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Momodou
Denmark
11521 Posts |
 Posted - 18 Jan 2024 : 10:48:28
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JAMMEH GAVE ME SHOOT-TO-KILL ORDER
The Standard: JANUARY 18, 2024
By Mustapha K Darboe
with New Narratives
https://standard.gm/jammeh-gave-me-shoot-to-kill-order/
Former Interior Minister Ousman Sonko, currently facing charges of crimes against humanity in Switzerland, yesterday admitted to writing a note in which he claimed to have received orders from ex-president Yahya Jammeh to shoot and kill prodemocracy protesters in April 2016.
Sonko served as police chief under Jammeh from 2005 to 2006. In the latter part of 2006, he was appointed interior minister, a position he held from November 2006 to February 2012 and from May 2012 to September 2016. The reason for his fallout with Jammeh has never been made public.
The Swiss Attorney General’s office, along with 10 plaintiffs from Gambia, is accusing him of torture, murder, false imprisonment, rape, and deprivation of liberty, allegedly perpetrated against Gambians during Jammeh’s 22-year rule
When Swiss prosecutors raided Sonko’s apartment in Switzerland after his arrest in 2017, they found a handwritten note in a suitcase. He had previously denied the existence of the note, but during yesterday’s hearing, his position changed, when he confirmed the note found at his apartment was written by him for his Swiss asylum procedure.
In the note, Sonko claimed to have received an instruction from Jammeh to “shoot and kill the April 14 to 16 demonstrators,” an order he said he declined to carry out, though he continued to serve as interior minister until September that year.
“I prepared [the note] after I was removed from office, and it was to be used for my asylum,” he said. Sonko contested the accuracy of some details in the note.
The note also contained a directive to harass the opposition and deny them protest permits. The note calls into question Sonko’s operational role; throughout the trial, he has maintained that he was not involved in operational matters, like issuing protest permits, which allegedly falls under the function of the police chief.
He also claimed in the note to have received instructions from Jammeh to hand over the arrested protesters to National Intelligence Agency officials but denied this part was carried out.
Torture
At least two alleged torture victims–Fatoumatta Jawara and Fatou Camara–appeared before the Swiss court on Wednesday. Both were involved in a protest in April 2016 led by Sandeng.
Both testified to being tortured at the state central prison, Mile 2, and the National Intelligence Agency complex, and broke down during their testimonies.
Unlike Modou Ngum, Jawara and Camara did not testify to seeing Sonko at the paramilitary or NIA headquarters, where they were allegedly tortured. Sonko denies involvement in the arrest, detention, or torture of people at the NIA.
“We were taken to be beaten mercilessly for hours… We were blindfolded, taken by another man who masked his face to the panel. We were asked questions that I could not answer because I was barely conscious. They brought me back to be tortured. They said I was refusing to answer. All my clothes were torn. I was urinating blood for months,” said Jawara. All the victims said they were not permitted medical attention for several days.
The Swiss prosecutors are trying to prove Sonko’s responsibility for torture through his participation in various investigation panels as inspector general or for ordering or abetting abuse as interior minister.
The hearing continues on January 18 with a cross-examination of Sonko’s testimony.
This was a collaboration with New Narratives as part of the West Africa Justice Reporting Project. |
A clear conscience fears no accusation - proverb from Sierra Leone |
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Momodou
Denmark
11521 Posts |
Posted - 19 Jan 2024 : 14:08:00
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Former Gambian Interior Minister on trial in Switzerland claimed to Get Shoot-to-Kill Orders from ex-Dictator Yahya Jammeh reports Malagen
Switzerland, BELLINZONA –Gambia’s former Interior Minister Ousman Sonko, currently facing charges of crimes against humanity in Switzerland, admitted to writing a note, in which he claimed to have received orders from ex-president Yahya Jammeh to shoot and kill protesters in April 2016.
Sonko served as police chief under Jammeh from 2005 to 2006. In the latter part of 2006, he was appointed interior minister, a position he held from November 2006 to February 2012 and from May 2012 to September 2016. The reason for his fallout with Jammeh has never been made public.
The Swiss Attorney General’s office, along with 10 plaintiffs from Gambia, is accusing Sonko of torture, murder, false imprisonment, rape, and deprivation of liberty, allegedly perpetrated against Gambians during Jammeh’s 22-year rule.
On January 16 and 17, the hearings in the Swiss city of Bellinzona focused on the poor prison conditions when Sonko served as interior minister. Several plaintiffs claimed torture was widespread within the prison system in Banjul. Two serving Gambian prison officers were flown to Bellinzona by Swiss authorities to testify to the poor prison conditions.
