By Kebba Ansu Manneh
Dr. Baba Galleh Jallow, the Executive Secretary of the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC), in an exclusive interview with The Gambia Times, said the commission will not be biased, partial or corrupt. “We are going to be as principled, as independent and impartial as possible,” he added. Jallow was appointed in February to investigate human rights abuses committed during the regime of former president Yahya Jammeh, who, now living in exile in Equatorial Guinea, was forced to step down from office after losing the presidential election in December 2016.
Jammeh’s regime was accused of numerous human rights abuses, forced disappearances, arbitrary arrests, illegal detentions, and torture. In fulfilling his campaign promise, President Adama Barrow signed in January 2018 the TRRC Act to investigate atrocities committed under Jammeh’s rule.
Jallow, a prominent journalist and publisher of the defunct Independent Newspaper in The Gambia before he emigrated to the United States, is now tasked with the responsibility to oversee the Commission carry out its mandates of investigating the truth, facilitating reconciliation and determining reparations for victims. Until accepting the role as the Executive Secretary of the TRRC, Jallow was an assistant professor at La Salle University in the State of Pennsylvania in the United States. Many people consider him a victim of the former regime which allegedly firebombed the headquarter of his newspaper in April 2004.
Jallow is currently staffing the commission. But his hiring decisions came under attack especially with respect to some members of the secretariat. The controversy centered around Alagie Barrow who was appointed the director of research and investigation for the commission. Critics of Barrow’s appointment considered his involvement in the December 2014 failed armed rebellion against former President Jammeh as disqualifying for him to play a key role in the commission that must maintain the appearance of impartiality. He was wanted by Jammeh’s government on allegations of clearing at the ports a cache of weapons concealed in bales of used clothing and used in the clandestine operation.
As a result of taking part in the botched incident, Barrow, among four Gambian-U.S. citizens, was sentenced in May 2016 to “six months in prison” for, according to the Chicago Tribune, charges the U.S. District Attorney’s Office said was conspiring “to violate the Neutrality Act, which makes it illegal to take military action against a country with which the United States is “at peace.”” The hiring of Barrow, critics argued, failed the principle of fairness, a cardinal requirement of the TRRC Act which states that appointees to the commission must have high moral character and integrity, and no criminal record or involvement in human rights abuses in The Gambia.
Dr. Jallow disagreed, reiterating his previous justification of the appointment. “I think the critics of our appointment of Alagie Barrow should know that [the would-be coup plotters] were not out to topple a democratically elected government because that government had no regard for the democratic principles of our nation.” He went further to contend that, “If Jammeh can go public and say he will rule the country for a billion year without paying respect to the democratic values and principles of the country then how democratic was that regime?”
Many victims of the Jammeh’s regime called on the current administration to remove or suspend alleged perpetrators who are still serving in government. Such individuals, the victim pointed out, could temper with evidence the commission may need to inculpate them or their former colleagues in past crimes or criminal wrongdoing. In his response to concern about foul play by the former regime’s holdovers in government, Jallow said the commission has no power over whether potential witnesses have tempered with evidence, but that the commission has authority to identify and invite witnesses to testify.
“Alleged perpetrators might be serving in the current dispensation, but we have no powers to stop them from working. All we can do is to call witnesses to appear and whoever fails to appear we can ensure their arrest,” Jallow explained. Irrespective of alleged perpetrators still working in the system, he underscored, the commission would endeavor to deliver on its mandate to establish the truth and make recommendations to the government for further actions to be taken against members of the former regime who have committed heinous crimes.
The commission, according to Jallow, will hold its proceedings at the Dunes Resort Hotel where the government provided office space for the commission. The hotel which is under renovation to host the hearings, Jallow confirmed, is a property of former president Jammeh. It’s not clear whether the Dunnes Resort Hotel is among the 131 assets temporary frozen by a court injunction until the Janneh Commission submits its report, or under what arrangement the government came to reserve the hotel for the TRRC.
“The TRRC is not about being expensive or not, it’s about the necessity of finding a mechanism to heal a nation that has gone through trauma and thus, there is a need for such a process to be done,” said Professor Audrey Gadzekpo. Gadzekpo, is media consultant from Ghana who spoke to The Gambia Times on the benefits for a poor country like The Gambia undertaking such an enterprise for at least two years. She is in The Gambia to offer trainings to the media, state counsels and staff of the TRRC.
“There has been a long brutal rule in The Gambia where abuses and human rights violations took place, knowing that because of the culture of silence where nobody could have discussed it, nobody could address it or even say what have happened to victims then it becomes necessary for such a mechanism, if for nothing for those who have been victimized to have their day when they will publicly say this is what happened to me,” she said.
She argued that what happened in The Gambia wasn’t by an individual perpetrator of crimes, but that there were key individuals who led them, and there are reasons why people were complicit and these need to be known.
“The Gambia will not be the first country where perpetrators are still in possession of power and certainly it will not be the last, other countries have had similar issue but they had to address it and confront it,” Gadzekpo observed as she acknowledged some inherent challenges the TRRC could be confronting with regard to alleged perpetrators and their backers in key government positions tampering with evidence.
Lamin Fatty, a victim of Jammeh’s crimes who incidentally was also a staff of the defunct Independent Newspaper and an asylee in Senegal after fleeing the brutal regime of Jammeh, said The Gambia government must be very diligent in protecting critical evidence from possible witnesses, in positions of power, from destroying or tampering with them. Fatty said he is optimistic that the TRRC will deliver the truth, compensate victims and lead the country to the road of unity, peace and broader understanding so that what happened in the past will never reoccur. “All we (victims) want is for them to come out plain to the public and explain their reasons as to why they did what they did,” Fatty said.
Arguing the case for the TRRC, Sainey Touray, a member of the National Assembly for Jarra East constituency, said Gambians must understand that it is only a competent court of law that can establish whether someone is a perpetrator or not, and therefore cautioned that people should not use the word ‘perpetrator’ until an accused is found guilty.
“To me, Baba Galleh Jallow is very very competent person and being a veteran journalist for a very long time, I think he is highly qualified, and I believe his integrity is above the mark,” Touray vouched. Speaking on the controversial decision of hiring of Alagie Barrow as the director of research and investigation, the National Assembly Member argued that Barrow was never charged in a court of law in The Gambia by the former regime. The lawmaker noted that Barrow committed a crime in the U.S. where he was convicted and served his sentence. Touray said the baseline for appointment should be on competence, and he believed Barrow is competent to run the office of research and investigations for the TRRC.
The expectation of the TRCC in The Gambia, according to the Executive Secretary, is to establish the truth, identify and compensate the victims, prevent the reoccurrence of bad governance and dictatorship moving forward. If these are achieved, Jallow noted, then that would be success.