principles 15, 16 and 17 of the UN Principles for the Protection of Persons with Mental Illness and the
Improvement of Medical Care.
16. Communication 71/92 Rencontre Africaine pour la defense des droits de l’homme/Zambia;
Communication 159/96 UIDH et al./Angola.
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17. Human Rights Committee, General Comment 25 (57), adopted by the Committee at its 1501 meeting, UN
Doc. CCPR/C/21/Rev. 1/Add. 7 (1996), para. 4