A nearly forgotten tyrant remains alive and well in West Africa. He's "Colonel" President Yahya Jammeh of The Gambia.
The Gambia once rarely hit headline. Actually, at one time, the only prevalence vice was that of the pelvic. That's before then Captain Jammeh ended President (Sir) Dawda Karaiba Jawara's 30-year rule in the 1994 bloodless coup. Human rights activists and organisations soon took notice.
Senegal and the Atlantic Ocean surround The Gambia. A river by that name dissects one of the smallest countries in mainland Africa. Unlike some West African countries, The Gambia lacks resources that invite bloodbaths. Peanuts, cotton lint, fish, foreign aid and, tourism, keep the country afloat. Mr Jammeh hopes petroleum lurks in the 10,500 square kilometre land, the offshore economic zone, or both.
Despite the country's leanness, Mr Jammeh thinks highly of it. The Gambia "is one of the oldest and biggest countries in Africa that was reduced to a small snake by the British government who sold all our land to the French," he has said.
Mr Jammeh isn't about to allow any messing with the "small snake." Two weeks ago a court--and courts please the president--convicted ten people of high treason and sentenced them to death.
The charges included plotting to topple the government with mercenaries and weapons imported from neighbouring Guinea. A former army chief was among high-ranking government officials convicted.
The trial is a high point of slithering repression. Human rights organizations drew attention to this around Mr Jammeh's Freedom Day, the 22 July coup date.
Reported state misdeeds include suppression of political opponents, unlawful detention, torture, disappearances, incommunicado detention, unfair trials, rape, and extra-judicial killings. "The Gambia is torture state, where the authorities commit widespread violations with impunity," Said Ms Estelle Higonnet, Amnesty International's West Africa researcher.
A commission Mr Jammeh established eight years ago keeps the media on leash. Security agencies take care of perceived miscreants. The law allows, of all things, imprisonment for libel and slander. Dare write or say one of Mr Jammeh's cronies isn't up to the job.
Mr Jammeh "won" his third five-year term late 2006. During his tenure, he has survived two coup attempts and dispatched prisoners in retaliation. In his favour, the opposition remains spineless. Mr Jammeh, 45, remains put, awaiting a fourth term next year. His list of enemies now includes Britain.
Ironically, or is it cynically, the African Commission on Human and People's Rights and the African Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Studies pontificate from The Gambia. For what use?
Human rights organizations say state-sponsored "witch hunts" have forced approximately 1,000 people into secret detention centres. State agents made them consume hallucinogens and later tortured them into confessing witchcraft. 
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