#TRRC Gambia

[photos-tell-stories]

The Gambia: Government White Paper is out. Ex-Gambia President Jammeh will be prosecuted.

The Gambia: Government White Paper is out. Ex-Gambia President Jammeh will be prosecuted.

BBC World News – 26th May, 2022 “I believe justice will be done…it was welcoming news to hear that ex-president, Yahya Jammeh, will finally be prosecuted” Ayeshah Harun Jammeh – Gambia Victims Centre Talking to the BBC about the release of The Gambia government’s white paper. Ayeshah, one of many victims of the former 22-year regime of Jammeh, father and aunt were killed by Jammeh’s ‘Junglers’…

[alabs1]

Gambia’s Ex-President, Yahya Jammeh Found Liable For 2005 Murder Of Nigerian Migrants

Gambia’s Ex-President, Yahya Jammeh Found Liable For 2005 Murder Of Nigerian Migrants

Gambia’s Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC) says ex-President Yahya Jammeh is responsible for the killing of West African migrants, including nine Nigerians. Jammeh, who has lived in exile in Equatorial Guinea since his departure from the Gambia in January 2017, was accused of human rights abuses, including extrajudicial killings, torture, and arbitrary detention. The TRRC…

[innocentamit]

Gambia delays report of former president Jammeh | Human Rights Issues

Gambia delays report of former president Jammeh | Human Rights Issues

The long-awaited investigation into the allegations against former Gambian leader Yahya Jammeh has been delayed, investigators say. The Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC) is due to officially present a ceremony to President Adama Barrow on Thursday. But a final report was issued recently, and a TRRC member told AFP, “We are not ready.” TRRC was formed in 2017 following…

[bluerainbird]

7 April 2020 – Bosnia asks Interpol to arrest war crimes fugitives, the Gambia’s ex-soldier arrested and charged with murder following TRRC testimony

[sheltertheworld]

The truth is not enough for Gambia’s regime victims http://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news-feature/2019/09/23/trrc-Gambia-truth-commission-rights

[afroinsider]

Gambia: Sanna Sabally Confesses to Gross Atrocities He Committed

Gambia: Sanna Sabally Confesses to Gross Atrocities He Committed

By Yankuba Jallow

Sanna B. Sabally has made some confessions before the TRRC about his involvement in the killings and gross human rights violations of soldiers and civilians during his tenure as the vice chairman of the redundant AFPRC.

He made several confessions about the killings of soldiers, pointing out that he was the commander of the operations of the AFPRC along with his colleagues and…

[djstumppinz]

YAPSEH SHORT BIOGRAPHY Yapseh was born Yaya Baldeh in Tabokoto, Gambia on 28th December 1996, He is regarded as one of the most talented upcoming artistes with an incredible rap battle skills. A student of the game, Yapseh grew up listening to Poetic X, DLC and GNA which inspired him to start putting rhymes together. His career took off with the birth of The Cypher Rap Battles organized by Killa Ace and the now "Team Gom Sa Boppa" where young and upcoming rappers could compete blending their freestyle raps with written rhymes. Yapseh made his debut battle in Tabokoto 2008, as he was new to the game, He was only able to display simple and plain lyrics against his opponent and managed to win. The outcome of that got him to consider taking music as a career. His second battle was at the The Cypher Rap Battles League, unfortunately he got knocked out at the first round. After that Yapseh was tearing through the The Cypher winning battle after battle. Having been on 10 rap battles and only lose 3 times, earning him a big time respect in the Gambian rap battle arena. He also competed at the Smile Gambia Concert Battles organized by Team Gee and Africell Summer Jam Battles and came out 2nd position on both platforms In 2015 Yapseh recorded his first song entitle "Hali Yone", which is going to be the title of his debut mixtape, since then he has recorded more than 10 songs and tons of freestyles. Yapseh was among the artistes who went on a caravan with the Truth Reconciliation Reparations Commission (TRRC) and International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) to engage youths in nation development. "SA KADU SA REW" In 2018 he signed with Poetic X's indie label, Warrior Musik and he is currently working on a mixtape which is set to be released on April 13th 2019 at Alliance Franco. https://www.instagram.com/p/BvPqVEoliUf/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=m2tdx9mtv844

