Gambia: Commission Wants Jammeh Prosecuted

Gambia’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission has said in a report published that former President, Yahya Jammeh was responsible for a spree of killings, torture and rapes during his 22-year rule. The long-awaited report released late on Friday, December 24, 2021 recommends that a special international court be set up outside of The Gambia to try Jammeh and others. The Independent Truth, Reconciliation and Reconciliation Commission (TRRC) was set up when Jammeh left Gambia for exile in Equatorial Guinea after refusing to accept defeat in a 2016 election.

The commission’s report, which follows a sweeping three-year inquiry into the abuses of the Jammeh era based on testimony from hundreds of witnesses, was given to President Adama Barrow earlier this month but was made public only Friday. The commission recommended that those responsible for the abuses be prosecuted. Neither Jammeh nor his spokesman could be reached for comment. The commission said that Jammeh, who came to power in a 1994 coup, and his henchmen, including a personal hit squad known as the Junglas, were responsible for 44 specific crimes against journalists, ex-soldiers, political oppo...