#GambiaHasDecided: Jammeh Must Go!
by Sarah L. Bosha
@Sarahbosha
Disclaimer: As this blog post was due to be published, the Gambian government officially responded to calls by Jammeh and his supporters for his unconditional return to The Gambia. The official position is in line with arguments raised in this post that call for accountability should Jammeh return to Gambian soil. The Minister of Justice, Tambadou, indicated that if Jammeh were to return to The Gambia, he would immediately be arrested to face charges for the grave crimes that have already been exposed by the Gambian Truth, Reconciliation & Reparations Commission (TRRC).
The last thing that The Gambia needs right now is the return of Yahya Jammeh. The former dictator of The Gambia has been sounding off about his return to The Gambia since January 2020. He argues that he is a Gambian citizen with every right to return, and that the agreement for his “voluntary” departure from The Gambia included a clause allowing his return at any time. In fact, the departure was anything but voluntary. Jammeh was strongly persuaded to leave The Gambia by the presence of ECOWAS troops, stationed at the border with Senegal that threatened to help him leave the presidency peacefully.
The news media has been filled with reports that the former dictator wants to come back to the nation he misled for 22 years. While Jammeh is indeed still a citizen of The Gambia with rights like every other Gambian, including the right to reside in his country of birth, Jammeh is no ordinary citizen. The former Citizen Number One held a tight grip on power, ordered murders, including the deaths of 44 Ghanaian migrants, and carried out a deadly, fraudulent HIV cure program, the Presidential Alternative Treatment Program (PATP).
The timing of his threatened return could not have come at a worse point, as it runs counter to the efforts by Gambians to deal with a dark past which was largely tainted by human rights abuses committed by Jammeh against his own people. The victims of his violations and crimes were finally feeling that they could speak out through the country’s Truth Reconciliation and Reparations Commission. Victims are testifying to what they experienced, and those who committed abuses on behalf of Jammeh have begun sharing information about the orders they received to do so.
His return now is not a good thing because it may destabilize The Gambia, which still has ECOWAS soldiers stationed in the country to secure the peace. The proof of this potential destabilization was evidenced by the thousands of Jammeh and Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC) party supporters who protested in support of his return. Added to that public show of support, the APRC leader, who speaks with Jammeh’s blessing, has threatened bloodshed should Jammeh be arrested upon arrival in The Gambia, making the security situation in the country more precarious.
It’s not that Jammeh should never return to The Gambia, but this should happen once the TRRC has finished its work, witnesses are lined up and made to feel safe, their protection is assured, and institutions are in place to prosecute him for the crimes that come to light. It might be safer for Jammeh never again to set foot in The Gambia, but to be tried in a special court outside the country. A similar arrangement proved successful in the case Hisènne Habré, the former Chadian dictator who was tried in Senegal. He was convicted of crimes against humanity, war crimes, and torture, including sexual violence and rape, and sentenced to life in prison.
(UN Photo / Michelle Poiré)
Sarah L. Bosha is Legal and Research Advisor, HIV and Human Rights, for AIDS-Free World.