Senegal - March 2024

On 6 March, the National Assembly of Senegal passed a law that provides a general amnesty for acts committed during protests and political events during the preceding three years. This law was approved in a tumultuous context that included the cancellation and rescheduling of the presidential election – a contest in which potential candidates had faced legal proceedings. The law benefits some opposition politicians, including the eventual winner of the presidential election, Bassirou Diomaye Faye and former leader of the African Patriots of Senegal for Work, Ethics and Fraternity (Patriotes africains du Sénégal pour le travail, l’éthique et la fraternité, PASTEF), Ousmane Sonko. However, the law also protects government officials involved in the deaths of protestors. Human rights advocates have criticised the law for providing impunity to those who were involved in the deaths of protestors. The law was promulgated on 13 March, and on 14 March Sonko and Faye were released from prison – 10 days before the election.

Sources: Jeune Afrique (1), Jeune Afrique (2), Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch

Senegal’s presidential election (originally scheduled for 25 February) was held on 24 March. Bassirou Diomaye Faye of the African Patriots of Senegal for Work, Ethics and Fraternity (Patriotes africains du Sénégal pour le travail, l’éthique et la fraternité, PASTEF) won the election in the first round, receiving 54.3 per cent of the valid votes. Amadou Ba of the ruling party Alliance for the Republic (Alliance pour la république, APR) came in second with 35.8 per cent of the vote. There was a total of 19 candidates for the office of president, only one of whom (Anta Babacar Ngom) is a woman. Turnout was 61.3 per cent of the registered voters, down from 66.3 per cent in 2019. International observers from the African Union (AU) and European Union (EU) both delivered positive assessments of the electoral process, at least in its final stages. However, the EU report noted that access to information during the electoral campaign was impeded by several temporary shut-downs of the mobile Internet networks.

Sources: Agence de Presse Sénégalaise, Le Quotidien, Jeune Afrique, African Union, European Union