The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) has been making effort to get the Commonwealth Secretary General not to extend an invitation to President Jammeh to attend the forthcoming summit of the Heads of State of the Commonwealth unless he retracts his threat to kill made on 21 September 2009.

In an open letter to the Commonwealth Secretary General, the CHRI wrote, “However, while we welcome any diplomatic initiatives to appraise the President of Gambia of the implications and consequences of such a statement and to persuade him to repudiate them in an unequivocal manner, we feel that it is very necessary for the leadership in the Commonwealth to react strongly to the statements and signal its apprehensions and disquiet.”
The letter went on further to state: “But it has now been several weeks after the offending statement was made and the CoW will shortly be over. I would be most appreciative to know the reaction of CMAG and whether this seriously threatening statement is going to be a concern of Member States attending the CoW and whether there is likely to be any response from the CMAG, your office or the Heads of Government or even the present and future chairs of the Commonwealth.
In another development human rights activists from Commonwealth have petitioned President Yowen Museveni to rein in his Gambian colleague, President Jammeh, for his threatening statement to kill, according to ‘Sunday Vision online’. President Museveni is the out-going Commonwealth Chairperson.
An open letter to the outgoing Chairperson states: “In view of the universal condemnation and concern at the statements of the President of Gambia, Yahya Jammeh, the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) strongly urges you to seek a clear repudiation of his statement and a strong re-affirmation of his commitment to the values of the Commonwealth...”
The letter goes on to state: “...In the absence of this, we recommend that no invitation be extended to the President of Gambia to attend the upcoming CHOGM in Trinidad.”
Museveni will on November 29 hand over the chairmanship of the Commonwealth to the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago. Museveni became chairman of the grouping of former British colonies in November 2007, when Uganda hosted the summit.
In 1971, while meeting in Singapore, the Commonwealth adopted guiding principles for member states which emphasise human rights.
Zimbabwe was suspended for flouting the principles after botched elections and subsequent violence.
President Jammeh, in a television address on 21 September 2009, said: “Those who want to listen to the west and think that you will be defended by those so called human rights defenders, you are fooling yourselves. If you want to destabilize this country and bring about trouble and suffering to my people, I will make sure that you are death.”