Gambia’s eccentric president Yahya Jammeh warned in a speech last week, “by the middle of next month, all the death sentences would have been carried out to the letter” . . . at least 47 people are on death row according to Amnesty International, and it is believed that nine prisoners have already been executed . . . leading officials are often arrested or dismissed on the whim of the paranoid Jammeh, who has ruled the country for 18 years . . . the most recent election last fall was so unfair that it was boycotted by regional observer ECOWAS . . . it is likely that Jammeh could follow through on his threats due to his history of human rights abuses . . . the executions would further the repression in the small West African country and is likely an attempt to intimidate opposition figures and discourage dissent.