Gambia appoints British barrister to prosecute gruesome Jammeh-era crimes
Martin Hackett has been appointed as The Gambia's first special prosecutor to try those responsible for human rights abuses carried out during the 22-year rule of ex-President Yahya Jammeh, which ended when he went into exile in 2017. Hackett will head a newly created office charged with dealing with the cases from a period characterised by widespread repression, enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings. The Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC) was set up to document the extent of the alleged abuses.
The TRRC, in its final report handed to current President Adama Barrow in 2021, identified those most responsible and recommended their prosecution. The TRRC also called for reparations to be paid to the victims, warning that failure to act risked entrenching impunity. The TRRC has started phased compensation payments, starting with victims of abuses committed shortly after the 1994 coup when Jammeh first came to power. Among the most notorious cases highlighted by the TRRC were the 2004 killing of journalist Deyda Hydara and the murder of more than 50 mainly West African migrants, executed by security forces after being wrongly accused of plotting a coup.
Attorney General Dawda Jallow was quoted as saying that Hackett had a four-year mandate and was chosen from a wide selection of candidates. Jammeh, who refused to co-operate with the TRRC, only left power at the insistence of regional leaders. They sent in troops to The Gambia when he refused to step down after his shock election defeat in December 2016. Now aged 60, Jammeh has previously denied wrongdoing and is believed to be living in exile in Equatorial Guinea.
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The Gambia has appointed a British barrister as special prosecutor to address human rights abuses during ex-President Jammeh's rule. The move signals a commitment to investigate past grievances - but what challenges lie ahead?
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