Country Context
THE GAMBIA
The Gambia emerged from more than two decades of dictatorship in December 2016 when authoritarian ruler Yahya Jammeh was unexpectedly defeated at the ballot box by property developer Adama Barrow. Jammeh had seized power in a coup in 1994, after which he banned opposition political parties and installed a government of military officers. Jammeh’s 22-year rule was characterized by massive human rights violations and draconian methods to entrench himself in power, including amending the constitution more than 50 times.[i] He became known for reveling in his regime’s brutality, threatening to bury his political opponents “nine feet deep” and to rule for “a billion years.”[ii] Countless journalists, lawyers, political opponents and civilians suffered arbitrary arrests and detentions, enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings and torture. Jammeh also fostered a culture of impunity through such actions as withdrawing The Gambia from the ICC.[iii]
Barrow’s 2016 victory was the result of years of grassroots organizing and an agreement by seven political parties to unite behind Barrow as a unity candidate.[i] Women were instrumental in building support for change, particularly in rural areas where they protested by carrying calabashes to signify that power should be shared.[ii] Jammeh initially said he would accept the outcome of the elections but then reversed his position a few days later after senior members of Barrow’s coalition said they would prosecute Jammeh for his actions while in office and try to recover stolen public assets.[iii]
Jammeh’s about-face triggered mass street protests united under the slogan “Gambia has decided.” ECOWAS said it would intervene militarily to ensure the transfer of power, a threat supported by the African Union (AU) and the UN Security Council as well as regional powers Nigeria and Senegal.[iv] After several weeks of resistance, during which it became apparent that the military would not back him, Jammeh eventually gave in and fled to Equatorial Guinea[v] in late January 2017.
Immediately after Jammeh’s departure, victims and survivor communities began enlisting support for a transitional justice process. Parliament established a TRRC, mandated to create a historical record of the human rights violations committed during Jammeh’s rule.[vi] The government decided to postpone the promised criminal prosecutions until after the TRRC finished its work and made recommendations. Meanwhile, it initiated a constitutional review process and security sector reforms.[vii] It also created a Panel of Missing Persons under the auspices of the Ministry of Interior and a Commission of Inquiry into the Financial Activities of Public Bodies, Enterprises and Offices, also known as the “Janneh Commission.” The TRRC began work in January 2019.
Memory
The concept of memorialization is relatively new to public discussion about how to establish the truth in The Gambia, although it has been a critical request of victims and communities for some time. Memory has largely been de-prioritized in favor of efforts to achieve justice, particularly prosecutions and reparations. However, Gambians have expressed a desire for memorialization, which they see as represented through the TRRC’s slogan “Never Again.” Many believe a public commitment to memorialization will help prevent the recurrence of past atrocities. Victims also seek memorialization because the act of preserving their stories for future generations legitimizes their pain and suffering and that of their loved ones. Thus, memorialization addresses a missing piece by encouraging Gambians to contend with the past 22 years of human rights violations instead of just setting them aside.
State and International Initiatives
Memorialization has not been a priority of the Gambian government, although some initial steps have been taken, largely as a result of the TRRC. For instance, one of the TRRC’s main recommendations was to rename Arch 22, a monument originally built to commemorate Jammeh seizing power in the 1994 coup.[i] The government initially resisted this recommendation, but eventually agreed after Barrow was re-elected.[ii] In its TRRC white paper, the government directed the arch to be renamed the Never Again Memorial Arch and include a plaque with the names of the Jammeh regimes’ victims.[iii] In a follow-up statement, Minister of Justice Jallow also said the government would designate April 10–11 as days of memorial for victims of the April 2000 Student Demonstration massacre.[iv]
National Human Rights Commission
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has actively worked to bring the TRRC findings and recommendations to communities across The Gambia, partnering with many grassroots organizations in the process. The NHRC traveled to South African in June 2022 to study that country’s memorialization of apartheid. The informational visit helped the NHRC to establish a Stakeholder Monitoring Committee to monitor The Gambia’s successful implementation of the TRRC.[i] It also hosted a three-day conference in October 2022 on implementation of the TRRC’s recommendations, which included discussions about how to effectively partner with civil society and ensure victims’ perspectives are prioritized.[ii] Similarly, GIJTR facilitated a learning exchange in November 2022 that brought together 12 CSO representatives and three representatives from the NHRC. The learning exchange included engagement with South African CSOs and monitoring bodies working to support families of apartheid victims and research economic crimes. The overall aim of the learning exchange was to begin a conversation between CSOs and the NHRC on coordinating and monitoring the implementation of recommendations after the release of the TRRC’s report.
