The respite was short-lived for the Senegalese government which had fallen into disgrace. Nearly three months after his scathing defeat in the presidential election, he is threatened with being returned to the dock by the new authorities. Expected on the fight against impunity, marker of its ” project “ politically, the executive led by the duo Bassirou Diomaye Faye – Ousmane Sonko suggests its desire to settle scores with those who governed Senegal for twelve years.
Sunday June 9, at the Grand Théâtre de Dakar, Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko sounded the charge. After castigating part of the media accused of “not paying their tax debt” and magistrates supposedly “corrupted”he attacked Macky Sall’s camp on the issue of repressing pre-electoral unrest.
Read also | In Senegal, Ousmane Sonko struggles to shed his opponent’s clothes
Add to your selections
The violence left around sixty people dead between March 2021 and June 2024 and the responsibility falls, according to the new power, to the former president and his security apparatus. More precisely the former Minister of the Interior, Félix-Antoine Diome, or the high commander of the gendarmerie, General Moussa Fall, disembarked on April 24.
“ Recruiting thugs, giving them weapons and leaving them out in the wild to beat and kill protesters, do you think we will forgive that? No, we will not forgive this! (…) At no time did we say that we would forgive such acts,” promised the new head of government in front of an audience of “young patriots » won over to his cause.
Repeal the amnesty law?
The warning woke the fallen party from its torpor. “He needs to stop threatening people.” reacted Abdou Mbow, president of the Benno Bokk Yakaar (BBY) parliamentary group, inviting Mr. Sonko “ to get to work, he who wears a suit that doesn’t suit him “.
The threats of prosecution launched by the Senegalese Prime Minister are all the more criticized as they seem to call into question the amnesty law, passed at the initiative of Macky Sall, ten days before the presidential election on March 24.
Read also | In Senegal, Bassirou Diomaye Faye imposes a new presidential style
Add to your selections
In the name of the “reconciliation and forgiveness”, the text resulted in the release of hundreds of people arrested in the context of political unrest, first and foremost those of Bassirou Diomaye Faye and Ousmane Sonko. At the same time, it buried any possibility of prosecution against the defense and security forces. An implicit peace agreement.
If his party was the first political beneficiary, “we did not vote for this amnesty law, underlines today Mamadou Vieux Aïdara, a Pastef executive. However, Ousmane Sonko has not said that he will repeal it. He believes that those who committed crimes during this period, whether in our camp or opposite, must pay. And only judges can decide to set up special mechanisms for prosecutions “.
A highly political issue
The issue is highly political for the new authorities who have made the fight against impunity a campaign argument. They are facing pressure from a section of public opinion disconcerted by the amnesty and still demanding justice.
A collective of victims’ families recently demanded the issuance of an international arrest warrant against Macky Sall, now established in Morocco and special envoy and president of the monitoring committee of the Paris Pact for the Planet and People (4P) . To date, a petition in this direction has gathered 12,836 signatures. Furthermore, several civil society associations are calling for the opening of investigations, promised under Macky Sall.
Read also | In Senegal, the appointments of the new power lead to the start of rebellion within Pastef
Add to your selections
“ If the authorities succeed in having the amnesty law repealed, this would be a step forward in the fight against impunity, hopes Alassane Seck, president of the Senegalese Human Rights League. Crimes as atrocious as those committed must be brought to justice. And Senegal has all the skills to do it through its criminal chambers, as it did for the former Chadian dictator Hissène Habré. »
Follow us on WhatsApp
Stay informed
Receive the essential African news on WhatsApp with the “Monde Afrique” channel
Join
For a year, the former head of state and around a hundred executives of the former power have been the subject of a tenacious campaign accusing them of “crimes against humanity”. In June 2023, Franco-Spanish lawyer Juan Branco, counsel for Ousmane Sonko, took advantage of an official visit by Macky Sall to Paris to announce a report to the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the filing of a complaint before French justice.
“Bluster”
He claimed to have gathered 4,500 elements proving these “crimes” committed in Senegal since March 2021. One year later, the Hague court recognizes having received ” informations “ of Mr. Branco but refuses, in the name of confidentiality, to comment on the follow-up given to his approach.
“There is little chance that an investigation will be opened, estimates an expert familiar with the mysteries of the ICC. The prosecutor receives hundreds of such reports each year. In Africa, due to lack of resources, its priorities are the crises in Libya and Sudan, not the repression of demonstrations in a democracy, even in difficulty. Furthermore, the ICC only judges individuals if their country of origin is unable to do so. »
Read also | Article reserved for our subscribers In Senegal, power changes hands but arrests for “offense” against leaders continue
Add to your selections
In France, the complaint filed with the Crimes against Humanity unit of the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office (PNAT) has so far not been successful, according to our information. “ The dean of the investigating judges, in accordance with the requisitions of the PNAT, noted in February 2024 his incompetence on the grounds that the facts denounced in the complaint did not fall within the classification of crimes against humanity “, declared to World a judicial source from the PNAT which specifies that an appeal was made against this decision. For the moment, the investigating chamber of the Paris Court of Appeal has not yet ruled.
There remains the option of a trial in Senegal. Thursday June 6, during a press conference in Dakar, Juan Branco castigated the capacity of the ICC, “under the influence” he believes, to pursue the executives of the old regime. He invited the Senegalese to take justice into their own hands through the creation of a “Special Court”.
Read also | In Senegal, a law to protect whistleblowers is in preparation
Add to your selections
“It will take courage because it involves adopting legal and perhaps institutional provisions which are at odds with what politicians are used to, namely negotiating, compromising and protecting themselves”, he continued after regretting that Macky Sall had “ was able to leave the country by private jet and still enjoys his impunity”.
The former Senegalese president, who always described “bragging” the accusations against him, continues his international career. On June 8, Mr. Sall, as part of his new functions within the 4P, was invited to the Elysée for a state dinner organized in honor of American President Joe Biden, on the occasion of the celebrations of 80 years of the Landing.
