The latest CepRass poll says a majority of Gambians prefer reconciliation over prosecuting Jammeh-era crimes. That finding is politically convenient. It is not legally relevant. The government’s duty to deliver justice for victims of torture, killings, rape, and enforced disappearance does not expire because public opinion shifts.
Opinion polls measure mood. They do not rewrite the Convention Against Torture. They do not erase the Rome Statute. They do not cancel The Gambia’s obligation to investigate, prosecute, and punish crimes against humanity. A state that only pursues justice when it is popular is not a state of law. It is a state of convenience.
The argument for reconciliation is understandable. People are tired. They want jobs, not trials. They fear instability if the security services are touched. They see the TRRC hearings and think exposure equals accountability. But public fatigue is not a legal defense. Fear of unrest is not a reason to grant impunity. Truth without justice is a history lesson. It is not redress.
Victims did not choose to be part of a national healing experiment. Their rights are not subject to majority vote. When a state agent waterboards a detainee, disappears a journalist, or shoots a protester, the duty to prosecute is triggered immediately. That duty belongs to the state, not to a focus group.
Reconciliation has a place, but it follows justice. It does not replace it. You cannot reconcile with a system that never faced a court. You cannot ask victims to forgive people the state refuses to name as criminals. The TRRC named 69 individuals as bearing the greatest responsibility. If those names stay on paper and never see a dock, the message to the next generation of uniformed officers is clear: power protects you.
The government also risks more than domestic legitimacy. International partners fund justice mechanisms on the assumption that trials will happen. Donors, courts exercising universal jurisdiction, and treaty bodies are watching. The Gambia led the Rohingya genocide case at the ICJ on principle. It cannot plead principle abroad and practice amnesty at home.
There is a path that respects both law and public sentiment. Prosecute the most responsible. Remove others from office through vetted lustration. Pay reparations quickly and fully. Build memorials. Reform institutions. That is a hybrid model, and it is lawful. What is not lawful is to cite a poll and do nothing.
The poll itself warns the government. Support for reconciliation is conditional. Respondents tie it to reparations, services, and economic relief. If the state fails to deliver those, the public will not blame the victims. It will blame the government for selling justice short and delivering nothing in return.
The Gambia spent six years documenting atrocities. The record exists. The law exists. The only question left is political will.
Justice is not a policy option. It is a debt. Polls do not pay debts. Courts do. The government should act before the next generation asks why the files were closed, and the only answer is an opinion survey.
