The father of Fatoumatta Sandeng left home one day in 2016 never to return. His daughter is among those impatiently awaiting Wednesday May 25 to find out if The Gambia will hold the former dictator to account. Yahya Jammeh.
The government of The Gambia will say if it approves of the prosecution of the man who ruled this small West African country with an iron fist from 1994 to 2017.
The commission which investigated for more than two years reported on the extent of the misdeeds perpetrated at that time: assassinations, acts of torture, enforced disappearances, rapes and castrations, arbitrary arrests, witch hunts, up to the administration coercion of bogus treatment for AIDS.
The father of Fatoumatta Sandeng came out to take part in a demonstration during the 2016 presidential campaign. “He said to me: whatever happens to me, take care of the family”. She was 22 years old. “That was the last time we spoke to each other.” Ebrima Solo Sandeng, member of the opposition, was arrested and tortured in detention. He died two days later. The commission, which heard 393 damning or shocking testimonies from victims and presumed culprits, counted between 240 and 250 people who died at the hands of the state and its agents under Mr. Jammeh. “I expect those responsible for these crimes to be prosecuted, including Jammeh himself,” said Fatoumatta Sandengspokesperson for a coalition of victims’ associations. Yahya Jammeh, who turns 57 on Wednesday, lives in Equatorial Guinea. At the end of 2016, a relative unknown, Adama Barrow, defeated him for the presidency. Mr. Jammeh refused to concede defeat, but was forced into exile under the pressure of a West African military intervention. Adama Barrow today still presides over the affairs of a fragile democracy in transition. Victims worry that political convenience will take precedence over justice.
Mr. Jammeh continues to influence political life. Mr. Barrow was re-elected in December 2021 after an agreement between his party and that of Mr. Jammeh. Mr Barrow in April chose two former allies of Mr Jammeh as speaker and co-speaker of the newly elected parliament. One of the most senior officials implicated by the commission, Ousman Sowe, now heads Gambian Intelligence. Many alleged members of units in charge of physical eliminations, called “bushmen”, live freely in The Gambia. The trial of one of these presumed “bushers” has just opened in Germany. Bai Lowe, a refugee in Germany since 2012 and arrested in 2021, is tried under the principle of universal jurisdiction for crimes against humanity, murders and attempted murders between 2003 and 2006, including the assassination of AFP correspondent Deyda Hydara. No one has yet been tried in The Gambia for the political crimes of the Jammeh era. Even if the government paves the way for a trial against Mr. Jammeh, Equatorial Guinea does not have an extradition agreement with The Gambia. Elsewhere in West Africa, in Liberia or Sierra Leone for example, theaters of bloody civil wars, the path of justice for the crimes of the past is difficult. The Gambia commission has recommended that Mr. Jammeh and his alleged accomplices be tried by an international tribunal in West Africa and outside the country. She mentioned Senegal, where another former autocrat, the Chadian, had been tried. Hissene HabreGhana or Sierra Leone. Since the submission of the commission’s report in November 2021, President Barrow has given no indication of his intentions. Victims and human rights advocates have urged the government to prosecute the 70 people named by the commission. They insist that victims be involved in the process and that women subjected to violence, sexual or otherwise, be included in the compensation. This violence, they say, was little taken into account in the work of the commission, because of the reluctance of victims to testify or the prerogative traditionally devolved to men to speak for the household.
With AFP