The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRRC) set up by the President of Gambia, Adama Barrow has revealed that former President Yahya Jammeh was responsible for the killing of Nigerians and other West African migrants in the country.
Jammeh, who has been living in exile in Equatorial Guinea since January 2017, was accused of human rights abuses which include extrajudicial killings, torture, and arbitrary detention.
The TRRC, which was established to investigate the allegations against Jammeh, gathered from witnesses that migrants that were bound for Europe from Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo, as well as their Gambian contact, were detained by Jammeh’s top lieutenants in the security services before they were murdered by the “Junglers,” a notorious paramilitary unit that took orders from the ex-president.
Also, the Commission said in a published report that Jammeh alongside “Tumbul Tamba, Kawsu Camara (Bombardier), Bai Lowe, Musa Badjie, Landing Tamba, Sanna Manjang, Solo Bojang, Malick Jatta, Alieu Jeng, Omar Jallow (Oya), Lamin Sillah and Buba Jallow are responsible for the murder of the West African migrants”.
Furthermore, the commission stated that Jammeh was responsible for the persecution and illegal arrest of Gambian journalists, the killing of 17 civilians, and for the deaths, sexual violence, torture of persons that were accused of being witches or wizards.
The commission also discovered that Jammeh was responsible for the sexual abuse of three women, including the rape of Fatou Jallow, a former Gambian beauty queen.
The TRRC said: “Any adversely mentioned individual who has previously appeared before the commission and made a full disclosure of his or her involvement in human rights violations and abuses and has expressed remorse is hereby granted a period of 14 days to apply to the Commission for amnesty.
“The Government will continue its review of the TRRC report as well as any recommendations for amnesty and shall issue a White Paper on or before the 25th of May 2022.”
The commission recommended that Jammeh be prosecuted and that victims should be duly compensated
