By Omar Bah
The new country representative of the Westminster Foundation, a new British organisation seeking to support democracy in The Gambia, has disclosed that ‘there are overwhelming evidence to try former President Yahya Jammeh’.
Madi Jobarteh, who is also a member of the #Jammeh2Justice Campaign team, was speaking at a press conference organized by Trial International and Human Rights Watch at Tango.
Madi , a prominent Gambian activist, reechoed the calls for justice, emanating from the victims of the former regime.
“The evidence is overwhelming. We cannot sit in The Gambia whilst those outside the country have the willingness to seek justice. Civil society organisations cannot continue to remain silent, indifferent over the ongoing #Jammeh2Justice campaign,” he said.
He said as more victims are breaking silence, exposing the heinous crimes committed under the watch of one of the worst tyrannical regimes in Africa, hopes are high that victims will ultimately see light at the end of the tunnel.
“The incidence of human rights violations can continue as long as there is no accountability,” said Jobarteh.
He said Gambians and civil society organizations should take leadership and responsibility to ensure those who committed gruesome atrocities in the past 22 years are held accountable.
“We know state institutions were involved in perpetrating human rights violations through public officials and security officers who had an obligation by our constitution and other laws in this country to defend and protect human rights but subverted their legal obligations and allow those public institutions to transform them into weapons to commit atrocities against their citizens and other non-Gambians like the case of 2005,” he noted.
Jobarteh said the country will not salvage itself unless there is accountability.
“If we fail to ensure accountability about that incidence and other atrocities that took place in this country we will not end the culture of impunity in this country.
“This is about our lives, all of us must understand that and position ourselves on the part that never again should we have the Government of the Gambia transform into a weapon against its people and we cannot declare never again until and unless all those atrocities that were committed in the past are being paid for by those who committed them,” he said.
He said if action is not taken incidences of human rights violations can continue on and on “as long as there is no accountability it doesn’t matter how many times you change your government or who becomes president”.