A significant part of the hearings also focused on Sonko’s alleged complicity in the torture of people who were protesting electoral reform and arrested in Banjul on April 14 and 16, 2016. One of the protesters, Ebrima Solo Sandeng, died in state custody—an event for which five former officials of the National Intelligence Agency were sentenced to death by a High Court in Banjul, in July 2022.
One alleged victim arrested in April 2016 told the court Sonko was present at the paramilitary headquarters, where they were initially held, and on the panel that investigated and oversaw their torture. Sonko contested all such charges.
Note raises more questions
When Swiss prosecutors raided Sonko’s apartment in Switzerland after his arrest in 2017, they found a handwritten note in a suitcase. He had previously denied the existence of the note, but on Wednesday, his position changed. He confirmed the note found at his apartment was written by him for his Swiss asylum procedure.
At the time of the protest, the ex-president was away in Turkey. It is unclear When and Sonko received the orders from him. In the note, he claimed to have received an instruction from Jammeh to “shoot and kill the April 14 to 16 demonstrators,” an order he said he declined to carry out, though he continued to serve as interior minister until September that year.
“I prepared [the note] after I was removed from office, and it was to be used for my asylum,” he said. Sonko contested the accuracy of some details in the note.
The note also contained a directive to harass the opposition and deny them protest permits. The note calls into question Sonko’s operational role; throughout the trial, he has maintained that he was not involved in operational matters, like issuing protest permits, which allegedly falls under the function of the police chief.
He also claimed in the note to have received instructions from Jammeh to hand over the arrested protesters to National Intelligence Agency officials but denied this part was carried out.
Torture
At least two alleged torture victims–Fatoumatta Jawara and Fatou Camara–appeared before the Swiss court on Wednesday. Both were involved in a protest in April 2016 led by Sandeng.
Both testified to being tortured at the state central prison, Mile 2, and the National Intelligence Agency complex, and broke down during their testimonies.
Unlike Modou Ngum, Jawara and Camara did not testify to seeing Sonko at the paramilitary or NIA headquarters, where they were allegedly tortured. Sonko denies involvement in the arrest, detention, or torture of people at the NIA.
“We were taken to be beaten mercilessly for hours… We were blindfolded, taken by another man who masked his face to the panel. We were asked questions that I could not answer because I was barely conscious. They brought me back to be tortured. They said I was refusing to answer. All my clothes were torn. I was urinating blood for months,” said Jawara. All the victims said they were not permitted medical attention for several days.
The Swiss prosecutors are trying to prove Sonko’s responsibility for torture through his participation in various investigation panels as inspector general or for ordering or abetting abuse as interior minister.
The hearing continues on January 18 with a cross-examination of Sonko’s testimony.
This was a collaboration with New Narratives as part of the West Africa Justice Reporting Project.
You can follow Malagen live blog from the Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona where Gambia's former interior minister Ousman Sonko is standing trial for crimes against humanity.
Former Gambian minister on trial for crimes against humanity in Switzerland “shocked” at torture of detainees in state custody
By Mustapha K Darboe with New Narratives
Bellinzona, Switzerland–Gambia’s former Interior Minister, Ousman Sonko, told a Swiss court he was “shocked” to learn of protestors being tortured at the National Intelligence Agency in Banjul, in April 2016, and denied any knowledge or participation. Sonko is currently on trial for alleged crimes against humanity carried out in Gambia during ex-President Yahya Jammeh’s 22-year rule. (Sonko served as Jammeh’s police chief for a year in 2006 and later as interior minister for about ten years.)
Arrested in January 2017, the Swiss Attorney General’s office, along with 10 plaintiffs from Gambia, is accusing Sonko of torture, murder, false imprisonment, rape, and deprivation of liberty, allegedly perpetrated against Gambians during Jammeh’s rule.
On April 14, 2016, at least 14 supporters of the opposition UDP party were allegedly rounded up by members of the police intervention unit. Testimonies before the Swiss federal court and Gambia’s Truth Commission attest to protesters being handed to officials of the National Intelligence Agency, under whose custody Ebrima Solo Sandeng was allegedly tortured to death.
On April 15, rumors had spread of Sandeng’s death, and on April 16, the opposition UDP party confirmed it publicly. Sonko told the Swiss court that he learned of the death of Sandeng on April 16 from his then-police chief Yankuba Sonko.
The arrest and death in custody of Sandeng made news headlines that week. And the leader of the opposition UDP party, Ousainu Darboe, held a press conference at his residence, prior to his arrest, to denounce the alleged torture of party members arrested on April 14.
