Reports have it that one Michael Sang Correa, a former jungler in The Gambia, will be put on trial in the United States of America in September of this year for his part in the human rights violations that took place in the Gambia during the reign of the former president.
Following the defenestration of the former president, Yahya Jammeh and the setting up of a Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC) a lot of human rights violations were unearthed.
The TRRC completed its work and submitted its report and gave recommendations in which it suggested the prosecution of those who were found to bear most responsibility for those violations. This is yet to be seen in The Gambia.
The trial of Michael Sang Correa will be the third instance in which one of the junglers is brought to justice. This follows the trial of Bai Lowe in Germany and that of Ousman Sonko in Switzerland. If this one also ends up in a conviction it will bring the transitional justice one step closer to completion.
It is heartening to note that the international community is taking The Gambia’s Transitional Justice seriously enough to put suspect on trial anywhere they are found. This is so that people will know that no one can commit crimes against humanity and then goes scot-free, hiding in different parts of the world. It shows that wherever one is the long hand of justice can still reach them.
It is however nothing to write home about that back home in The Gambia, the efforts to bring these perpetrators to justice is lethargic. There was talk of a Hybrid court in which the trial of these perpetrators will be expedited so that the victims can attain justice so that they may have closure.
These trails in foreign lands therefore call for further efforts to be done by the authorities in The Gambia to see to it that whoever is accused of violating the rights of the people is brought before a court of law. This is one way to attain reconciliation and healing in The Gambia.
That is a way to establish peace and security in the country.
