The Gambia is suspending state employees accused of rights violations during ex-dictator Yahya Jammehs regime, including senior members of the countrys security forces, a justice ministry spokesperson said Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The move marks a significant step forward in the countrys transitional justice process.<\/p>\n
The ministry has written to the employers of those concerned to notify them of their suspension, spokesman Kimbeng Tah told AFP Tuesday.<\/p>\n
It expects confirmation of the suspensions in the coming days, he said.<\/p>\n
The commander of the police forces Anti-Crime Unit, Gorgui Mboob, and the Drug Law Enforcement Agencys director of operations, Ebrima Jim Drammeh, are among those named.<\/p>\n
A truth commission that investigated alleged crimes committed by the state under the now-exiled leaders 22-year rule accused dozens of current and former state personnel of a litany of abuses.<\/p>\n
Members of the police, the army, the intelligence services and the prison services were among those accused of offences including torture, sexual violence and extrajudicial killings.<\/p>\n
The move is one of the first concrete actions taken to implement the truth commissions recommendations.<\/p>\n
Reed Brody, a lawyer with the International Commission of Jurists who works with Jammehs victims, welcomed the news.<\/p>\n
Its a tangible, concrete step by the government, he said.<\/p>\n
On May 25, the government accepted all but two of the 265 recommendations made in the commissions final report, tabled late last year.<\/p>\n
Those included recommendations to prosecute Jammeh himself for a swathe of crimes, from raping a beauty queen to using death squads.<\/p>\n
He is also accused of ordering the murder of the AFP journalist Deyda Hydara and administering bogus HIV treatment programmes.<\/p>\n
Jammeh is living in exile in Equatorial Guinea, which has no extradition treaty with The Gambia.<\/p>\n
Victims groups have urged authorities to do more to extradite the ex-president for prosecution.<\/p>\n
Government spokesman Ebrima Sankareh last week told AFP that authorities had hired foreign and Gambian lawyers to outline next steps for a trial, which could begin by the end of the year.<\/p>\n
The government has already said it will prosecute all 70 alleged perpetrators named in the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commissions twice-delayed report.<\/p>\n
That includes former vice president Isatou Njie-Saidy and members of the so-called Junglers hit squad.<\/p>\n
The authorities have also begun working on a reparations bill.<\/p>\n
Jammeh was forced into exile in early 2017 after his shock electoral defeat to current President Adama Barrow and a six-week crisis that led to military intervention by other West African states.<\/p>\n
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Gambia moves to suspend officials accused of rights violations - Macau Business<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Gambia is suspending state employees accused of rights violations during ex-dictator Yahya Jammehs regime, including senior members of the countrys security forces, a justice ministry spokesperson said Tuesday. Continue reading