Sonko, who denied any participation or knowledge in the torture of the protesters, said he only learned “much later” what had occurred, and said the police acted “in accordance with the Gambian law,” with “proportionate use of force” when arresting them.
“When I watched their interrogation video, I could not watch it for the second time… [their torture] was wrong, and it was unacceptable,” said Sonko. Sonko said as minister of interior, he had no control over the NIA or events that took place at their complex.
The Swiss prosecutors are trying to prove Sonko’s responsibility for torture through his participation in various investigation panels as inspector general or for ordering or abetting abuse as interior minister.
Court admits further evidence
On Thursday, Sonko lost a second procedural appeal since the hearing began eight days ago. Earlier this week, prosecutors filed additional archive material with the court from a Gambian newspaper detailing events related to the “illegal execution of nine Mile 2 inmates in 2012.”
The prosecutor argued the material supported their claims that Gambian authorities had carried out a planned and systematic policy of oppression while Sonko held positions as police chief and interior minister. The newspaper clippings show official and public warnings addressed to the population from the Ministry of Interior after the execution of the inmates.
Sonko’s lawyer argued that the filing of the material should be rejected because the execution of the inmates was lawful and could not demonstrate a systematic attack against the civilian population.
The court ruled that the execution of the 9 death row prisoners in 2012 is connected to the crimes against humanity charges in this case. The court admitted the newspaper archives into evidence. The court also admitted a 39-minute video of a June 2016 political rally in Tallinding—when Jammeh threatened to wipe out the Mandinkas, the majority tribe in Gambia.
In the video, Sonko allegedly made threatening statements, saying whoever holds a protest without a permit would regret it. “The emphasis was law and order. It was not meant to deny people permits. There was no evidence to show that after this statement, people were denied permits,” argued Sonko.
Little clarity on Asylum note
When Swiss prosecutors raided Sonko’s apartment in Switzerland after his arrest in 2017, they found a handwritten note in a suitcase. He had previously denied the note's existence, but on Wednesday, his position changed. He confirmed the note found at his apartment was written by him for his Swiss asylum procedure.
Sonko had previously told the court that parts of the note were inaccurate. On Thursday, he declined to answer why he would intentionally write information for his asylum procedure he knew was wrong. Sonko described in his note that he could not stay in Senegal, where he had initially fled, because of its proximity to Gambia.
He said he was followed to the Mbour, a coastal Senegalese settlement, a 4-hour drive from Banjul. He also claimed to have received a directive to harass opposition figures and deny them “police permits” to protest.
He told the court that part of the note, in which he claims Jammeh gave him orders “to shoot and kill the April 14 to 16 demonstrators,” was false.
The prosecutors argued that the note's contents are consistent with testimonies heard before the Swiss court, testimonies before the Truth Commission, and evidence gathered by Swiss investigators. “To me, you are vague. You have not made reference to any concrete thing,” replied Sonko.
More torture
Musa Saidykhan, a former editor-in-chief of The Independent newspaper, told the court he was detained for 21 days between March and April 2006 and allegedly tortured; he said his hands were broken three times.
“They used a torture equipment I never knew Gambia had… They electrocuted me on the back of my neck and my genitals. I felt dizzy and fell down,” said Saidykhan.
“My right hand was broken three times. They sliced my jaw with a bayonet,” he said. Saidykhan was arrested and allegedly tortured with Madi Ceeday, the then-manager of The Independent, who is one of the plaintiffs due to testify against Sonko on Friday. In 2010, the regional Ecowas court awarded Saidykhan $200,000 in damages for torture inflicted in state custody.
This was a collaboration with New Narratives as part of the West Africa Justice Reporting Project. |
A clear conscience fears no accusation - proverb from Sierra Leone |
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Momodou
Denmark
11521 Posts |
Posted - 23 Jan 2024 : 15:12:46
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Sonko’s lawyer cross examines Editor Saidykhan
The Point: Jan 23, 2024
By: Sanna Camara
https://thepoint.gm/africa/gambia/headlines/sonkos-lawyer-cross-examines-editor-saidykhan
The Federal Court of Bellinzona, Switzerland yesterday resumed session after a brief break on Friday, with witness Musa Saidykhan, former editor-in-chief of The Independent newspaper, answering questions from Sonko's lawyer Philip Currat.
Mr Currat had last week Thursday asked for a four-hour preparation break to enable him question witness Saidykhan, which was not granted by the court. On Friday, he applied for absence due to medical reasons, leading to an adjournment, and on Monday, 22nd January, the session continued with his entire cross examination lasting about 30 minutes.
