Amnesty International says nine prisoners on death row in Gambia were executed on Thursday.
On Sunday, in a speech to mark the Muslim festival of Eid, President Yahya Jammeh vowed to kill all 47 inmates on death row by next month.
The speech was broadcast on national television the next day. After the announcement, the African Union called on Mr Jammeh to renounce his plans.
But according to Amnesty International, nine people, including one woman, were removed from their prison cells and executed on Thursday night.
Three of them had been sentenced for treason, the group said in a statement.
The BBC reports the death penalty was abolished when former President Dawda Jawara was in power, but reinstated in 1995 after Mr Jammeh seized power in a military coup.