Gambian Minister Who Brought Myanmar to Justice Joins U.N.

Staff of the Ministry of Justice watch as Abubacarr Tambadou announces his resignation Friday.

By Modou Joof 

(Bloomberg) --  Gambia’s Justice Minister Abubacarr Tambadou, who has been leading the country’s transitional justice program and most recently a lawsuit against Myanmar over the Rohingya genocide, has resigned to join the United Nations.

Tambadou will work for the U.N.-established International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, according to a statement from the presidency.

Tambadou led Gambia’s Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission, examining the crimes committed during ex-President Yahya Jammeh’s decades-long rule and an inquiry to recover Jammeh’s ill-gotten assets. 

In 2019, he filed charges against Myanmar over the Rohingya genocide at the U.N.’s highest court. He also defended women who came forward to accuse Jammeh of raping them and helped the U.S. arrest one of Jammeh’s hitmen.

The decision to resign was “based on personal reasons,” Tambadou told reporters in the capital Banjul on Friday. “To the victims of human rights violations and abuses during 22 years of Jammeh’s rule, you will get justice.”

Tambadou helped restore Gambia’s “regional and international image and leadership in the global rights movement,” President Adama Barrow said in the statement. Dawda Jallow, a former magistrate with a degree in International Human Rights Law from the University of Essex, will replace Tambadou on July 1.

• Read more stories by this author on Bloomberg

.............................................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................................

 

Follow This Blog on Facebook and Twitter 

Follow on Twitter: @thenorthbankeve

Follow on Facebook: The North Bank Evening Standard