Jammeh2Justice calls for a hybrid court to prosecute Gambia’s former dictator

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By LAMIN SANYANG

The “Jammeh2Justice” campaign has on Wednesday, June 8, 2022 intensified its call to prosecute the Gambia’s former dictator Yahya Jammeh who was accused of serious human rights violations under his regime for 22 years.

Jammeh has since fled the country to Equatorial Guinea after he lost the elections to then coalition candidate, President Adama Barrow in 2016.

The Truth, Reconciliation and Reparation Commission (TRRC) has tied Jammeh to the enforced disappearance, killing and torture of opposition members and journalists, the shooting of peaceful demonstrators, the murder of about 59 West African Migrants, and ‘witch hunt campaign’ in which hundreds of people were arbitrarily detained and many died as a result.

Their findings found that Jammeh raped and sexually assaulted women brought to him and, after announcing that he had invented a cure for AIDS, forced HIV-positive Gambians to give up their medicine and enroll in a sham treatment program under his personal care.

Talking to the press at Dawda K Jawara Conference Centre on Wednesday, the “Jammeh2Justice” campaign, made up of victims of the former regime, Gambians and international activists, called on the government of The Gambia to take concrete steps to bring former President Yahya Jammeh and his alleged accomplices to justice.

“Since 2019, the Gambia Bar Association has led a series of multi-stakeholder consultations which proposed a “hybrid” court, anchored on a treaty with ECOWAS, with Gambians and international staff, with a much greater role for victims than under the current Gambian system, and with the possibility of detaining suspects and holding trials outside the Gambia,” said Ms. Fatoumatta Sandeng, daughter of Ebrima Solo Sandeng the slain opposition activist.

“Whatever path the government chooses, however, laws still have to be enacted, the judicial framework has to be established, cases have to be prepared, and Yahya Jammeh has to be extradited,” she added.

After welcoming the government’s acceptance of TRRC recommendation, she quickly raised concern about the President Barrow’s recent state visit to Equatorial Guinea and did not raise the subject of Jammeh’s extradition.

“We are aware that President Obiang of Equatorial Guinea has said that he will ‘protect’ Jammeh. However, Equatorial Guinea has ratified the UN Convention against Torture which legally requires it to extradite Jammeh for alleged torture if it does not prosecute him,” Ms Sandeng told journalist.

She said the Gambia government could also make it very difficult for Equatorial Guinea to resist a demand for Jammeh’s extradition by lining up the support of ECOWAS and the entire region whose citizens were allegedly murdered under Jammeh’s orders.

“The impetus for such regional backing has to come from the Gambia government,” she stressed.

The Fatoumatta said the case could be tricky that is the reason why they wanted a hybrid court.

The Ghanaian lone survivor of Jammeh’s brutal killing of West African migrants, Martin Kyere also spoke at the conference, stating that they deserve to have access to justice.

“When we heard about the White Paper, it was not anything new to us but its implementation is what makes it a White Paper,” Martin Kyere said.

He said the voice of Ghana is that a court must be set up for the trial to begin, adding that they want to see the implementation of the TRRC recommendations.

“We are solidly behind the trial of hybrid court,” he urged.

Reed Broody, commonly known as ‘dictator hunter’ who prosecuted the former Chadian dictator, Hisséne Habré said he is impressed with the Gambia’s case which the victims are taking the lead.

He also said the domestic courts of The Gambia lacks retroactive jurisdiction to prosecute the crimes against torture and crimes against humanity amongst others.

Broody raised concern about the legal frameworks to prosecute Jammeh in The Gambia, which he said could be disruptive.

“The hybrid court was suggested to deal with retroactive cases, such as command responsibility and others,” Reed Broody said.

Explaining the advantage of a hybrid court, dictator hunter said the victims would be allowed to participate in a criminal trial.

He added that the extradition of Jammeh is not only on Gambia but the sub-region.

Meanwhile, the case of the former Chadian dictator Hisséne Habré and Liberian President Charles Taylor were tried in a hybrid court, he said.