The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) approved on Sunday at a summit in Abuja the creation of a special court responsible for judging crimes committed in Gambia between 1994 and 2017 under the former dictator Yahya Jammeh, refugee in Equatorial Guinea since its fall, announced the Gambian government.
“The heads of state and government of ECOWAS, meeting on December 15 in Abuja, took the historic decision to establish a special court for the Gambia,” announced the Gambian Ministry of Justice in a press release sent on Sunday.
“This decision also allows the adoption of the statutes of the tribunal which will guarantee justice and the establishment of responsibilities for the serious human rights violations committed between July 1994 and January 2017” under Mr. Jammeh, indicates the ministry.
“This is a historic step which marks an important step for The Gambia, for the region and for the international community,” underlines the press release.
“After years of delay, this agreement (for a special court) could finally allow the victims of Yahya Jammeh to access justice,” Reed Brody, of the International Commission on Human Rights, said in a text sent to AFP on Sunday. lawyers, who worked with victims and Gambian authorities.
The Gambia faces the challenge of providing justice for the multitude of crimes committed during the twenty years (1994-2017) when Yahya Jammeh ruled this small West African country, landlocked in Senegal, with an iron fist. except for its maritime façade.
For now, the rare trials of crimes committed by the Jammeh regime have taken place far from The Gambia.
The Gambian government endorsed in 2022 the recommendations of a commission which looked into the atrocities perpetrated during the Jammeh era.
The authorities agreed to prosecute 70 people, starting with Mr. Jammeh, who went into exile in Equatorial Guinea in January 2017 after losing the December 2016 presidential election to current President Adama Barrow.
The Gambian government announced in February 2023 that it was working with the Organization of West African States to set up a tribunal responsible for judging crimes committed during the 22-year reign of the former leader.
