By: Mama A. Touray
Top Nigerian human right lawyer, Femi Falana, has called on the African Union and the United Nation to take immediate action on the recommendations of the Truth Reconciliation and Reparations Commission of The Gambia that former president Yahya Jammeh be prosecuted.
He described the recommendation of the TRRC as a “turning point for justice” in The Gambia, and called on the African Union and United Nation to act swiftly to ensure that former president Jammeh is extradited to Senegal to face trial before the extraordinary African Chambers.
In a statement released by the human right lawyer stated that: “In the view of the fact that the victims were not only Gambian nationals, the Commission recommends that a special international court be set up to try Jammeh and others in West Africa, but outside The Gambia.”
He called on the leadership of the AU and UN to take immediate and effective measures to ensure that Jammeh and senior members of his government are extradited to Senegal to face trial before the extraordinary African chambers in the Senegalese courts, for the sake of Jammeh’s victims.
“I believed that the recommended trials will not require separate structures and institutions, with the existence of the extraordinary African chambers; the AU leaders will not have to reinvent the wheel. Immediately extraditing Mr. Jammeh and others to face trial before the chambers would save resources,” he said.
Falana added that the chambers’ statute gives it competence over crimes against humanity and torture as defined in the statute, the definition of these crimes generally mirrors those used in Rome stature of the international criminal court and other international tribunals.
“Mr. Jammeh will be entitled to his fair trial rights before the extraordinary chambers, including those guaranteed by the international covenant on civil and political rights and the African charter on human and peoples’ rights both of which Senegal has ratified. These human right treaties outline the minimum guarantees that must be afforded to defendants’ in criminal proceedings,” he said.
Mr. Falana however appealed to the European Union and other global bodies committed to the cause of justice and accountability for international crimes in Africa to support the trial with adequate funds.
“The Extraordinary African chamber has four levels: an investigative chamber with four investigative judges, an indicting chamber of three judges, a trial chamber and an appeals chamber. The trial chamber and the appeals chamber each have two Senegalese judges and a president from another African Union member State. The chamber also has an administrator to ensure the smooth functioning of their activities and to handle all no judicial aspects of the work,” he said.
“Jammeh’s victims must be afforded the opportunity to participate in proceedings as civil parties. Should he be convicted of the charges against him, the victims of his crimes must receive adequate compensation, and reparations, including guarantees of non-repetition’’ he said.
