The United Nations Working Group on Enforced Disappearances supports prosecution of crimes committed during the presidency of Yahya Jammeh and a new international inquiry into the 2005 massacre of more than 50Β West African migrants. The UN recommendations to duly investigate and prosecute without delay all cases of enforced disappearances is a positive sign, said 17Β groups that have been campaigning for justice in The Gambia.
βThe process must go beyond truth telling and perpetrators must be brought to justice,βΒ the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID) said in its report.Β The follow-up report presented during the recently-concluded session of the Human Rights CouncilΒ is an important sign of support from the international community for accountability in The Gambia. The report underlines the importance of the work of the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC), as well as the need to prosecute those responsible for the crimes committed under Jammeh.
The WGEID statement follows a declaration by the prosecutor of the InternationalΒ Β Criminal Court prosecutorΒ KarimΒ Khan has also said thatΒ βjustice must happenβ for Jammeh-era crimes.
βFrom theΒ International Criminal CourtΒ to the United Nations, the world is speaking with one voice: there must β and there will β be justice for the crimes committed during Yahya Jammehβs government,βΒ said Fatoumatta Sandeng, spokesperson for theΒ #Jammeh2JusticeΒ campaign, and daughter of the opposition leader Solo Sandeng, who wasΒ killed in custodyΒ in 2016.Β βAmnesty and impunity are simply not options.β
Β These recommendations are made public at a crucial moment, when the TRRC’s final report is expected to be issued after several delays, and the political situation in The Gambia has raised concerns that the Commission’s calls for justice could be swept under the rug.
In its report, the UN body saluted the work of the TRRC in its two years of public sessions and stressed the importance of continuing The Gambia’s efforts to ensure access to justice and reparations for victims of the Jammeh administration. In particular, it makes concrete recommendations for next steps, such as the conduct of criminal investigations into the grave human rights violations, notably enforced disappearances, that were uncovered during the TRRC sessions, and the establishment of specialized hybrid courts to try those alleged responsible for these violations.
The WGEID specifically looks at theΒ 2005 massacreΒ of more than 50 West African migrants. βGiven the confirmation of the involvement of the Gambian state in the killings and enforced disappearances of West African Migrants in July 2005Β Β» at the TRRC hearings, the Β WGEID supports the call βfor the establishment of an international investigative team on the matterΒ “
Β “We welcome the UNβs call for the establishment of an international investigative team on the disappeared migrants,”Β saidΒ Emeline Escafit, legal advisor for TRIAL International. A coalition of 11 human rights organizationsΒ had called for such a new investigation in July 2020.
By issuing this report, the WGEID has sent a strong signal that the international community is concerned about accountability for serious crimes in The Gambia and that it will help ensure that the work done by the TRRC is not forgotten and translates into access to justice and reparation for victims of past abuses.
