After the fall of the Yahya Jammeh dictatorship in 2016, a lot of atrocities and human rights violations were uncovered in the country. The government set up the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparation Commission (TRRC) to look into these violations and document them with a view to ensuring reconciliation and preventing a repeat.
The Commission did many public sittings where victims and perpetrators appeared and recounted horrible incidents during the twenty-two year rule of Yahya Jammeh. The Commission completed its work and submitted its report and recommendations to the government.
The government then studied the report and recommendations and issued a white paper on it. The recommendations included reparations, prosecutions and some other forms of reconciliation. All these were geared towards providing closure to the victims and their families and fostering reconciliation and reunification of the country.
However, due to the slow process of the transitional justice, many victims have since passed away without seeing the day of compensation or the prosecution of their tormentors. This is unfortunate and somehow defeat the entire purpose of the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission.
Yet, another unfortunate aspect of this delay is the fact that some of the alleged perpetrators passed away without ever seeing the inside of a courtroom. The victims and their families definitely feel cheated as they see their tormentors die without facing any form of justice.
With the death in custody of Brigadier General Bora Colley, it raises the concern that many, if not most, of the alleged perpetrators may die before they are brought to justice. This is another blow to the transitional justice system in The Gambia. Something urgent needs to be done so as to promote unity.
Expedite the transitional justice process!
