In February 2023, The Gambian authorities reached a consensus after a long debate over the modalities for the prosecution of crimes established by the Gambia’s Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC), as the Chief Justice of The Gambia, the President and his Minister for Justice have all agreed to accountability mechanism of a hybrid court to prosecute human rights violations committed under the 22-year rule of Yahya Jammeh. This was announced at the Legal Year celebrations in Banjul.
The decision also received an ECOWAS backing after the bloc’s parliamentarians raised concerns over the role of ECOWAS in this accountability process. However, in a mid-December Heads of State Summit, the ECOWAS bloc approved the establishment of a special hybrid court for the prosecution of Jammeh-era crimes committed in The Gambia between July 1994 and January 2017.
“It is a historic step towards accountability and bringing justice to victims thereby ensuring that the crimes of the past do not go unpunished,” Bernard Duhaime said today in a statement released in Geneva.
The expert also lamented as slow, the implementation process of the recommendations emanating from the TRRC:
“After two decades of authoritarian rule, some transitional justice measures were taken but progress in implementing the recommendations of the national truth commission has been slow, and concerns about the persistent climate of impunity have been raised,” the expert said.
