The day-long forum sought to promote peace, justice and reconciliation, among the victims of human rights violations under the former regime and some of their perpetrators.
The ‘Badinbun’- which is a mandinka parlance, is one of the oldest means of settling disputes and seeking for truth and even reconciliation.
Welcoming participants on behalf of the village Alkalo, Mr. Sekuna Bajaha thanked Beakanyang for choosing their village to host such a historic and important event.
“We should forgive each other and open a new chapter and also learn from our past mistakes.” he said.
For his part, Nfamara Jawneh, executive director of Beakanyang said such programmes could be emotional for victims but are needed in fostering peace.
“This activity seeks to provide victims of human rights violations a community platform to share their stories and encourage perpetrators to accept the truth and seek for forgiveness from their victims.” he said.
Jawneh expressed optimism that the programme would provide an opportunity for survivors and victims in the district, who are yet to appear before the TRRC to also share their stories with the rest of the country.
He encouraged victims to speak up, while also advising perpetrators to make the best use of the opportunity to seek for forgiveness from their victims.
“As you all know this is an election year, I would therefore use this opportunity to urge you not to allow what happened among some of you in the past to happen again.” he warned.
Speaking earlier, Oustass Makeh Jagne, vice chairperson of ‘Badinbun’ explained that with this initiative, Beakanyang is promoting truth seeking, justice, reconciliation and peace in our communities.
Declaring the forum open on behalf of the head chief of Wuli East, Alhagie Juwara thanked Beakanyang for the laudable initiative.
“We need this kind of activities to truth telling, community healing and reconciliation and also facilitate the restoring of broken relations. Myself, I’m a victim of the former regime and I would share my story with you all when the session proper begins,” he assured.
Juwara thus called on participants to learn from their past, while respecting human rights to promote social cohesion and peace.
Board Chairperson of Beakanyang Mr. Yaya Sumareh also spoke at the ceremony.
