By Sanna Camara

Committee on Enforced Disappearance, under the Geneva-based United Nations Office of the High Commission on Human Rights (OHCR), has raised questions about The Gambia’s handling of Junglers situation, especially around prosecutions, justice, and reparations for victims.

On 19^th March 2025, the Committee on Enforced Disappearances concluded its consideration of the initial report of the Gambia, with Committee Experts commending the State on the reparations act, while raising questions on the work of the county’s Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission and the timeline for victims to receive compensation.

“A Committee Expert said real cases of enforced disappearances had taken place in the country, involving the Junglers from the former regime, and it was likely they would be prosecuted,” a statement posted on the website of the UN Human Rights Commissioner stated.

“The victims were known and were still dealing with their suffering. Would those victims have to wait until the cases were prosecuted and the perpetrators convicted? It was likely the reparations would not be paid by the Junglers but rather the State. Should victims have to wait until the completion of the trials for compensation or reparations?’ experts quizzed the Gambian delegation to the review exercise this week.

A press release from The Gambia’s Embassy of The Republic of The Gambia to the Swiss Confederation, and the Permanent Mission of the Republic of The Gambia to the United Nations Office, WTO, and Other International Organisations in Geneva, issued a press release that came very short on any useful detail and substance on the review activity held in Geneva this week.

“A high-level delegation led by the H.E Dawda A Jallow, Attorney General & Minister of Justice participated in the dialogue, comprising senior officials from the Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Justice, The Gambia Amed Forces, The Gambia Police Force, The Gambia Prison Service, and the State lntelligence Services. The delegation received invaluable support from The Gambia Permanent Mission in Geneva, under the able leadership of H.E. Ambassador Prof. Muhammadou M.0. Kah,” government press release stated.

According to the release, the initial report, which was inclusively prepared and submitted to the Committee in 2021, “reflects The Gambia’s commitment to addressing enforced disappearances, strengthening legal frameworks, and ensuring justice for victims and their families. The review provided an important opportunity for The Gambia to present the measures undertaken to prevent enforced disappearances, protect victims, and hold perpetrators accountable in line with its international obligations since the ratification of the Convention in 2018.”

However, the summary of the meeting posted on the OHCHR website quoted the Gambian delegation as saying, in its response to queries on Junglers, reparations, compensations and justice for victims, that the programme for the recommendations of the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission was ambitious, and the State planned to implement these within five years.

“Apart from the few cases prosecuted, including those of the nine intelligence officers, the State had taken a decision to do away with the piecemeal approach, until the Special Prosecutor was appointed, and the Special Court was ready. The advertisement for the recruitment of the Special Prosecutor would soon be launched. All materials from the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission would then be handed over to the Prosecutor, and they would decide on future prosecutions, including the former President,” the delegation reportedly told the Committee.

“Victims did not have to wait for perpetrators to be prosecuted to receive reparations,” the delegation said, noting that as the victims were already known, there was nothing they needed to prove.

“The State understood the process of justice was a different ballgame from recognising someone’s victimhood. There was a set criterion to determine who was a victim, and those who fit this criterion were entitled to everything a victim was entitled to,” the delegation told the Committee.

The delegation, in its press release, described the review process as “constructive” engagement “with the Committee on Enforced Disappearances, responding to observations and reaffirming The Gambia’s dedication to enhancing its legal and institutional mechanisms.”

The Attorney General and Minister of Justice of the Republic of the Gambia, Mr Dawda Jallow, who headed The Gambian delegation, told the Committee that the history of the Gambia had been shaped by a painful past, in which enforced disappearances were systematically used as a tool of oppression. That, with the democratic transition in 2017, the country made a firm commitment to break from the past and ensure that such atrocities never happened again.

The Gambia ratified the Convention on Enforced Disappearances in 2018, and at the First World Conference on Enforced Disappearances in January 2025, the State pledged to finalise the enforced disappearance bill by 2026, ensuring the full domestication of the Convention into the country’s legal framework.