Activists are voicing the alarm. After its inquiry, the Gambia Truth Commission recommended that some 90 officials, largely in the security sector, be banned from public office or prosecuted. The government has committed itself to fully implement the recommendations of the Commission but to date, on that sensitive issue, its actions fall short of promises.
On July 13, 6 members of the top leadership of the National Intelligence Agency, a place notorious for torture and disappearance under the regime of Yahya Jammeh (1994-2017), were sentenced to death for their role in the 2016 killing of political activist Ebrima Solo Sandeng, and other crimes. This was the most high-profile case connected to Jammeh’s crimes to be prosecuted in the Gambia.
In an interview with Justice Info Gambia’s Justice minister Dawda Jallow said his government has the political will to deliver justice for past crimes. No clear strategy has been explained yet and some victims doubt the government’s will to implement the Truth Commission’s recommendations. But it will “likely be a hybrid court”, the Minister says.