Gambia’s New Law Could See Former Dictator Jammeh Tried Locally

(Bloomberg) -- Gambian lawmakers have passed two new bills that could see former dictator Yahya Jammeh tried locally for crimes committed during his 22-year rule of the West African country.

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The bills allow for the creation of a special prosecutor and the setting up of a special tribunal, modeled upon international courts established to adjudicate cases of serious human rights violations, the Ministry of Justice said in a post on X. The special tribunal will employ Gambian and non-Gambian judges, prosecutors and staff, it said.

A truth commission that ended its probe on the ex-leader’s human rights record in 2021 found Jammeh to be responsible for incidents of murder, rape and torture during his regime that ended in 2016 after an election loss. Jammeh has since been in exile in Equatorial Guinea. In November a German court sentenced Bai Lowe, a former Gambian soldier who served under Jammeh to life imprisonment for crimes against humanity.

President Adama Barrow is expected to sign the so-called Special Prosecutor’s Office Bill and Special Accountability Mechanism Bill into law within a month, the Ministry of Justice said.

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