The relevance of the State Intelligence Service (SIS) in matters of public security does not need to be

over-emphasized.

While the SIS has an exceedingly important role to play in ensuring the security of the country, in the past

decades, under its previous name – that is, the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) – the reputation of

the institution had been significantly tarnished by widespread allegations of human rights violations. The

institution was widely known to be one of the main agencies in government’s machinery for the perpetration

of human rights violations in the country. Therefore, in this new era in The Gambia, as the country strives

towards upholding the rule of law, the respect for human rights, the principles of democracy and justice, it

is imperative to imbibe the human rights culture in the SIS.

In this human rights capacity-building project, IHRDA has provided training to some SIS Officers, and has

also built in-house capacity for human rights education in the institution. This manual is therefore expected

to complement the knowledge transferred to personnel of the institution.

We therefore hope that this manual will serve as a practical, user-friendly guide for better understanding

and applying of human rights principles in the everyday duties of Intelligence Officers. The manual is

designed such that, depending on the issue at hand, the user can refer directly to the subject matter that

pertains to the issue he/she is dealing with. For example, the issues covered include the basic definition of

human rights, human rights and national security, the handling of arrests, searches and seizures, the use

of force, rights of detainees, the definition of vulnerable groups and why they deserve special protection,

and how human rights can improve the work of Intelligence Officers, etc. All of the subjects covered draw

inspiration from relevant national and international human rights law and standards.

of The Gambia (SIS)