This is an important step in the transitional justice process in The Gambia. The Gambian Reparations Commission announced on Monday the start of compensation payments to victims of human rights violations committed between July 1994 and January 2017, under the regime of former President Yahya Jammeh.
These payments will be made in phases to the victims identified during the investigation conducted by the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC).
For several years, the commission conducted in-depth investigations into human rights violations, collected testimonies from victims and witnesses, and formulated recommendations on reparations, national reconciliation, and transitional justice measures.
Launched in December 2017 and operational since January 2019, this commission was mandated to conduct an impartial historical assessment of the violations committed between 1994 and 2017, to promote reconciliation, to address the needs of victims, and to prevent the recurrence of such abuses. It was also tasked with determining the fate of missing persons and proposing appropriate mechanisms for reparations and prevention.
In November 2021, when the TRRC's final report was handed over to President Adama Barrow, Michèle Eken, Amnesty International's West Africa researcher, said that the report should "pave the way for an unequivocal commitment from the Gambian authorities that justice and reparations will finally be granted to the victims of decades of human rights violations" .
She recalled that for more than 20 years, Gambian women and men had been tortured, summarily executed or arbitrarily detained, in a climate of enforced disappearances, sexual violence, attacks on freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.
According to Amnesty, the report allows the government "to shed full light on this dark period and ensure that victims receive reparations" .