The defence lawyer asked if the arrest of Musa Saidykhan was in fact, not linked to the reporting about former NIA Director Samba Bah, leading to his arrest following the abortive coup of March 2006.
Musa Saidykhan and Madi Ceesay, the editor-in-chief and general manager respectively had spent 22 days in detention where they underwent torture and other forms of human rights violations deemed crimes against humanity by prosecutors in Switzerland.
“The arrest could not have been linked to Samba, who was a private citizen at the time. That cannot be true,” Saidykhan responded.
In March 2006, The Independent newspaper published a list of people arrested by authorities in Banjul following a failed coup plot. Among them was Mr Samba Bah, former director at the NIA. However, Mr Bah walked into the offices of The Independent to clarify that he was not among those arrested. That, the Samba Bah arrested was a member of the Armed Forces instead. The paper ran a front page correction in subsequent edition to Mr Bah’s satisfaction. To the surprise of many, Saidykhan and Ceesay, after the prolonged custody got released without any charges against them.
Witness Saidykhan told the court that the Police and the NIA operated in such a way that victims are treated in circle between the two security bodies. Mr Sonko had denied knowledge of Saidykhan’s arrest or torture, and said it was work of the NIA, who were answerable to the President.
“If he was not aware, why was he there?” Saidykhan asked, in response to Sonko’s lawyer. “Why did he give a statement to us [prior to our release]?”
Mr Saidykhan had earlier testified that while under NIA custody in March 2006, Mr Ousman Sonko had very good knowledge of it; in fact, being the Inspector General of Police at the time. According to him, it was Sonko who addressed the detainees to, “go to your families and forget what happened here. It was a mistake.”
He further told the court that he was arrested by the Police, handed over to the NIA, who also later on returned him to the Police. He was subsequently brought back to the NIA for torture and extra detention. “Police had not released us. They transferred us to the NIA,” he maintained, in response to Sonko’s lawyer that the two were released from Police custody.
Also asked if the NIA had been vested with powers to operate outside the control and command of the Police based on a legal decree, Mr Saidykhan said the decrees were just an excuse for the agency’s actions. But that it operates in close collaboration with the Police and exercises coordination in dealing with supposed opponents or critics of Jammeh.
The Court also asked about The Independent newspaper, its history and founders, to which Saidykhan said two Gambian journalists established it to pursue news journalism through editorial independence. That the publishers faced series of arrests, detentions, kidnappings while the paper’s offices and printing press suffered arson on two separate occasions. These were perpetuated by State security agents whose names were leaked in the National Assembly but no action was effected against them.
That the paper also faced printing challenges as threats from the state prevented private printers from printing its copies and at some point, printing from Senegal was considered as an option, but they had opted for an A4 copier in the office instead.
“It had endured persistent harassment from the State. Family members lived in fear of what might happen to their loved ones who worked for the paper. When I was appointed in 2005 as editor-in-chief, I chose to accept the challenge because of principle and my belief in independent journalism. Someone has to do the crucial job for the people,” he told the court as his lawyers questioned him after the testimony.
Saidykhan said Gambians were not used to vigilante justice, kidnappings, extrajudicial killings or torture prior to Jammeh coming to power. All of those were introduced by Jammeh into the country – a country that was well known for its peace and exemplary democracy in Africa. |
A clear conscience fears no accusation - proverb from Sierra Leone |
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Momodou
Denmark
11521 Posts |
Posted - 25 Jan 2024 : 11:20:17
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Defense lawyer argues prosecution failed to connect Sonko to alleged violations
The Standard: JANUARY 25, 2024
By Mustapha K Darboe with New Narratives
https://standard.gm/defense-lawyer-argues-prosecution-failed-to-connect-sonko-to-alleged-violations/
Bellinzona, Switzerland–Philippe Currat, a Swiss attorney defending Ousman Sonko, Gambia’s former interior minister currently on trial in Switzerland for crimes against humanity, said prosecutors have failed to prove their case. Currat said that after 13 days of hearings, including the testimonies of 11 witnesses, prosecutors have not provided sufficient evidence linking Sonko to the violations he is accused of.
Arrested in January 2017, the Swiss Attorney General’s office, along with 10 plaintiffs from Gambia, is accusing Sonko of torture, murder, false imprisonment, rape, and deprivation of liberty, allegedly perpetrated against Gambians during the 22-year rule of ex-president Yahya Jammeh.
Sonko is the second person to face trial in Switzerland under the principle of universal jurisdiction, which holds that crimes against humanity are committed against all humans regardless of where they were committed. The first person to face trial in Switzerland under universal jurisdiction, Alieu Kosiah of Liberia, was convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2022.
