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- Yahya Jammeh shall be prosecuted for homicide, rape, torture and different alleged crimes dedicated underneath his rule.
- He is without doubt one of the 70 alleged perpetrators named within the Reality, Reconciliation and Reparations Fee’s twice-delayed report.
- Jammeh dominated Gambia between July 1994 to January 2017.
The Gambian authorities stated Wednesday it can prosecute former dictator Yahya Jammeh for homicide, rape, torture and different alleged crimes dedicated underneath his greater than 20-year rule.
The Ministry of Justice stated it accepted all however two of the 265 suggestions made by a fee that probed alleged crimes dedicated by the state underneath the despotic former chief from July 1994 to January 2017.
Jammeh resides in exile in Equatorial Guinea, which has no extradition treaty with The Gambia.
The federal government stated it will prosecute all 70 alleged perpetrators named within the Reality, Reconciliation and Reparations Fee’s twice-delayed report, together with former vp Isatou Njie-Saidy and members of the so-called “Junglers” hit squad.
“For 22 years, Yahya Jammeh dominated The Gambia with an iron fist,” the federal government wrote in a white paper, including:
Throughout his regime, extrajudicial killings, rape, torture, enforced disappearances, and quite a few grievous human rights violations grew to become half and parcel of his navy Junta.
Abdoulie Fatty, a former native authorized marketing consultant for the fee, known as the federal government’s choice “unprecedented”.
“This degree of acceptance of suggestions by authorities is extraordinary,” he stated.
“The truth that there may be sturdy emphasis for the prosecution of Jammeh and those that bear the best accountability sends a robust message that authorities is severe about pursuing him and making certain that he is held accountable for his crimes.”
The federal government stated it was growing a “prosecution technique” and would arrange a particular courtroom situated inside The Gambia, with “the choice of holding sittings in different international locations”.
The reality fee had beneficial prosecuting Jammeh and his accomplices in an internationalised tribunal in one other West African nation.
“Impunity is a sort of incentive that we aren’t ready to serve perpetrators,” Justice Minister Dawda Jallow stated in a speech Wednesday.
“Their resolve to commit these atrocities can’t be stronger than our collective will as a society to carry them to account.”
– ‘Not a lot alternative’ –
The reality fee discovered that 240 to 250 folks, together with AFP journalist Deyda Hydara, had been killed by the state in the course of the eccentric ex-leader’s rule.
Rights activists accuse Jammeh, who turned 57 on Wednesday, of a litany of crimes, from utilizing loss of life squads to sponsoring witch hunts.
The previous president has additionally been accused of administering phony HIV “remedy” programmes and of the bloodbath of some 50 African migrants in 2005.
The fee beneficial prosecuting the previous president and 69 different alleged perpetrators. The federal government had till Wednesday to reply.
Jammeh was pressured into exile in early 2017 after his shock electoral defeat to present President Adama Barrow and a six-week disaster that led to navy intervention by different West African states.
Barrow, who was re-elected in December, final yr shaped a political alliance with Jammeh’s former social gathering and nominated two identified Jammeh supporters as speaker and deputy speaker of parliament.
“Barrow and his authorities know that the world is watching, [so] they didn’t have a lot alternative however to just accept the TRRC suggestions,” stated Nana-Jo N’dow, the founding father of an NGO that campaigns in opposition to enforced disappearances and abstract executions, whose personal father disappeared in 2013.
“The query now could be whether or not Barrow follows via on these suggestions, and swiftly.”
– ‘Essential and significant step ahead’ –
Michele Eken, a West Africa researcher with Amnesty Worldwide, stated she hoped the justice ministry may have sufficient sources to “do the job correctly”.
“The truth that the minister held a press convention and reassured victims and civil society is a optimistic step and we actually hope that the minister will keep its course,” she stated.
The federal government stated it will prosecute Jammeh for the rape of the sweetness queen Fatou Jallow, the homicide of journalist Hydara and the illegal disappearances of different victims.
For Fatoumatta Sandeng, spokeswoman for the Jammeh2Justice marketing campaign, Wednesday’s announcement is simply the following step in a protracted therapeutic course of.
Her personal father, Ebrima Solo Sandeng, a member of the opposition United Democratic Celebration, was tortured and killed by safety companies in 2016.
“Reality and reconciliation commissions have been launched in lots of international locations,” she stated, including that their suggestions are sometimes ignored.
“An important work proper now could be to ensure the suggestions are revered, applied, and you do not simply put it apart like different commissions.”
Reed Brody, a lawyer with the Worldwide Fee of Jurists who works with Jammeh’s victims, stated the federal government should comply with up with concrete actions.
“Legal guidelines nonetheless should be enacted, a courtroom must be established, instances should be ready, and Yahya Jammeh must be introduced into custody,” he stated.
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