A two-day closed-door meeting was held at the Kairaba Beach
Hotel brought together the who’s who of the human rights organizations and
lawyer groups from around the world including in-country groupings such as The
Gambia Center for Victims of Human Rights Violations and representatives of the
Gambia Bar Association.
The third day
was an open forum that allowed a representative sample of some of Jammeh’s
victims to narrate their stories of horror and savagery they suffered at the
hands of Jammeh’s henchmen – some of whom are still embedded in the new
administration.
The press was invited, as the final act, to pose questions
to members of the Campaign to Bring Yahya Jammeh and his Accomplices to Justice
- the formal name of the effort #Jammeh2Justice - whose membership comprises of
the organizations and individuals who attended the closed-door sessions that
discussed strategy for the Campaign to bring Jammeh to book.
Mr. Gaye Sowe of the Institute for Human Rights and
Development in Africa and Jeggan Grey-Johnson of the Open Society Foundation
played a key role in putting together what can aptly be described as a
consultative mechanism for all the key players that will be involved in the
campaign to bring Jammeh and his accomplices to justice. It will be an all-inclusive vehicle that will
facilitate the Government of Adama Barrow to play a more active and visible
role in the process going forward.
Lifting a page from the Hissene Habre playbook, it was
concluded very early in the opening sessions of the meetings that the campaign
will be victims-centered with e victims of the 22-year dictatorship success of the campaign will depend on the
role that the victims will assign themselves.
In April this year, Reed Brody of Human Rights Watch who pursued the
case of the Chadian dictator that led to his conviction in Senegal to life
imprisonment for similar offenses Jammeh is being accused of, brought to the
Gambia Chadian victims who explained to Gambian victims their ordeal and how
they narrated their individual stories of rape, torture and other forms of
human rights abuses at the hands of Hissene Habre.
In short, victims must start telling their individuals
stories to the world as an integral part of any strategy that may be
adopted. In fact, the most moving and
impactful part of the three-day gathering was when a dozen or so victims of
Yaya Jammeh started telling their stories before a packed audience. It was as emotional and it was therapeutic an
experience for many in the hall. It was
a signal that the Campaign for Bring ex-Gambian Dictator Yahya Jammeh and his
Accomplices to Justice has officially started, at least for us at the
sidisanneh.blogspot.com
In addition to telling their stories to the world, members
of the Victims Center “called upon the Government of The Gambia to exert
diplomatic and political leverage to ensure that Yahya Jammeh faces justice
with all due process guarantees.”
Members are also committed to ensuring that their voices are heard at
the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparation Commission.
We will add to the list of our priorities the plight of the
victims, their families and colleagues by adding our voice to bringing their
stories to our audience that is spread across several continents including key
Western capitals. We also intend to bring you regular and
reliable updates on some of the active cases currently pending in Europe such
as that of Ousman Sonko, former Jammeh Interior Minister, Ousman Sonko pending
in Switzerland and whose indictment was made possible by the proactive stance
of TRAIL International with Benedict De Moerloose as the lead counsel.
The list of current members of the Coalition to Bring
ex-Dictator Yahya Jammeh and his Accomplices to Justice includes the following:
The Gambia Center for Victims of Human Rights Violations, Institute for Human
Rights and Development in Africa, Gambia Bar Association, Gambia Press
Union, Article 19 West Africa, Coalition
for Change in Gambia, EG Justice
(Equatorial Guinea), TRIAL International, Human Rights Watch, Guernica 37, La
Fondation pour l’egalite des chances en Afrique and Aids Free World.
