There have been persistent threats against the largest-selling independent daily, the Observer, and two of its editors were deported. Authorities closed the offices of The Independent newspaper in July 1999, the same month it opened, saying it had failed to pay a business registration fee. This was shortly after the paper had published a statement by the opposition United Democratic Party that described the president as the richest person in the region and the most corrupt head of state in Africa. Four of the paper s journalists were charged with libel in December after they published a story saying the president had married for a third time. In September, five West African journalists were expelled.
Women suffer de facto discrimination despite legal protections.
Education and wage employment opportunities for women are far fewer than those for men, especially in rural areas. Female genital mutilation is widely practiced. All workers except civil servants and security forces may unionize under the 1990 Labor Act, which also provides the right to strike. The country s two labor federations, the Gambian Worker s Confederation and the Gambian Workers Union, have not been banned, but their activities are limited by broader restrictions on political rights and civil liberties. The Gambia s economy is largely based on the production of groundnuts.