The Gambian government has said it will prosecute former President Yahya Jammeh for murder, rape, torture and other alleged crimes committed during his more than 20-year rule. The Ministry of Justice said on Wednesday that it accepted all but two of the 265 recommendations made by a commission that probed alleged crimes committed by the state under the despotic former leader from July 1994 to January 2017. The commission’s report, presented to President Adama Barrow and made public in December, was based on years of witness testimonies.
Jammeh is currently living in exile in Equatorial Guinea, which has no extradition treaty with The Gambia. The government said it would prosecute all 70 alleged perpetrators named in the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission’s twice-delayed report, including former Vice President Isatou Njie-Saidy and members of the so-called “Junglers” hit squad. “For 22 years, Yahya Jammeh ruled The Gambia with an iron fist,” the government wrote in a white paper. “During his regime, extrajudicial killings, rape, torture, enforced disappearances, and numerous grievous human rights violations became part and parcel of his military Junta.” Al Jazeera’s Ahmed Idris, reporting from the capital, Banjul, said “victims, survivors, victims’ families, activists, diplomats, everybody came here this morning with expectations that they will be disappointed at the end of the day.” Many said they want to see these recommendations put into action by the government of The Gambia, Idris added.
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