By Oumie Bojang
The Executive Director of Beakanyang has expressed optimism that the TRRC report implementation would be taken seriously by the Government.
Nfamara Jawneh was speaking to The Standard at Kairaba Beach Hotel on the margins of the just concluded 3-day national consultation on the TRRC report, organized by the Ministry of Justice and partners.
The government is expected to release its White Paper before the end of this month and he is optimistic that most of the issues raised at the national consultation will be considered.
“To be honest, prior to this event, I was personally not convinced that the government will implement the TRRC Report but as things stand, I’m hopeful,” he said.
According to him, the stakeholders’ consultation is one clear testimony of the government’s commitment as of now with regard the TRRC report implementation.
“Another important commitment by government is the establishment of MOJ-CSO Consultative Platform on the TRRC Recommendations and the proposed bill to create a successor body to the Reparations Committee of the TRRC which will be independent, created by statute and vested with the power to manage and make payments out of a reparations fund,” he noted. He was however quick to say that they will keep holding government accountable hence there is no room for complacency.
The human rights activist further stated that he firmly believes that those who bear the greater responsibility of the past gross human rights violations as highlighted in the TRRC should be held accountable for their actions.
“It would be difficult to heal the nation and foster reconciliation without justice for the victims,” said the CSO leader.
At the level of Beakanyang, director Jawneh stressed that they are set to play their part in popularizing the TRRC Report, engaging communities especially victims regarding the whole transitional justice processes, managing expectations and also to monitor the implementation steps being taken by the government.
“With regard to the Never Again mantra, Beakanyang will strengthen its human rights education program in schools and communities across the country and we also intend to scale up our Badingbung (family house) Initiative to other regions of the country,” he added.
He concluded by encouraging government to remain committed to the TRRC report implementation while stressing that Gambians should take the ownership of the entire transitional justice process for greater impact.