Unfinished Work of the TRRC
The TRRC overcame political and resource challenges to deliver a critical truth-telling service to Gambians. Many families of victims of forced disappearance first learned the truth after witnesses, including perpetrators, testified at the TRRC. For other victims, the TRRC represented their first chance to openly share their experiences with the world.
However, the TRRC had notable shortcomings. Its process elided important perspectives, particularly those of women. Alagie Barrow, director of research at the TRRC, expressed regret over the lack of gender mainstreaming during the hearings.[i] Only about 20 percent of people who testified before the TRRC were female and only four of the 11 TRRC commissioners were women.[ii] The TRRC had a Gender Unit composed entirely of women, but there were no women in the Communication and Outreach Unit, which made it difficult to keep female Gambians engaged and informed about the TRRC’s work unless they were already directly involved.[iii] The highly sensationalized nature of the hearings, coupled with a dearth of protection measures, also made survivors reluctant to testify for fear of stigma or retaliation. Baba Galleh Jallow, executive secretary of the TRRC, said they had significant difficulty reaching victims of SGBV and the witch hunts for this reason.[iv] As a result, some women lost faith that the TRRC would lead to meaningful reparations or any other forms of justice.[v]
Community and Civil Society Initiatives
Civil society has been at the forefront of memory work in The Gambia. For instance, the African Network against Extrajudicial Killings and Enforced Disappearances (ANEKED) Memory House is a memorial center that houses a permanent exhibition titled “The Duty to Remember.” Memory House, which receives support from GIJTR, collects stories and objects related to victims of Jammeh’s regime as part of society’s collective right to justice and truth-seeking. These stories include efforts to combat negative perceptions of victims and survivors as they are traditionally portrayed in the media. “The Duty to Remember” is also hosted virtually and a temporary version of the exhibit has been shared in the Senegal, Switzerland, United States and rural Gambian communities as a traveling memorialization project. Memory House also hosts temporary exhibitions created by other grassroots organizations and individuals engaged in The Gambia’s transitional justice process.
Civil society and community groups have been instrumental in ensuring that women’s perspectives on the period of Jammeh’s rule are not ignored. Despite the important contributions women made to resisting Jammeh and organizing to push him out of power, the early phases of the formal truth, memory and justice process have not contained adequate women’s representation or sufficient consideration of issues related specifically to their experiences. Organizations such as ANEKED, Women’s Association for Victims’ Empowerment (WAVE) and Women in Liberation and Leadership (WILL) have worked to ensure that the contributions of women are remembered and that violations committed against women are considered by truth-telling and accountability mechanisms.
Justice
The question of justice has been a complicated one in The Gambia, primarily because of differing perspectives on what type of justice should be prioritized. Victims of Jammeh’s regime have been pushing for criminal prosecutions for Jammeh and other government and military officials since he left power. At the same time, victims, survivor communities, civil society and the government agree there is a great need for reparations.
State-Led Accountability and Justice Mechanisms
Gambians have clearly expressed their expectation that perpetrators of human rights violations under Jammeh’s 22-year rule will be prosecuted for their crimes. They have also made clear that they want the other TRRC recommendations, including reparations, to be implemented. However, many questions about how accountability or reparations mechanisms will be implemented remain unanswered.
