Gambian Truth Commission set to revisit deaths of 44 Ghanaians

The Gambia’s Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC) is set to revisit the dastardly killing of 44 Ghanaians in 2005.

The Commission, in a press statement, indicated the public hearings would resume October 12.

Gambia, under Yahya Jammeh, had been unwilling to cave in to international pressure for justice for the at least 56 West African nationals, including Ghanaians, who were arrested after their Europe-bound boat stopped over at The Gambia on July 22, 2005.

Security forces accused them of planning a coup and over the course of 10 days, the migrants were shot and killed. Their bodies dumped in wells.

That’s 44 Ghanaians, nine Nigerians, two Togolese, and nationals of Cote d’Ivoire and Senegal, plus one Gambian.

A Ghanaian, Martin Kyere, who jumped into a forest from a moving truck of detained migrants returned to Ghana and has been rally families of the victims.

“I have been fighting for 15 years for truth and for justice for my companions who were killed,” said Martin Kyere.

Photo: Families of massacre victims, in Kumasi Ghana, April 2018. © 2018 Reed Brody/HRW

“African leaders say that migrants should be treated with dignity, but for us, honouring their memory means justice, not lies and cover-ups” he said.

TRIAL International’s Emeline Escafit, legal adviser said; “Until now, information has come out in dribs and drabs, year after year, from different sources.”

The TRRC took two breaks this year following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Baba Galleh Jallow, the TRRC Executive Secretary, explained in a statement: “The decision to resume public hearings was taken after careful consultations and considerations of the COVID-19 situation in the country.

Photo: Baba Galleh Jallow, the TRRC Executive Secretary

“The TRRC is also cognisant of the palpable desire of the Gambian public for hearings to resume.”

At least 11 human rights organisations have been advocating credible investigations on the murders allegedly carried out on the orders of then Yahya Jammeh who was forced out of office in 2017.

The groups seeking justice for the Ghanaian victims include Africa Legal Aid (AFLA), based in The Hague, and the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative Africa Office, which established the Gambia Task Force in 2007.

During the 17th Assembly of States Parties (ASP) to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in 2018, AFLA convened a side event on bringing Jammeh to Justice.

Mr Kyere was invited to the AFLA meeting at which he asked why there had been no justice for the West African migrants.

“In Ghana, we have Circuit Courts, we have High Courts, we have the Appeal Court, and we have the Supreme Court,” he said.

“In Africa, we have the ECOWAS Court and the African Court, so why can’t there be justice for Jammeh’s victims?”

A campaign group, Jammeh2JusticeGhana, launched in Accra in 2018, called for prosecution of Mr Jammeh.

“Bringing Jammeh to trial in Ghana would be only a first step to ensure that the former Gambian strongman does not escape the wings of justice,” said Evelyn Ankumah, AFLA Executive Director.

During the launch, the Chairman of the event, Justice Emile Short, the first Chairperson of the Ghana Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice, and former ad litem Judge at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, highlighted the judicial options available for Mr Jammeh to be prosecuted by the Ghanaian government.

Pointing out that extradition of Mr Jammeh to Ghana would be required, Justice Short opined: “Given the evidence that has been compiled, and the gravity of the offences, which have been demonstrated by those who have testified to it, I think that a momentum can be gathered to ensure international support for a request for extradition of Yahya Jammeh to Ghana to face trial.”

In December 2019, President Nana Akufo-Addo told the media that having heard the confessions by the Junglers, members of Mr Jammeh’s death squad, the Gambian government should “instigate the trials” of the people who had been named.

The Gambian government said that it was awaiting the recommendations of the TRRC, expected in 2021, before deciding on which Jammeh-era crimes to prosecute.

The Commission’s initial plan was to finish public hearings this month.

“However, as a result of two suspensions of public hearing due to the COVID-19 situation, that is clearly not possible,” said the TRRC’s Jallow.

“As things stand, hearings may continue into the first quarter of 2021.”