30 years later, Gambia’s slain troopers’ households nonetheless combat for justice
Every 12 months, as November 11 rolls round, the ache for the households of Gambia’s executed troopers sharpens anew. For them, time has not dulled the grief.
Instead, the anniversary of this tragic day serves as a stark reminder of a darkish chapter within the nation’s historical past—a chapter that continues to be largely unresolved and unpunished.
On November 11, 1994, within the wake of a navy coup led by Lieutenant Yahya Jammeh, the brand new regime carried out a brutal purge. Several troopers accused of conspiring in opposition to the coup had been executed, together with Lieutenant Basiru Barrow, Sergeant Abdoulie Dot Faal, and Bakary Manneh. These males, loyal to the ousted authorities of President Dawda Jawara, had been detained, tortured, and killed by fellow troopers below Jammeh’s orders.
For the victims’ households, the ache stays uncooked, compounded by a long time of silence and impunity. The executions had been a part of Jammeh’s wider technique to consolidate energy after overthrowing Jawara’s authorities. The males had been arrested with out trial and their deaths had been by no means formally defined.
For Sunkary Yarboe, the widow of Lt. Basiru Barrow, the private toll is immeasurable. “I was only 11 months old when my father was killed. I never had the chance to know him,” she says. “It feels like part of me is missing.”
The reminiscence of that fateful day nonetheless haunts the households of the slain troopers. Awa Njie, widow of Sgt. Abdoulie Dot Faal, speaks tearfully: “Every year, our hearts melt. We remember that day, the pain, the loss. It feels like we are stuck in time, unable to move forward because justice hasn’t come.”
Jammeh’s 22-year rule was marred by rampant human rights abuses, together with extrajudicial killings, compelled disappearances, and violence in opposition to opponents. The troopers executed on November 11, 1994, weren’t the one victims of his regime, however their deaths stand as a strong image of the injustice and cruelty endured by so many.
It wasn’t till 2016, after Jammeh was defeated in a presidential election and fled into exile, that Gambia started to reckon with its previous. A key step on this course of got here in 2018 with the creation of the Truth, Reconciliation, and Reparations Commission (TRRC), tasked with investigating the crimes dedicated below Jammeh’s regime.
For the households of these executed on November 11, the TRRC supplied a glimmer of hope. The fee’s hearings allowed victims to testify, and a few former authorities officers even admitted their involvement within the killings. However, whereas the TRRC issued suggestions for prosecutions, the households of the November 11 victims really feel these steps fall far wanting justice.
Fatou Manneh, the sister of Bakary Manneh, is a kind of nonetheless ready for accountability. “Jammeh killed so many people, and my brother was one of them,” she says, her voice trembling. “My parents died from the shock of losing him. The grief took them too.”
For Isatou Marong, the widow of Lt. Basiru Barrow, the combat for justice isn’t just private; it’s for the hundreds of others who suffered below Jammeh’s reign. “We cannot let them walk free,” she says. “We must keep fighting for justice—for the lives that were stolen too soon.”
As Gambia continues its journey towards therapeutic, the combat for justice stays on the coronary heart of the nation’s ongoing transition.
Reporting by Adama Makasuba
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