[lollipoplollipopoh]

🇬🇲 Will Gambia’s truth commission bring Jammeh to justice? | The Stream by Al Jazeera English A Gambian truth and reconciliation commission began its first hearing this month to look into alleged human rights abuses that occurred during the 22-year rule of Yahya Jammeh. Between 1994 and 2016, Jammeh allegedly oversaw gross human rights violations including witch hunts, torture, enforced disappearances, and sexual violence. Many atrocities are said to have been committed by his own paramilitary hit squad. Jammeh was known as an eccentric leader who also subjected Gambians to fraudulent treatments for HIV/AIDS. Hearings for the Truth Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC) will feature testimony from victims, witnesses and alleged perpetrators. The commission will decide compensation for victims and recommend cases for further prosecution. This month marks two years since Jammeh fled from The Gambia after refusing to concede defeat in a 2016 presidential election. He has been living in exile in Equatorial Guinea, where he is being protected from extradition. Since his departure, some aspects of Gambian civil society, including the return of a free press, have improved. But the country is still struggling economically and many young people are considering leaving. In this episode, we'll discuss what a truth, reconciliation and reparations commission could achieve in The Gambia and how the country has changed under new leadership. Join the conversation: TWITTER: https://twitter.com/AJStream FACEBOOK: http://bit.ly/wd1aJf GOOGLE+: http://bit.ly/1s5Fjkc Subscribe to our channel http://bit.ly/AJSubscribe

[photos-tell-stories]

CAP PRIZE 2021 SHORTLIST: ‘Gambia-victims, and resisters’ by Jason Florio/Helen Jones-Florio

CAP PRIZE 2021 SHORTLIST: ‘Gambia-victims, and resisters’ by Jason Florio/Helen Jones-Florio

CAP PRIZE 2021 SHORTLIST: We are truly honoured to be on the CAP Prize shortlist – The Contemporary African Photography Prize – with our ongoing series, ‘Gambia-victims, and resisters’ ‘Gambia – victims, and resisters’ The Gambia, West Africa, is a popular winter-sun holiday destination, but many tourists are not aware of the recent dark history of ‘The Smiling Coast of Africa’ – as it is…

[ablackwomansurvivingrape]

The New Humanitarian | The Gambia’s ‘MeToo’ year breaks silence on rape

‘The culture of silence comes from family honour being more important than the survivor.’

The Gambia is beginning to confront a culture of silence around sexual violence, led by a group of women breaking taboos by revealing the alleged abuse they endured at the hands of some of the country’s once most powerful men.

The catalyst for change came in June last year when 23-year-old Toufah Jallow accused former president Yahya Jammeh of rape – a bombshell additional charge to a 22-year reign known for its extrajudicial executions, torture, and disappearances.

She was quickly embraced as the figurehead of The Gambia’s “MeToo” movement. Young activists created an #IamToufah hashtag and peacefully marched on the streets of the capital, Banjul, calling for an end to the silence on speaking out against rape.

“When Toufah Jallow came out, we saw more people share their stories of sexual abuse publicly,” said Sirra Ndow, who set up an online platform supporting survivors of sexual and gender-based violence. “The Toufah movement has given survivors courage.”

Jallow’s allegation was part of an investigation by the NGOs Human Rights Watch and Trial International. She went on to testify in October at The Gambia’s Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC), investigating human rights violations under Jammeh, who was overthrown in 2017.

Barriers and stigma

Rape is universally under-reported, but it is especially difficult for survivors to speak out in The Gambia’s close-knit and patriarchal society, where victim and perpetrator are often connected.

