Released in response to Gambia’s ‘Freedom Day’ on Thursday 22 July, this joint statement from civil society organisations aims to draw attention to Gambian President Yahya Jammeh’s ‘appalling human rights record’. The statement underlines that: 'Freedom remains an illusion for most Gambians, who live in fear of arbitrary arrest, torture, incommunicado detention, unfair trials, rape, disappearance and extrajudicial executions.'