The verdict in the case of former minister Ousman Sonko, expected on May 15, 2024, will be another important milestone, not only for international justice but also the fledgling transitional justice process in The Gambia.
The trial of the former powerful minister in the administration of former President Yahya Jammeh, during which the atrocities he is accused of were committed, has brought about a general sentiment of hope for justice among the victims.
Many have expressed satisfaction at the judicial process, pointing out that the fact that Sonko was tried thousands of kilometres away in Switzerland was an affirmation that there is no safe haven for perpetrators of human rights violations.
“You can’t hide anywhere anymore, and the trial of Bai Lowe in Germany and Ousman Sonko in Switzerland attests to that. It is something that other countries should follow,” said Sheriff Kijera, a former chairman of the Gambia Centre for Victims of Human Rights Violations.
He added that regardless of the outcome, Sonko’s trial is a move in the right direction and is worth celebrating.
For many victims, the high point of the trial was that they were offered an opportunity to confront the perpetrator and give their account of what happened to them.
“I have felt a sense of relief since this trial started and I am happy that I participated in the process. What this man has done to me is horrible and he needs to pay for his crimes,” said a victim who testified against Sonko before the Swiss Federal Criminal Court (FCC), in Bellinzona.
Although she is hoping for a guilty verdict and imprisonment for Sonko, she thinks there is still a long way to go for victims to attain justice.
“There are many other perpetrators like Sonko who are walking free in the streets and we do not know when their victims, the people who have now become my family, will get justice,” she said
Kijera was optimistic that the prosecution’s case would triumph and that the judgment would favour the victims, adding that he hoped it would give impetus to the Gambian government to speed up the establishment of a hybrid court to prosecute the big perpetrators.
“The journey hasn’t been easy. Transitional justice is not your everyday justice; it demands the involvement of many players. The TRRC helped in unearthing the violations. It was good for the court in Switzerland to get to hear what had happened in The Gambia the findings of the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC) have provided them with a good resource,” he added.
He praised the media for playing an important role in the process and singled out Journalists For Justice (JFJ) for its consistency in producing in-depth reports on the matter.
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The trial of former Gambian minister Ousman Sonko was concluded on March 8, 2024, in Switzerland, opening a new chapter of hope for justice for the victims of the Yahya Jammeh dictatorship as they wait for the court to announce the date when it will read its verdict.
Should Sonko be convicted of the crimes against humanity charges he faces and get life imprisonment, as the prosecution has asked, then this would herald a historic victory, not only for the eight plaintiffs who travelled thousands of kilometres to face their alleged tormentor in the Swiss Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona, but also for the hundreds of other Gambian victims at home who have been waiting for the increasingly elusive justice as the transitional process progresses get off to a slow start.
It would also be a triumph for the human rights defenders and activists who have been campaigning for the speeding up of the accountability process for the Jammeh-era crimes.
The former Gambian minister has consistently denied all the charges against him which include murder, sexual offences, torture, and deprivation of liberty.
In his closing arguments, defence counsel Philippe Currat reiterated the objections he had presented during his opening statements, although the court had already ruled on them. He opposed the charge of crimes against humanity, asking the court to dismiss it on the consideration of the principle of non-retroactivity of the law since the Swiss provision on crimes against humanity entered into force in January 2011, and, therefore, according to him, could not apply to acts that took place before then.
The defence further argued that most of the charges Sonko is facing are time-barred, even though the prosecution has explained that crimes against humanity charges have no statute of limitations. It disagreed with the prosecution’s characterisation of the alleged offences as crimes against humanity based on the elements of a systematic or generalised attack, adding that the plaintiffs did not meet the characteristics of a “civilian population” as some of them were “…coup plotters or non-law-abiding citizens… not targeted because they were part of the civilian population, but… in response to their actions”.
According to the defence, the charge of the murder of Almamo Manneh, a member of the State Guard whom he was accused of luring into a trap and helping to kill in 2000, should be dismissed because it was time-barred, as should the charge of rape against his widow.
