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Momodou
Denmark
11641 Posts |
 Posted - 19 Apr 2023 : 14:20:46
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Switzerland indicts Ousman Sonko for crimes against humanity
Apr 19, 2023
https://thepoint.gm/africa/gambia/headlines/switzerland-indicts-ousman-sonko-for-crimes-against-humanity
Switzerland's attorney general has filed an indictment against Gambia's former interior minister for crimes against humanity committed under former authoritarian leader Yahya Jammeh, it said in a statement on Tuesday.
Ousman Sonko is accused of having supported, participated in and failed to prevent "systematic and generalised attacks" as part of a repressive campaign by security forces against Jammeh's opponents, the Office of the Attorney General said.
Sonko's lawyer was not immediately available for comment.
Sonko was interior minister from 2006 to 2016, when he fled to Sweden and from there to Switzerland, where he applied for asylum.
He was arrested by Swiss police in January 2017 after the Geneva-based legal group Trial International filed a complaint under the principle of universal jurisdiction that allows prosecution of the most serious crimes irrespective of where they were committed.
Sonko has been held in Switzerland ever since.
The case is set to be heard by Switzerland's Federal Criminal Court at an unspecified date. It will be the country's second ever crimes against humanity trial.
"We are very satisfied that this is going ahead," said Philip Grant, executive director of TRIAL International.
"We hope this will generate momentum and that the trial will put pressure on Equatorial Guinea to eventually extradite Jammeh," he added. Gambia's former president fled there after a political crisis in 2017.
Human rights activists in Gambia welcomed the indictment.
Sheriff Mohammed Kijera from the Gambia Center for Victims of Human Rights Violations said the indictment set a precedent for the Gambian government to "take its responsibility to bring Yaya Jammeh and his henchmen to face justice."
"Today we rejoice that finally justice has caught up with one of the key perpetrators against Gambians, whose victims continue to live in pain and misery," said Madi Jobarteh, a human rights activist.
Gambia, a tiny West African country of 2.5 million, is still reeling from over two decades under former president Jammeh marked by authoritarianism and alleged abuses. Jammeh has denied allegations of wrongdoing. Source: Reuters
Victims’ Reactions
Sheriff Mohammed Kijera, chairman, Gambia Center for Victims of Human Rights Violation (Victims Center) said: The Victims Center is deeply excited by the news of Ousman Sonko's indictment by the Swiss authorities. It is good news for international justice system, and by all indications, it has once again reaffirmed that there is no torture safe haven anywhere in the world. This has set the precedent for the Government of the Gambia to take its responsibility to bring Yaya Jammeh and his henchmen to face justice.
Baba Hydara, son of the late Deyda Hydara, the journalist who was assassinated by the junglers who were working on the instructions of Ousman Sonko, said that they welcome the indictment of Sonko knowing fully well the atrocities he had committed during the 22 years rule of Yaya Jammeh (1994 - 2016).
“We, Gambians welcome the indictment. We are looking forward to justice being served.”
Pap Saine, co- founder of The Point Newspaper said that the indictment of Sonko was long overdue for the past 6 years. We, the victims of his atrocities have been looking forward to Sonko's indictment. Sonko was a killer acting under the orders of his boss, former President Jammeh. Sonko deserves to face the penalty for what he did in the past.
“The indictment of Ousman Sonko is indeed welcoming news which is a significant step towards justice and accountability for the crimes committed by the Jammeh regime against Gambians. Yes, the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends towards justice. After seven years, today we rejoice that finally justice has caught up with one of the key perpetrators against Gambians, whose victims continue to live in pain and misery. I hope the trial will take far shorter time leading to the maximum sentence for Sonko,” says Madi Jobarteh, Human Rights Activist The Gambia.
Demba D.A. Jawo: “Civil society and human rights activists in The Gambia have welcomed the decision by the Swiss authorities to charge a former Interior minister during the Yahya Jammeh dictatorship with crimes against humanity. Ousman Sonko’s name had featured quite negatively in virtually all inquiries about atrocities committed during the Jammeh era. His activities of torture and harassment of perceived opponents of the regime were quite prominently highlighted by many victims of the Jammeh regime during proceedings of the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC) that was set up to investigate the atrocities committed by the regime.”
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A clear conscience fears no accusation - proverb from Sierra Leone |
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Momodou
Denmark
11641 Posts |
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Momodou
Denmark
11641 Posts |
Posted - 19 Apr 2023 : 14:54:29
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Reed Brody welcomes indictment of Ousman Sonko in Switzerland
April 19, 2023
By Omar Bah
https://standard.gm/reed-brody-welcomes-indictment-of-ousman-sonko-in-switzerland/
International human rights defender Reed Brody, famous for hunting dictators and bringing them to justice, has welcome Swiss prosecutors’ decision to charge Gambian former interior minister Ousman Sonko with crimes against humanity.
Yesterday, Swiss prosecutors said they have charged Sonko with crimes against humanity for his alleged role in years of repression by the country’s security forces against opponents of its long-time dictator Yahya Jammeh.
