‘Human rights commission will not probe past violations’

By Tabora Bojang Minister of Justice, Abubacarr Tambadou, has disclosed that the newly established National Human Rights Commission is a forward-looking commission and it is not going to inquire into any alleged human rights violations over the past. The minister made the remark yesterday before the National Assembly in response to a concern raised by the MP for Baddibu Central over the objective criteria of one of the nominated members for the commission. The MP argued that due to the nature of alleged violations against the concerned nominated commissioner, he might not be in good positioning towards impartially carrying out his responsibilities. “This National Human Rights Commission is a forward-looking commission, is not a backward looking commission. It is not going to inquire into any alleged human rights violations over the past. It is only going to engage in the promotion of technique activities towards human rights enhancement,” the minister said. “Therefore, I believe that one of the candidates selected by the public appointment standing committee of the National Assembly will not be compromised,” he added. According to the Justice minister, the selection of the nominated commission members was subject to rigorous public scrutiny and selection process, which also considered prudence on the encouragement of female inclusion. Tambadou however stated that he supported the idea for the National Assembly if they wish, to scrutinise the list of commissioners before they finally adopt and approve their appointments. He was quick to point out there is some exigency in establishing this commission for two principal purposes. “In our engagements with our donor partners in supporting our transitional justice processes, they have created benchmarks for us to achieve this year which will attract more support for our processes next year. “The Gambia will be the subject of scrutiny at the 2019 universal periodic review of the Human Rights Council in Geneva as part of gains of an activity report it will present before the global human rights council,” Tambadou noted. Meanwhile, after debating, the assembly referred the motion for the consideration and approval of the five shortlisted candidates for the appointment of commissioners of the newly established National Human Rights Commission pending the provisions of CVs for the selected candidates to the parliamentarians.]]>