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Momodou
Denmark
11668 Posts |
 Posted - 16 Nov 2021 : 17:54:39
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INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
From Truth to Justice - The implementation of TRRC recommendations on prosecutions
Wednesday 17 November - Jawara Center 9:30a.m. - 1.30 p.m.
Session 1 - The importance of accountability in The
Gambia Session 2 - Lessons from Africa
Session 3 - What kind of accountability mechanism is best suited to the Gambia situation?
Coffee and refreshments
Session 4 - The voices of victims
Session 5 - The Government and implementation of the TRRC recommandations
Q&A
Introduction and welcome - Salieu Taal, President of the Gambia Bar Association Chair - Gaye Sowe
Video "Truth and justice in the Gambia"
Neneh M.C. Cham - Human rights lawyer
Fatou Jagne Senghore - Executive Director, Article 19 West Africa
Tiawan Gongloe, President, Liberia National Bar Association
Video message from Clement Abaifouta, President, Association of Victims of the Crimes of the Hissène Habré Regime - Chad
Howard Varney, Senior program advisor, ICTJ
Stephen Rapp, former United States Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues Salieu Taal, President, Gambia Bar Association
BBC News video, Focus on Africa, "The murder of West African migrants"
Reed Brody, International Commission of Jurists
Message from Adama Dieng, Special Advisor to the Prosecutor, International Criminal Court
Message from Luciano Hazan, Member of the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances
Ayeshah Jammeh, program officer, Gambia Center for victims of Human rights violations
Sirra Ndow, country coordinator, ANEKED
Emmanuel Joof, Chairperson, National Human Rights Commission
END
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A clear conscience fears no accusation - proverb from Sierra Leone |
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Momodou
Denmark
11668 Posts |
Posted - 17 Nov 2021 : 17:46:29
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Statement of Mr. Adama DIENG
Special Adviser Without Portfolio to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court ;
Former United Nations Under- Secretary-General and Special : Adviser of the Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide, and former Registrar of the UN International Criminal Tribunal for
Rwanda
17 November 2021
Dear Gambian and international friends
It is a great pleasure to address this conference on the implementation of the recommendations of the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission.
Gambia’s TRRC has been a model in the field of transitional justice. Over two years of publicly televised sessions, the TRRC heard from 392 witnesses, including victims and perpetrators .
The witnesses tied the former president and his accomplices to the killing and torture of political opponents, the murder of over 50 West African migrants, and abusive “witch hunts”. Witnesses testified that the former president raped and sexually assaulted women brought to him and personally ran a sham treatment program that forced HIV-positive Gambians to give up their medicines.
One of the TRRC’s tasks is the “identification and recommendation for prosecution of persons who bear the greatest responsibility for human rights violations and abuses.”
At the end of the TRRC hearings, the Lead Counsel concluded that « justice must happen » for these crimes. The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court , Mr. Karim Khan, whom I serve as special advisor, publicly stated that he agreed with the conclusion of the Lead Counsel.
The legal responsibility for prosecuting these crimes rests in the first instance with the government of The Gambia. We hope and we expect that The Gambia will be able effectively to prosecute these crimes, either alone or with the support of regional or international partners.
If The Gambia is unwilling or unable to prosecute these serious crimes, however, the International Criminal Court, in conformity with the principle of complementarity, may do its part in investigating and prosecuting those most responsible.
It is also possible that many of these crimes, in particular the murder of the West African migrants from Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal and elsewhere, could be prosecuted by other states under principles such as universal jurisdiction.
Let us be clear, however. Whether it is in The Gambia, in another African country, before a special court, or at the ICC, justice must happen and justice will happen. Impunity is not an option.
Thank you. |
A clear conscience fears no accusation - proverb from Sierra Leone |
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INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE From Truth to Justice