Sonko has denied any responsibility for the torture suffered by the plaintiffs in March 2006, after they were accused of taking part in an attempted coup. He insisted that he had no authority over the panel set up to investigate the alleged coup, although he was a powerful member of the group, which ordered the torture, or the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and the Junglers death squad, whose members carried out the torture.
The defence disclaimed what it termed the prosecution’s casting of Sonko as a master schemer and strategist in the plan to systematically suppress perceived opponents in order to keep the Jammeh regime in power, insisting that Sonko did not have the authority to order the detention or release of the plaintiffs as he did not have control over the prisons although he was at one time the chief of the police and the Minister for Interior.
In the case of the 2011 murder of Baba Jobe, the politician who was imprisoned after falling out with Jammeh, Sonko denied any involvement in paving the way for the Junglers who were sent to strangle him in his hospital bed.
The defence said the former minister did not participate in the torture of the people arrested after the April 14, 2016, demonstration, which he falsely claimed was not peaceful.
Sonko denied any responsibility in the crimes he has been accused of and condemned violence and torture. He lamented about the conditions under which he has been detained in Switzerland, claiming that they had negatively affected his health.
The prosecutor, Sabrina Beyeler, asked the court to convict Sonko and give him a life sentence, saying he had been unrepentant and uncooperative, and had refused to take responsibility for his actions, which had caused great suffering.
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The prosecutor did not agree with the Sonko team’s conclusions, arguing that the historical context of the reign of Yahya Jammeh (from 1995 to 2016 ) and the abuses that have been recorded demonstrate that an attack was directed against the civilian population in The Gambia and, therefore, the crimes committed under his leadership are considered to be crimes against humanity. According to the prosecution, the attacks took the form of arbitrary arrests, unlawful imprisonments, torture and inhumane treatments, as well as rapes and other forms of sexual violence.
“The crimes committed during Yahya Jammeh’s government were part of a repressive policy that disenfranchised the civilian population attacked on Gambian territory,” Beyeler said.
She dismissed the former minister’s efforts to downplay his role in Jammeh’s administration, saying as Jammeh and his enablers stepped up their efforts to oppress the people and consolidate power, Sonko’s star was on the rise, with his career steadily progressing until he reached the pinnacle as Minister for the Interior.
For the role he played in the crimes, the prosecutor asked that Sonko be locked away for the rest of his life.
“The accused continues to deny all charges and has not confessed. Furthermore, he has shown neither understanding nor remorse… The non-cooperation, the lack of remorse, the lack of understanding and the lack of confession therefore have a neutral effect on the sentence,” she said.
The plaintiffs’ representative agreed with the prosecution’s assessment of the prominent role Sonko had played in the torture and suffering of her clients and dismissed his attempts to downplay his part in the crimes. The plaintiffs considered the prosecution’s request for a harsh sentence to be justified due to Sonko’s perceived lack of remorse.
“In court, the accused showed himself to be a man who – despite the knowledge that he can no longer deny after the TRRC and the present proceedings – still supports the repressive policies of the state’s collective of perpetrators today,” she said.
Sonko is the highest-ranking state official ever tried for international crimes in application of the principle of universal jurisdiction in Europe. His trial is the second in history to address crimes committed in The Gambia under the dictatorship of Yahya Jammeh based on this principle. In October 2023, Bai Lowe, being tried in Germany, was sentenced to life imprisonment for his role as a driver to the Junglers. He was convicted of crimes against humanity, murder, and attempted murder.
Micheal Sang Correa, another Jungler, has appeared in court in the US state of Colorado and will stand trial from September 2024.
The opening of Sonko’s trial on January 8, 2024, was another watershed moment in the quest for justice for victims of atrocity crimes. The hearings were finalised on January 23, 2024 and the closing arguments took place between March 4 and 7, 2024.
