Gambian
Justice Minister Abubacarr Tambadou’s actions brought Aung San Suu Kyi to The
Hague to deny that her country’s military was committing a genocide. As the
UN’s highest court orders measures to prevent further mass killings, Anna
Holligan takes a look at the man taking on the Nobel laureate.
It
was an unexpected detour that led Abubacarr Tambadou from his home in the tiny
West African country of The Gambia to experience an epiphany on the edge of a
refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar.
Listening
to survivors’ stories he said the “stench of genocide” began drifting across
the border into Bangladesh from Myanmar.
“I
realised how much more serious it was than the flashes we’d seen on television
screens,” he told the BBC.
“Military
and civilians would organise systematic attacks against Rohingya, burn down
houses, snatch babies from their mothers’ arms and throw them alive into
burning fires, round up and execute men; girls were gang-raped and put through
all types of sexual violence.”
The
Rohingya are a Muslim minority in mainly Buddhist Myanmar.
‘Just
like Rwanda’
These
chilling scenes reminded Mr Tambadou of events in Rwanda during the 1994
genocide that claimed the lives of about 800,000 people.
“It
sounded very much like the kind of acts that were perpetrated against the Tutsi
in Rwanda.
“It
was the same modus operandi - the process of dehumanisation, calling them names
- it bore all the hallmarks of genocide.
“I
concluded in my own mind, it was an attempt by Myanmar authorities to
completely destroy the Rohingya ethnic group.”
Myanmar has denied committing a genocide and
this week released an “executive summary” of a government investigation which
characterizes the mass killings as a “haphazard” response by the military to
attacks by Muslim militants.
Released
a few days before the ICJ ruling, it appears to be an attempt to clear the
authorities of any “intent”, which is central to defining the crime of
genocide.
In
court, Aung San Suu Kyi argued that this domestic investigation negates the
need for any international intervention.
For
Mr Tambadou, doing nothing was never an option.
“This
is about our humanity after all,” his voice rose as he spoke.
“On
a personal level I’m disgusted by what I have heard and seen. Professionally I
thought Myanmar should be held responsible for these actions [and] a way to do
that was to bring a case to the International Court of Justice.”
After
the ICJ sided with him and ordered measure to prevent the genocide, he told the
BBC’s Focus on Africa programme that he was “very, very pleased”.
“I
think this represents a triumph of international law and international justice.
And it is the international community - as represented by the ICJ - saying in
the strongest of terms that genocide will not be accepted under any
circumstances by any perpetrators.”
For
this former prosecutor at the UN’s Rwanda tribunal to have found himself
himself in a displacement camp in Bangladesh pondering what to do was not a
coincidence but a matter of “divine destiny”.
Myanmar
stands accused of violating the genocide convention. Any one of the 149
countries which have signed the treaty could have instigated the case but it
was The Gambia, under the direction of Mr Tambadou, that took the initiative,
backed by the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation, a group of 57 mainly Muslim
countries.
Find
out more about what happened in Myanmar:
The
Gambia asked the ICJ to make an emergency ruling on its request for provisional
measures which are designed to prevent any further acts of violence or
destruction and preserve any evidence of genocidal acts against the Rohingya
Muslim population.
‘Fearless’
Simon
Adams, head of the humans rights organisation Global Centre for the
Responsibility to Protect, said there was only one man with the courage, skills
and humanity to try to hold Myanmar accountable for the alleged atrocities.
“Some
were afraid of retaliation from the Chinese,” he said.
“Others
said it wasn’t a good time, was too politically risky. [But] I was impressed by
his fearlessness. He realised what would be coming pressure-wise but he was
developing a strategy to deal with it.”
This
agility was developed during Mr Tambadou’s early years.
Born
in 1972, he grew up in The Gambia’s capital, Banjul, as one of the middle
children among 18 siblings.
It
was a traditional polygamous Muslim family and his father had three wives.
As
a young man he excelled in sport, winning caps for his country in football. “I
was not a bad player,” he modestly conceded.
Close
friends persecuted
The
47-year-old described his childhood as “lucky”. His middle-class family could
pay for both a private secondary school education at home, as well as a British
university degree.
Afraid
of disappointing his father, he abandoned his sporting aspirations and chose a
more academic path.
“I’d
never intended to study law. But... the first university place I got offered
was to do a law degree [at Warwick University] and so I had a career
deviation.”
After
graduating, he returned home and initially worked as a public prosecutor.
Increasingly
conscious of the political situation in The Gambia, he and his friends began to
speak out against human rights violations.
In
April 2000, President Yahya Jammeh’s notorious security forces opened fire on
crowds of peaceful protesters, killing 14 students, a journalist and Red Cross
volunteer.
Jammeh was in power for 22 years before being
forced into exile
Mr
Tambadou watched his close friends prosecuted and persecuted but it was
pressure from his family, concerned about the consequences of his opposition to
the Jammeh regime that finally convinced him to pursue opportunities outside
his homeland.
And
so began his career in international justice.
His
self-imposed exile took him to the UN court set up to try the ringleaders of
the Rwanda genocide, where he was responsible for the prosecution of former
Rwandan army chief of staff Maj-Gen Augustin Bizimungu.
He
believed what he was doing “was not just prosecuting the Rwandan genocidaires,”
he said.
“This
was a way for us Africans to send a message to our leaders... I saw it as more
of an African struggle for justice and accountability than a Rwandan one.”
‘An
example for small states’
After
Jammeh’s fall at the beginning of 2017, Mr Tambadou returned to The Gambia to
serve in the cabinet of President Adama Barrow - The Gambia’s first new leader
for 23 years.
And
it was in his capacity as justice minister that he travelled to New York with
the country’s foreign minister, Ousainou Darboe. When Mr Darboe was then unable
to go on a planned trip to Bangladesh, he asked Mr Tambadou to go on his
behalf.
He
scanned his diary and responded: “Why not?”
“You
may call it a coincidence” he laughs.
But
Mr Tambadou’s next assignment could be closer to home.
Protests
erupted in The Gambian capital of Banjul last week, with supporters of former
President Jammeh calling for him to return home from exile in Equatorial
Guinea.
In
a leaked recording the exiled former leader could be heard saying he supported
the demonstrations.
The
justice minister believes it is unlikely that he will come back but if he does
he says that Jammeh will be arrested.
“Nothing
would please me more than to see former President Jammeh face up to his crimes
he has committed against ordinary Gambians.
“I’ve
luckily never had anything to do with him. I opposed and despised his brutal
and savage methods since the day he took power.”
The
authorities have now started seriously discussing the most viable place to
bring criminal charges against Mr Jammeh.
All
options are currently on the table - a national trial, regional tribunal or
international court case.
Mr
Tambadou thinks this is the time for The Gambia to reclaim its position on the
world stage. In terms of human rights he holds a bold ambition: “We want to
lead by example.”
“The
case at ICJ is Gambia showing the world you don’t have to have military power
or economic power to denounce oppressions. Legal obligation and moral
responsibility exist for all states, big or small.” Source: BBC