Prosecutions
Determining the appropriate approach for prosecutions is itself a challenge. Barrow’s government delayed the question until after the TRRC released its recommendations, then delayed further after the TRRC recommended that Jammeh and 69 other people be prosecuted. The TRRC proposed that Jammeh and the others it recommended for prosecution be tried abroad because it did not believe The Gambia had the resources to operate a domestic war crimes tribunal.[i] The Gambian Bar Association has advocated for a hybrid court in partnership with ECOWAS, an approach the ICC has also endorsed.[ii]
Beyond the procedural question of where alleged perpetrators will be prosecuted, there is also a question of whether the appropriate laws are in place. The government introduced several draft bills necessary for this process in 2020, including the Prevention and Prohibition of Torture Bill and the International Crimes Bill, but their adoption was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[iii] These bills were still pending before the National Assembly in late 2022. Additionally, the Ministry of Justice adopted a prosecution strategy in late 2022 but has yet to set up a special prosecution office.[iv]
The delay in starting prosecutions has raised doubts among Gambians about whether the government will keep its promises, particularly as notorious alleged perpetrators remain free. For instance, six members of the notorious paramilitary hit squad the “Junglers” were arrested in 2019. They testified in detail to the TRRC about their role in extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances, after which the Gambian public was surprised to hear that three of the Junglers had been released from custody. Then-minister of Justice Abubacarr Tambedou said he could not continue to detain them without charges, but said their release was only temporary. Their release may have encouraged other alleged perpetrators who fled The Gambia after 2017 to believe they can safely return. CSO ANEKED reported that nine former Junglers had re-entered The Gambia as of July 2022.[v]
A few prosecutions have moved forward. For instance, in July 2022, five former members of the National Intelligence Agency were convicted and sentenced to death[1] for the murder of Solo Sandeng, a prominent leader of the opposition United Democratic Party who was arrested during anti-government protests in April 2016 and died in custody days later.[vi] However, even this prosecution was not without controversy. Fatoumatta Sandeng-Darboe, Sandeng’s daughter, has said that the TRRC “did not want to touch” her father’s case because of the ongoing trial.[vii] She said had to “push” to testify about her family’s experiences. Without clear procedures, The Gambia risks putting truth-seeking and accountability measures in competition with each other.
Reparations
Reparations are the other major focus of The Gambia’s justice initiatives, although they also risk unnecessary competition with other justice mechanisms. In its final report, the TRRC urged the government to pay a total outstanding amount of 201 million dalasi ($3.4 million) to the victims of the regime.[viii] It determined that more than 1,000 of the victims who testified qualified for reparations. The TRRC itself awarded some reparations to victims in July 2021 in the form of health care, housing, education support and psychosocial services, but these were in response to urgent needs and not as part of a full reparations program.[ix]
In the same June 2022 meeting where he expressed that there was no budget to implement the TRRC’s recommendations, Minister of Justice Jallow told Parliament the government had budgeted 150 million dalasi ($2.5 million) in 2020 for reparations.[x] The budgeted amount does not begin to cover the full cost of a reparations program. Jallow claimed the Ministry could not anticipate what resources the recommendations of the TRRC would require because the TRRC was an independent commission.[xi] These funds have not yet been disbursed to victims because the government has announced it will wait until it has completed a Victims’ Compensation Bill, which is scheduled for some time in 2023.[xii]
International Accountability and Justice Mechanisms
In April 2022, Germany began prosecution of an alleged member of the “Junglers” for murder and attempted murder of a lawyer, a journalist and one of Jammeh’s perceived political enemies.[xiii] The defendant, Bai L., is among those recommended by the TRRC for prosecution, not only for the incidents for which he has been charged but also for his possible involvement in the 2005 murder of 59 West African migrants.[xiv] Two other Gambians have been detained: Ousman Sonko in Switzerland in 2017 and Michael Sang Correa in the United States in 2020.[xv] All three were arrested, and the German case is being tried under the principle of universal jurisdiction.
Community and Civil Society Contributions to Justice
Civil society has been at the forefront of justice advocacy since Jammeh lost power in January 2017, reflecting a wide range of perspectives on justice. ANEKED pursues strategic litigation in the ECOWAS court of justice to promote human rights. The Gambian Center for Victims of Human Rights Violations holds regular programs to register victims for reparations and raise awareness of human rights violations. Fantanka educates people on issues of SGBV and provides psychosocial support to victims.[xvi] WILL fosters community-led truth-telling with a focus on gender justice.[xvii] The Solo Sandeng Foundation works against recurrence by focusing on security sector reforms.[xviii]
In addition to advocacy based in The Gambia, CSOs are working to build support for justice in the diaspora. The #Jammeh2Justice coalition is building pressure for local prosecutions by supporting accountability efforts abroad. Local groups involved in the #Jammeh2Justice coalition reached out to victims in Ghana, Nigeria and Senegal to build international pressure for local prosecutions.