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Reacting to this development in a Standard exclusive yesterday, Brody, who successfully worked to bring former Chadian dictator Habrè to justice and is working to achieve similar success against Jammeh, said: “The long arm of the law is catching up with Yahya Jammeh and his accomplices around the world. Jammeh’s henchmen have been indicted in Germany, Switzerland and the United States, and the Gambia government has committed itself to the prosecution of his accomplices in The Gambia, and of Jammeh himself, now in Equatorial Guinea.”
Sonko served as Gambia’s interior minister from 2006 to 2016 under former president Yahya Jammeh. He applied for asylum in Switzerland in November 2016 and was arrested in January 2017.
The Swiss attorney general’s office said the indictment, which was filed Monday in Switzerland’s Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona, covers alleged crimes between 2000 and 2016.
Sonko “is accused, in his various capacities and positions, of having supported, participated in and failed to prevent systematic and generalised attacks as part of the repression carried out by the Gambian security forces against all opponents of the regime,” the office said in a statement.
Jammeh, who seized control in a 1994 coup, lost Gambia’s 2016 presidential election but refused to concede defeat to Adama Barrow. He ultimately fled amid threats of a regional military intervention to force him from power.
Barrow’s government last year announced that it was setting up a special prosecutor’s office to investigate for severe human rights violations and potentially charge Jammeh. The investigation came in response to recommendations from a truth, reconciliation and reparations commission, which said Jammeh should face prosecution for murder, torture and sexual violence under his rule.
Sonko, who joined the Gambian military in 1988, was appointed as commander of the State Guard in 2003, a position in which he was responsible for Jammeh’s security, Swiss prosecutors said. He was made inspector general of the Gambian police in 2005.
Sonko was removed as interior minister in September 2016, a few months before the end of Jammeh’s government, and left Gambia for Europe to seek asylum.
Swiss prosecutors said they conducted numerous interviews with the suspect, as well with about 40 interviews with plaintiffs, witnesses and others providing information, and made six trips to Gambia during their investigation.
The attorney general’s office said it “accuses the defendant in particular of having, in the context of five events between 2000 and 2016, participated, ordered, facilitated and/or failed to prevent killings, acts of torture, acts of rape and numerous unlawful detentions.” |
A clear conscience fears no accusation - proverb from Sierra Leone |
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Momodou
Denmark
11641 Posts |
Posted - 20 Apr 2023 : 10:24:44
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https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/former-gambian-minister-charged-with-crimes-against-humanity/48444196
Former Gambian minister charged with crimes against humanity
Ousman Sonko
Swiss prosecutors have charged a former interior minister of the Gambia with crimes against humanity for his alleged role in years of repression by the west African country’s security forces against opponents of its long-time dictator.
This content was published on April 18, 2023
April 18, 2023
3 minutes
AP/Keystone-SDA/ts
Other languages: 2 (EN original)
Ousman Sonko was the Gambia’s interior minister from 2006 to 2016 under then-President Yahya Jammeh. He applied for asylum in Switzerland in November 2016 and was arrested in January 2017.
The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) said the indictment, which was filed on Monday in Switzerland’s Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona, covers alleged crimes between 2000 and 2016.
Sonko “is accused, in his various capacities and positions, of having supported, participated in and failed to prevent systematic and generalised attacks as part of the repression carried out by the Gambian security forces against all opponents of the regime”, the office said in a statementExternal link on Tuesday.
Jammeh, who seized control in a 1994 coup, lost the Gambia’s 2016 presidential election but refused to concede defeat to Adama Barrow. Jammeh eventually fled amid threats of a regional military intervention to force him from power.
Asylum-seeker
Sonko, who joined the Gambian military in 1988, was appointed as commander of the State Guard in 2003, a position in which he was responsible for Jammeh’s security, Swiss prosecutors said. He was made inspector general of the Gambian police in 2005.
Sonko was removed as interior minister in September 2016, a few months before the end of Jammeh’s government, and left the Gambia for Europe to seek asylum.
Sonko was arrested in January 2017 in Bern, where he had been living for several months as an asylum-seeker in a transit centre. He has been in jail ever since. His case was brought following a complaint from the Geneva-based NGO TRIAL International, initially for torture, which was then requalified as crimes against humanity.
Swiss prosecutors said they conducted numerous interviews with the suspect, as well with about 40 interviews with plaintiffs, witnesses and others providing information, and made six trips to the Gambia during their investigation.
The OAG said it “accuses the defendant in particular of having, in the context of five events between 2000 and 2016, participated, ordered, facilitated and/or failed to prevent killings, acts of torture, acts of rape and numerous unlawful detentions”.
Universal jurisdiction
"We are very satisfied that this is going ahead," said Philip Grant, executive director of TRIAL International.
"We hope this will generate momentum and that the trial will put pressure on Equatorial Guinea to eventually extradite Jammeh," he added, referring to the country where the Gambia's former president fled to after a political crisis in 2017.
He said Sonko would be the highest political figure ever to be brought to trial in Europe under the principle of universal jurisdiction.
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Switzerland indicts Ousman Sonko
