Gambia unveils plan for international court to try ex-dictator Yahya Jammeh
In Gambia, the creation of an international court to judge crimes committed during the Yahya Jammeh era is taking shape, while the former dictator, who ruled the country from 1994 to 2017, lives in exile in Equatorial Guinea.
Parliamentarians completed on Monday March 4 the examination of a law for a future prosecutor's office within the framework of a hybrid court of justice.
It is a question of judging the multiple crimes committed under this regime.
Relatives of victims of the regime of former Gambian President Yahya Jammeh demonstrate in Banjul on April 17, 2018 to demand answers on the progress of the investigation into the disappearance of their loved ones.
© Claire Bargelès / AFP
By: RFI Follow
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A “
Truth and Reconciliation
” Commission
heard 400 witnesses
reporting
the multiple crimes committed
during the reign of
Yahya Jammeh
in
Gambia
followed by a government white paper to implement the commission's recommendations, including the creation of a court of justice. hybrid justice.
Since February 29, a committee of experts has begun its work to lay the foundations of this future court.
According to the law analyzed by parliamentarians, the hybrid court will be set up in two stages.
The law to create the prosecutor's office, which should not be Gambian, will be examined and voted on in March.
The goal is for him to begin his investigation very quickly.
The Hybrid Court will come next and will integrate the office of the investigating magistrate.
At the same time, the technical committee began its work planned for eighteen weeks.
Its 12 members, from the Ministry of Justice, the Bar Association, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and even victim defense organizations, must study the legal statutes and financiers of the future court.
“
The goal is to be ready for the ECOWAS summit in July
,” indicates a good source.
Gambian and foreign judges
There is already consensus on several points.
The seat of the future court should be in the Gambian capital, Banjul.
Its judges would be both Gambians and foreigners, appointed a priori by the ECOWAS presidency after study of the applications by a selection committee.
But a crucial point enters the equation: Yahya Jammeh is a refugee in Equatorial Guinea.
Multiple obstacles concern possible extradition.
Because Equatorial Guinea is not a member of ECOWAS, but the country's partnership with the regional organization could put strong pressure on Malabo to hand over the ex-president.
The court should have jurisdiction to organize trials outside Gambia: Yahya Jammeh could therefore be tried abroad if necessary.
In any case, the Gambian Ministry of Justice assures that he will be physically in the dock and not tried in absentia.
This is an important step in this process.
The government took far too long.
But he now seems fully committed to a very promising plan with the creation of a special prosecutor's office and this hybrid court which has many advantages.
02:25
Reed Brody (International Commission of Jurists): “A hybrid court with ECOWAS can mobilize all support from the sub-region”
Sébastien Németh
Read alsoGambia: “Everything said in this trial (in Switzerland) could allow Yahya Jammeh to be prosecuted”
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