In a landmark decision, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) announced on Sunday, December 15, the creation of a special tribunal to prosecute crimes committed during Yahya Jammeh’s dictatorship in Gambia between 1994 and 2017. The tribunal targets at least 70 individuals, including Jammeh himself, who remains in exile in Equatorial Guinea. The charges include atrocities such as the execution of over 240 people.
Gambian President Adama Barrow, in a statement from the Ministry of Justice, praised the decision as “historic,” highlighting that it marks the first time ECOWAS has established a tribunal to address serious crimes within a member state. Barrow expressed his “gratitude” for what he described as a “monumental step” toward justice and accountability.
The tribunal will comprise both Gambian officials and legal experts from across the West African sub-region. A special prosecutor, expected to be appointed in the coming months, will have the power to bring cases before Gambian courts as necessary.
The tribunal’s mandate stems from the findings of Gambia’s Truth, Reconciliation, and Reparations Commission (TRRC), launched in 2018 to investigate abuses under Jammeh’s 22-year regime. The commission documented severe human rights violations, including extrajudicial killings, forced disappearances, torture, rape, arbitrary imprisonment, and fraudulent medical treatments for AIDS patients. These testimonies prompted Gambian authorities to pursue legal action against 70 officials linked to the regime.
Jammeh, who fled to Equatorial Guinea after his 2016 electoral defeat, remains the key figure in these proceedings. The tribunal’s regional status adds significant weight to its efforts, reflecting the collective will of ECOWAS to hold perpetrators accountable. This unified stance could bolster calls for Equatorial Guinea to extradite Jammeh, despite the absence of a formal extradition treaty between the two nations.
The establishment of this tribunal represents a decisive move toward justice for Jammeh’s victims and underscores ECOWAS’s commitment to addressing impunity. It also sets a powerful precedent for regional cooperation in tackling grave human rights abuses across West Africa.