“The culture of silence comes from family honour being more important than the survivor,” said Haddy Mboge Barrow, a community nurse pioneering the development of the country’s response to sexual and gender-based violence.

“They think they are helping the survivor by not talking about it,” Barrow, coordinator of the Network Against Gender-Based Violence (NGBV), told The New Humanitarian.

“It’s a culture that really protects the perpetrator,” said Ndow. “Some of us in Gambia are in denial of the extent to which sexual violence happens.”

“I was saying to myself, ‘this is the most powerful man in Gambia, who am I for anybody to listen to’.”

But witness accounts at the TRRC of alleged sexual assault by former government officials and members of the security forces have exposed how sexual violence thrived under Jammeh – who is living in exile in Equatorial Guinea after losing the December 2016 presidential elections and being toppled by a regional military intervention a month later.

Jallow, who lives in Toronto, Canada, returned to The Gambia to give her eagerly awaited testimony to the TRRC on 31 October.

In her five-hour public hearing, she described in detail her accusation that the ex-president raped her at State House during a Ramadan festival, as punishment for not accepting his proposal that she become his second wife.

Jallow had allegedly caught his eye after winning a beauty pageant in 2014 when she was an 18-year-old college student.

“It was the longest night of my life, and I was saying to myself, ‘this is the most powerful man in Gambia, who am I for anybody to listen to’, and believe this; and where do I say this, and, when I say this, what am I expecting is going to happen?” she told the commission.

A system of impunity

Jallow’s feelings of powerlessness after the incident were echoed by other witnesses who spoke before her, as a picture emerged of a system that enabled men in positions of authority to sexually abuse women with impunity.

"He was taking advantage of how vulnerable girls were; he used that to abuse women,” said a former protocol officer, who spoke as an unidentified witness via a Skype audio link and explained how she had been enticed to work for Jammeh with the promise of a scholarship – as Jallow had been.

“He would give protocol officers some attention and gifts, sometimes a house or a car, but then treated them like his own property,” she said.

“It was an oppressive regime, clearly ruled by powerful men in an atmosphere of impunity, and Jammeh was showing the way,” Marion Volkmann-Brandau, a human rights consultant, told TNH. She led an 18-month investigation into sexual violence on behalf of Human Rights Watch and Trial International – a probe that informed the TRRC’s own inquries.

Even before meeting Jammeh, the former protocol officer said she had encountered attempted sexual assaults by a religious leader when she was aged 12, sexual harassment by a former government minister, and another attempted assault by a government official – who is still serving today.

“Poverty put us at high risk of abuse,” she told the commission.

“Most people don’t understand the psychological and emotional impacts, and sometimes the physical consequences of being raped.”

In December, the TRRC concluded its first year of publicly televised hearings. Its deliberate focus on sexual violence is all the more important because the culture that enabled the abuse did not disappear with Jammeh’s exile.

“These were crimes committed using the power and the resources of the state, but it also shines a light onto the wider societal problems [in The Gambia] that rape goes under-reported,” said Reed Brody, legal counsel for Human Rights Watch, which is part of the Jammeh2Justice Coalition, campaigning to bring Jammeh to trial.

Witnesses spoke of their sense of isolation after the incidents and how this had affected their mental health. “I’ve had overdoses; I cut myself; I wanted to get rid of myself,” the former protocol officer told the commission when asked how she had been impacted by her experiences.

“There’s not the appreciation of the gravity of sexual violence,” said Ndow, whose online platform supports survivors of sexual violence. “Most people don’t understand the psychological and emotional impacts, and sometimes the physical consequences of being raped.”

Backlash

Challenges remain in how victims who speak out are treated by the public, as they face the real risk of re-victimisation. The TRRC had to issue a warning that it would use the law to clamp down on those who discredit witnesses after a politically motivated backlash against witness Bintou Nyabally, who alleged she was raped by two Junglers – Jammeh’s notorious death squad – while in detention.

