TRRC chairman submits final report, reminds Barrow of his own words

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By BABOUCARR CEESAY

The chairman of the Truth, Reconciliation and reparation Commission (TRRC) Dr Lamin J. Sise has reminded President Adama Barrow of his words of commitment to the Commission.

He jogged the memory of the President that on 15th October, 2018 when the TRRC was launched and having sworn-in the eleven Commissioners, he (Barrow) stated: “Gambians had for far too long suffered under a repressive regime; a regime that failed its social contract with the citizens and, in doing so, oppressed the very people it swore to serve and protect.”

Suring his submission of the TRRC final report to President Barrow at State House in Banjul on Thursday, November 25, 2021, Sise recollected that the President had said the TRRC was born out of the aspirations of a people who decided that they want a society where truth and justice prevail.

In Barrow’s own words according to Dr Sise: “This Commission is the outcome of the dreams of a people united in their wish for a better future: a future free of oppression, persecution and tyranny.” He said pursuant to Section 29 of the TRRC Act, 2017, The Commission required to “submit a report of its work to the President at the end of its operations.”

He informed President Barrow that the report that the Commission submitted to him is contained in seventeen volumes of thematic reports.

According to the TRRC chairman, the violations and abuses of human rights narrated by the witnesses include, inter alia, the following: Arbitrary arrests, Unlawful detention, Unlawful killings (including extra-judicial executions), Torture, Enforced disappearances, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence, including rape and castration, Inhuman and degrading treatment, Witch hunting, Fake HIV/AIDS treatment and General and widespread abuse of public office.”

He said Barrow swore them in as Commissioners of the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparation Commission (TRRC).

“We answered your call to serve our country, The Gambia, on an important assignment regarding a dark and difficult period in the recent history of our motherland,” he noted.

He said Barrow gave them each a copy of the TRRC Act, 2017, pursuant to which the TRRC was established with a well-defined mandate to, inter alia, create an impartial historical record of violations and abuses of human rights from July 1994 to January 2017.

Sise said the Commission is meant to promote healing and reconciliation, respond to the needs of the victims, address impunity, and prevent a repeat of the violations and abuses suffered by making recommendations for the establishment of appropriate preventive mechanisms, including institutional and legal reforms.