Gambia's ex-president Yahya Jammeh speaks to journalists after casting his ballot in the Nov.
2011 presidential election (PHOTO: AFP)
ECOWAS has approved a
proposal by the Gambia to establish a special court to prosecute perpetrators
of gross human rights violations committed during the country’s 22-year
dictatorship.
This decision, made at its 66th Ordinary Session in Abuja on Sunday, also included the adoption of the Statute for the Tribunal which will ensure justice and accountability for gross human rights violations committed between July 1994 and January 2017.
Once established, the special court will prosecute crimes against humanity, torture and other serious crimes committed during the former president Yahya Jammeh's reign.
"This historic development marks a significant step forward for The Gambia, the region, and the international community. It is the first time ECOWAS has partnered with a member state to establish an internationalized tribunal to prosecute crimes of such gravity committed within a member state's territory," Gambia's Justice Minister Dawda Jallow said in a statement on Sunday.
As per the proposal, ECOWAS Member States shall cooperate with the Special Tribunal in the investigation and prosecution of dictatorship-era crimes in Gambia and shall comply without undue delay with any request for assistance or an order issued by a Judge or a Chamber, including the identification and location of persons; the taking of testimony and the production of evidence; the service of documents; the arrest or detention of persons; the surrender or the transfer of the accused to the Special Tribunal; and the transfer of detained witnesses for the purpose of testimony before the Special Tribunal.
The Gambia is to fund the Special Tribunal with voluntary contributions from other states and organisations. The tribunal will be based in The Gambia but will have the opportunity to hold sessions in a third country if necessary.
“The agreement to establish a special court to try the worst crimes committed under the rule of the former president of Gambia, Yahya Jammeh, if swiftly implemented, could mark a turning point in the campaign to bring Jammeh and his accomplices to justice,” the International Commission of Jurists said in a statement.
In April, Gambian lawmakers passed two new bills that allow for the creation of a special prosecutor and the setting up of a special tribunal, modeled upon international courts established to adjudicate cases of serious human rights violations.
In 2021, a truth commission found Jammeh, who now lives in exile in Equatorial Guinea, “responsible” for incidents of murder, rape and torture during his regime that ended in 2016 after an election loss.
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