Truth commission updates public about 2019 activities

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By AMADOU MANJANG

The Truth Reconciliation and Reparation Commission (TRRC) on Friday updated the public about its work and activities since it started hearing on January 7, 2019.

The update was done in the form of a press briefing at Commission’s headquarters in Kololi.

The Executive Secretary, Dr. Baba Galleh Jallow during the briefing, highlighted success they registered in the past 12 months and challenges.

The truth commission is mandated to investigate the gross human right violation between the periods of July 1994 to December 2016 during Jammeh’s 22 years of dictatorship.

The commission started its hearing on January 7, 2019 after the swearing in of 11 commissioners in October last year and the appointment of the executive secretary Dr. Baba Galleh Jallow in February 2018.

The commission has conducted its10th three-week session of public hearing since its inception focused on the former president Jammeh’s witch hunts in 2009.

According to Dr. Jallo, during the past session, the commission held public hearing and outreach activities on the 22rd July, 1994 coup, and its aftermaths, November 11, 1994 incident, the January 1995 arrest and detention of former AFPRC members Sanna Sabbally and Sadibou Hiadara, the June 1995 murder of former finance minister Ousman Koro Ceesay, the 1996 incident between the Supporters of UDP and the security forces at Denton Bridge, crack down on medias and violation of human rights against journalists, the extra judiciary killing by Junglers, cases of sexual and gender base violence against women, April 2000 students demonstration and 2009 presidential witch hunt.

He disclosed that the excavation of the bodies of November 11, 1994 victims and the commission’s Diaspora tour were not captured in the update.

He said 1888 witnesses have had testified before the commission including 51 women, 35 perpetrators and adversely mentioned persons, 23 Gambian diaspora witnesses who testified via video link and one closed hearing and two protected witness.

Success
Baba said evidences that are coming out as witness testimonies indicate the widespread human right violation of arbitrary arrests, detentions, tortured, killings, sexual abuses among others and horrible prison conditions during the Jammeh regime.

He said the human right violations have defied comprehension in the country but the commission is determine to the “never again campaign” of preventing the reoccurrence of the past.

“TRRC units have conducted close to one hundred town hall meetings, village dialogues, women’s and men’s listening circles, and school visits across the country,” he added.

He asserted that this was to address the causes and enabler of dictatorship, adding that the commission is a Janus-face commission to empower the citizenry to hold the government responsible by saying no to dictatorship.

He stated that the commission as part of its reparation registered 50 victims at the medical board for any medical treatment.

“The victim support units have registered 941 victims of various kinds of human right violations,” he said.

He said more victims will benefits from both local and overseas medical treatment as part of the commission’s reparation.

He added that earlier this week they sent three victims of April 2000 student demonstration to Turkey for medical treatment. The victims are Yuspha Mbye, Nogoi Njie, Oumie Jagne and Abdou Karim Jammeh.

He noted that the hearings and outreach activities of the commission have given the Gambians the opportunity to see what was wrong in the past and to make sure it never happens again.

Challenges
Dr. Jallow said the truth commission faces the challenges to convince witnesses to testify, especially female victims as they fear retaliation and stigma and family or ethnic pressures that kept them from testifying.

He added that they are dealing with the task to protect female victims that have had testified and are shamed and threaten which is also discouraging other female victims to share their stories.

“There are segments of the society that are still reluctant to participate in the TRRC process for any number of reasons, but the commission will continue to engage all Gambians,” he said.

Themes for the next session
The commission reveals that next hearings will be on the former president’s fake alternative treatment program of HIV and AIDS, enforced disappearance, the case of the 44 Ghanaians and other West African migrants that were killed in the Gambia in July 2005, April 2016 incident that result to the death of Solo Sandeng.

“The commission will also hold institutional hearing on the National Intelligent Agency (NIA) now State Intelligent Service (SIS), the Judiciary, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), the prison. Other cases of human rights violations, including some past themes will continue to be investigated and witnesses are necessary,” the TRRC Executive Secretary said.

Dr. Jallow said the 11^th session and the first for 2020hearing is scheduled to begin on Monday, January 20, 2019.

Support
Whilst the Gambia government has contributed D50 million to the TRRC reparation, Jallow said this is far from been enough to cover their reparation for hundreds of victims.

“We are hopeful that the government will fulfill its promise to make further contribution to the TRRC reparation fund in 2020,” he said.

He called on individual Gambian, civic society organizations, and the international community to support the commission and complement the government’s efforts.

However, the commission is supported by the Gambian government, United Nation Peace building Support Office, UNDP, Gambia office, PBSO and the UNDP transitional justice project in the Gambia.