Iran Press/Africa: In 1994, Yahya Jammeh former Gambian dictator grabbed power in a military coup and ran the country for 22 years.
For 22 years, all Gambians suffered from Jammeh's harsh rule directly or indirectly including torture, massacres by death squads, extrajudicial executions, rape, and forced exile. Journalists and the opposition were silenced.
Aisha Jammeh, a niece to the former President and the co-founder of the Gambia Center for Victims of Human Rights Violations, in an interview with an Iran Press reporter in Banjul, talked about ECOWAS efforts to support Gambians in bringing former president and his accomplices into justice.
Aisha, lost her father, Haruna Jammeh, at the tender age of fourteen when Jammeh ordered his execution for unknown reasons.
Aisha Jammeh shared her feelings about the Ecowas plan to support the Gambia with a tribunal to bring ex-president Jammeh and his accomplices.
“I am happy that something is happening in terms of accountability mechanism, which is one of the key recommendations of the Truth Reconciliation Reparations Commission (TRRC) to ensure perpetrators who bear the highest responsibilities of crimes are procured said Aisha Jammeh.
Miss Jammeh is of the view that having the ECOWAS pledge Tribunal will enable the Gambia to prosecute crimes such as enforced disappearance and other crimes that are not within the laws of the Gambia, describing it as welcoming.
Aisha Jammeh informed Iran Press that her family has been waiting for justice for barely 18th years.
"my dad was killed in 2005 since then none of the family members can tell where my father is buried and that is also another issue that we have to deal with. I hope the tribunal can help support victims to know where their loved one is buried” Aisha Jammeh noted.
The young victim, Aisha Jammeh, hopes that the ECOWAS tribunal for The Gambia will pave the way for a forensic process that can generate evidence and uncover the whereabouts of victims of enforced disappearance during the presidency of Yahya Jammeh.
Aisha told Iran press that when her father, Aruna Jammeh, was allegedly murdered by Yahya Jammeh, the family was unable to discuss the disappearance of their loved one until 2016 when Jammeh was defeated.
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