Reed Brody, commonly known as ‘Dictator Hunterʼ has called for swift action and prosecution of those culpable in the grave human rights violations, including extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances committed during the former President, Yahya Jammeh era.
Speaking ahead of the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, the International human rights lawyer and prosecutor made the remarks on Thursday in a telephone interview with this medium.
The day was set aside by the UN to address growing cases of enforced disappearances and abuse.
“The infrastructure for prosecutions finally exists. The question now is whether it moves forward with the necessary speed.” he said.
He commended Gambiaʼs truth commission progress, specially on the post-TRRC implementation for enforced disappearances
“The good news is that Gambia has moved further than almost any other African country that came out of a truth commission: the Special Accountability Mechanism Act passed in 2024, ECOWAS approved the hybrid Special Tribunal in December 2024, and this year the government finally appointed a Special Prosecutor, Martin Hackett, to lead investigations into the TRRC cases.
That’s real institutional progress, and it shouldn’t be minimized.” he stated.
Justice and enforced disappearance cases he said, are exactly where the gap between the two shows up most starkly.
“These are cases where families still don’t have bodies, don’t have confirmed fates, and in some instances don’t even have a clear administrative status for their missing relative. The TRRC documented what happened to the “Junglers'” victims, to the 56 West African migrants, to Ebrima Manneh — and Saul Ndow but naming a crime is not the same as prosecuting it.”
For him the post-TRRC implementation isn’t whether the architecture exists on paper, “its whether the Special Prosecutor’s Office actually has the resources, forensic capacity, and political backing to turn those findings into indictments — particularly the hardest cases, the disappearances, where the evidentiary burden is heaviest precisely because the perpetrators worked to leave no trace.” he argued.
He continued: “After the powerful public testimonies at the TRRC which deeply impacted Gambians, there is strong expectation, that the government will deliver justice – including criminal trials – without further delay for victims who have already waited 8 years, and in some cases much longer.”