Civil society justice work is not limited to advocacy; non-governmental groups have worked closely with government entities such as the NHRC to implement the transitional justice agenda. They are also contributing to implementation of the TRRC recommendations and broader reconciliation objectives. For instance, WAVE facilitated three days of discussions in 2022 between the TRRC and leaders of the Ndiggal Sect, whom Jammeh forcibly deported[2] from the Kerr Mott Ali area to Senegal as part of a religious persecution campaign.[xix] The purpose of these discussions was to facilitate the return of the Ndiggal Sect and the restoration of lands and properties that were taken from them.[xx]
Education
Gambians recognize that education is intimately linked to truth and memory. During Jammeh’s rule, teachers were afraid to freely discuss current events, especially in government and political science classes. University lecturers were arrested for teaching what was perceived to be critical of the government.[i] The climate of fear has since abated, but there is still a lack of comprehensive and unbiased educational materials about The Gambia’s recent history. For example, history textbooks still refer to Jammeh as the current president of The Gambia, and the country’s transitional justice process has yet to make it into the curriculum. Additionally, many core texts on Gambian history are narrated from a colonial perspective.
The government is attempting to improve both access to education and the quality of education students receive. The Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education has received the second-largest budget allocation of all ministries since 2019, and education was one of The Gambia’s top eight strategic priorities in the 2018–2022 National Development Plan. The education ministries and the NHRC are currently reviewing existing curricula on religious education to integrate lessons on religious tolerance and cohesion. In January 2022, the NHRC, the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education and the British High Commission in The Gambia began a dialogue to review junior and secondary school curricula and identify ways to include human rights education at various school levels. Transitional justice education is not limited to primary and secondary education; in November 2022, the University of The Gambia established a Centre for Transitional Justice and Sustainable Peace.[ii]
In the meantime, CSOs working in the transitional justice space are supplementing the formal education system with material on human rights, gender justice and media literacy. With GIJTR’s support, Fantanka developed a child-friendly version of the TRRC report that has to date been taught in 10 schools.[iii] ANEKED holds many educational programs at the Memory House center and brings temporary versions of its exhibits to schools.[iv] WAVE has conducted a pilot program to educate out-of-school youth about transitional justice. These programs teach students how to engage in dialogue about democracy building and human rights, as well as discern truth from disinformation. For example, WAVE’s transitional justice storytellers program teaches students how to evaluate and narrate historical accounts.
For civil society, government officials and teachers, the need for updated educational curricula is clear. The TRRC agreed, further recommending that students be involved in these discussions. Although these groups may be at odds on some issues of memory and justice, on education they concur: Gambian youth must be educated about the past to ensure that they do not repeat it.
GIJTR in Depth
In The Gambia, GIJTR has worked closely with CSOs to address shortcomings in the TRRC process including insufficient representation of women and exclusion of rural and other marginalized communities. GIJTR and local partner WILL adapted truth-telling practices to make them accessible to rural, poor and illiterate Gambians. These efforts included collecting oral testimonies from women through listening circles, traveling directly to affected communities for truth-telling and developing safety protocols so female witnesses do not suffer public retaliation for testifying to the TRRC. GIJTR also helped to develop ANEKED, The Gambia’s first memorialization network. With GIJTR support, ANEKED’s Memory House created a virtual and physical exhibit, “The Duty to Remember,” which has traveled to rural Gambian communities as well as Senegal, Switzerland, and the United States.
Recommendations
Civil society and the Gambian government, with support from international donors, should engage in memorialization projects outside the Greater Banjul Area, particularly in rural areas.
The Gambian government should make public the comprehensive prosecution strategy and any other implementation documents around the prosecution of alleged perpetrators.
The diplomatic community should encourage the Gambian government to practice greater transparency and share more information about the transitional justice process with victims and CSOs.
International organizations should support Gambian-led efforts to open conversations about sexual violence that occurred during Jammeh’s regime and provide holistic support to survivors.
The National Assembly should, as a matter of urgency, adopt all legislation necessary to implement the TRRC’s recommendations, including the Prevention and Prohibition of Torture Bill, the International Crimes Bill and the Victims Compensation Bill.
Notes
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