Jallow has also faced scorn from people trying to discredit her allegation. She is constantly attacked on social media, and told TNH that her family in The Gambia have been threatened.

She suspects Jammeh loyalists are behind the intimidation. At a rally in November, a spokesman for Jammeh’s APRC party, Ousman Rambo Jatta, appeared to directly threaten Jallow. "We are waiting for the recommendations of the TRRC. That's when we shall decide what path to take with you,” he reportedly said.

Speaking before her hearing, Jallow had said she was bracing for this reaction. But she felt compelled to testify, not just for herself, but to “address this epidemic [of sexual violence] that is so prevalent yet very discreet within [our] society”.

With the nation glued to their TVs and smartphones watching her testimony, Jallow seized the moment to challenge the culture of silence on rape.

“I had to redefine myself and tell my story in this culture and in this space, and to take whatever backlash comes with it, so that the next person will be getting lesser and lesser of a backlash,” she said in her concluding statement.

[annafricatv]

Gambia Releases New Banknotes Without Jammeh's Portrait

The Gambia has released new currency notes. National birds are now replacing portraits of former president Yahya Jammeh

The Gambia has released new currency notes. National birds are now replacing portraits of former president Yahya Jammeh.

The current notes are a total overhaul of the Gambia Dalasi denominations, that has been in circulation since independence in 1965.

Central bank chief Bakary Jammeh presented copies of the new notes to president Adama Barrow ahead of their release through commercial banks from…

[khalilhumam]

Gambia: Jammeh's Convoy Driver Testifies Before TRRC

Register at https://mignation.com The Only Social Network for Migrants. #Immigration, #Migration, #Mignation ---

New Post has been published on http://khalilhumam.com/gambia-jammehs-convoy-driver-testifies-before-trrc/

Gambia: Jammeh's Convoy Driver Testifies Before TRRC

[Foroyaa] Warrant Officer Class 2, Lamin Sillah, who was a convoy driver during Yahya Jammeh's regime, on Thursday 9th July, testified before the TRRC with respect to an accident he was involved in.

[supertrendingnewsarticles]

A Gambian former beauty queen on Thursday accused former President Yahya Jammeh of raping her to punish her for rejecting his marriage proposal, in evidence to the country's truth and reconciliation commission. "What he wanted to do was to teach me a lesson, what he wanted to do is manifest his ego," Fatou Jallow said. "There were words like 'who do you think you are?', that he is the president and that he gets any woman that he wants," Jallow told Gambia's Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC).

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2PyA3cb

[45news]

A Gambian former beauty queen on Thursday accused former President Yahya Jammeh of raping her to punish her for rejecting his marriage proposal, in evidence to the country's truth and reconciliation commission. "What he wanted to do was to teach me a lesson, what he wanted to do is manifest his ego," Fatou Jallow said. "There were words like 'who do you think you are?', that he is the president and that he gets any woman that he wants," Jallow told Gambia's Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC).

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2PyA3cb

[weopenviews]

A Gambian former beauty queen on Thursday accused former President Yahya Jammeh of raping her to punish her for rejecting his marriage proposal, in evidence to the country's truth and reconciliation commission. "What he wanted to do was to teach me a lesson, what he wanted to do is manifest his ego," Fatou Jallow said. "There were words like 'who do you think you are?', that he is the president and that he gets any woman that he wants," Jallow told Gambia's Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC).

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2PyA3cb

[teeky185]

A Gambian former beauty queen on Thursday accused former President Yahya Jammeh of raping her to punish her for rejecting his marriage proposal, in evidence to the country's truth and reconciliation commission. "What he wanted to do was to teach me a lesson, what he wanted to do is manifest his ego," Fatou Jallow said. "There were words like 'who do you think you are?', that he is the president and that he gets any woman that he wants," Jallow told Gambia's Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC).

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2PyA3cb