ECOWAS Approval for Institution of Special Tribunal for The Gambia – LamToro News
EFSCRJ hereby welcomes the choice by the ECOWAS Authority at its 66th Ordinary Session in approving the institution of the Special Tribunal for The Gambia. We contemplate this determination as a fulfilment of the obligation of ECOWAS in mild of the letter and spirit of the ECOWAS Protocol on Good Governance and Democracy, the ECOWAS Vision 2050, and the expressed statements and engagements that ECOWAS has had with the Gambia within the wake of the 2016 presidential election. The approval for the institution of the Special Tribunal is subsequently a logical conclusion of the trail and position that ECOWAS has performed to make sure the departure of Dictator Yaya Jammeh and the triumph of the 2016 election outcomes.
We want to equally commend the Gambia Government for endeavor a transitional justice program in 2017 resulting in the creation of the TRRC which offered a lot of the knowledge crucial to make sure justice and accountability. We additional commend the Government for creating the mandatory authorized frameworks for the organising and operating of the Special Tribunal.
Having famous that, EFSCRJ needs to name on the Gambia Government to comprehend the immense duty positioned on its fingers by the ECOWAS determination to make sure that the institution and functioning of the Special Tribunal is performed in accordance with the ideas and requirements of professionalism, transparency, and effectivity. We urge the Government to take pressing steps with due diligence and dedication to expedite the organising of this establishment and be certain that justice just isn’t solely achieved however seen to be achieved. We needn’t remind the Government of the worth and that means of this courtroom when it comes to selling peace, justice, reconciliation, and reparations. For that matter, the affairs of this courtroom have to be dealt with with utmost honesty, openness, and inclusion to generate complete belief and confidence in all Gambians therefore assure its legitimacy and relevance.
Furthermore, EFSCRJ hereby reminds the Government that other than prosecutions, the TRRC has really helpful reparations, authorized and institutional reforms, memorialization, interdiction of sure people from holding public workplace, in addition to the abandonment of sure malpractices in public establishments and throughout the political house and society. We urge the Government to equally act with diligence and effectiveness on all these suggestions, a few of which bear no price to implement.
More than two years after the discharge of the Government White Paper on the TRRC Recommendations, we’re vastly involved on the poor price of implementation of the suggestions. As highlighted within the Implementation Dashboard (https://www.gm-nhrc.org/trrc-dashboard) of The National Human Rights Commission, we name on the Government to expedite the method of implementation to supply full closure to victims. The scars of Dictatorship stay deep and prevalent on victims and the broader society therefore the necessity to expedite implementation can’t be over-emphasized. We can’t absolutely institutionalize the ‘Never Again’ agenda until the TRRC Recommendations are carried out in full.
In the Spirit of Edward Francis Small, For The Gambia Our Homeland
Madi Jobarteh
Executive Director
Edward Francis Small Centre for Rights and Justice
EFSCRJ