Swiss prosecutors have tried to prove Sonko’s responsibility for torture through his alleged participation in various investigation panels as inspector general or for ordering or abetting abuse as interior minister.
In 2006, following a failed coup, dozens of civilians and military personnel, were arrested and detained, during which they were allegedly tortured. Several plaintiffs testified to such events, but Sonko maintained he was not a member of the panel that would have overseen their alleged torture. “He was there on the first day… This was before the people were tortured. Once again, these people were tortured, and they were under the custody of the NIA and the Junglers,” and not Sonko, Currat argued.
Currat argued the prosecution failed to establish Sonko’s role in the alleged torture of the plaintiffs. “What is missing is the link between torture at the NIA [National Intelligence Agency] and Ousman Sonko,” argued Currat.
During his testimony, Sonko, who denied any participation or knowledge in the arrest and torture of protestors at NIA in 2016, said he learned “much later” what had occurred, and said the police acted “in accordance with the Gambian law,” with “proportionate use of force” when arresting them.
Prison condition
Sonko served under Jammeh as police chief for one year and interior minister for 10 years. He was in charge of Gambia’s prisons and internal security matters for half of Jammeh’s presidency—a leader who stands accused of using police and prisons as tools to oppress and neutralise political opponents.
During Gambia’s Truth Commission hearings, several witnesses testified that the Security Wing at the country’s central prison Mile 2—the area of the prison where high-profile prisoners are kept—was used as a torture and arbitrary detention ground for members of Jammeh’s hit-squad, the Junglers. Sonko maintained that the Security Wing had been under the control of the State Guards, elite forces guarding the presidency.
In the second week of the trial, two prison officers, Lamin Sanneh and Abdou Jammeh, testified to torture, and poor food and hygiene conditions at Mile 2 prison.
“Prisons in The Gambia are notoriously substandard, but this is not the result of Gambian state policy, but rather a historical legacy with which we have to come to terms,” said Sonko, while adding that he tripled the budget for food for prisoners during his time as interior minister.
According to the human rights committee of Gambia’s parliament, however, the food ration for a prisoner in the Gambia is currently D5 per person, which is the cost of half a loaf of bread in the country.
Torture
The hearing of witnesses concluded with the testimony of Madi Ceesay, the former general manager of The Independent arrested in March 2006 with the paper’s editor-in-chief Musa Saidykhan. Both were allegedly tortured and detained for 22 days at the premises of the NIA for publishing false information about the alleged involvement of the former deputy director of NIA, Samba Bah, in a foiled coup that year.
The bi-weekly newspaper was “forcibly shut down,” by members of the police intervention unit, according to local and international press freedom organizations. But Sonko claimed that officials obtained a court order to shut down the paper. According to the Gambia Press Union, however, all 15 incidents of media closure in Banjul, under Jammeh, were arbitrary.
Sonko denied any knowledge or involvement in the alleged torture of Musa and Madi. At least two civilians—one of whom was allegedly raped—and one soldier also testified they were tortured in 2006. They blamed Sonko for participating in the investigation panel that ordered or endorsed their ill-treatment.
Sonko also stands accused of participating in the torture and death in state custody of Ebrima Solo Sandeng, the leader of a protest in April 2016. At least five alleged torture victims who participated in protests have since died, and one of them—Nogoi Njie—was expected to testify against Sonko in Switzerland.
Three alleged torture victims—Fatoumatta Jawara, Fatou Camara and Modou Ngum—testified against Sonko. Unlike Ngum, Jawara and Camara did not testify to seeing Sonko at the paramilitary or NIA headquarters, where they were allegedly tortured. The country’s former police chief—Yankuba Sonko, who was Sonko’s direct subordinate—told Swiss investigators that he had reservations regarding how protests on April 14 and 16 were handled but was not explicit about whether he communicated this to Ousman.
Rape as a form of torture
Sonko faces one allegation of rape by Binta Jamba, the widow of Almamo Manneh, a former state guards soldier who served under Sonko in 2000. Jamba said she was abused over a period of five years, from 2000 to 2005.
The prosecutors are trying to prove that Sonko also participated in at least one investigation panel that oversaw the torture and rape of a political detainee in 2006. They argued that rape was used as an instrument of torture by Jammeh’s regime.
Currat, Sonko’s lawyer, told journalists that he did not cross-examine Jamba, because her “contradictory statements” had already discredited her testimony. Several witnesses, including Demba Dem, alleged that Sonko is a “womaniser” who does not respect women.
A former wife of Sonko— with whom he had a son— came to testify to his character.
Though Njemeh Bah did not take the stand, she submitted a one-page statement which was admitted by the court. “I haven’t witnessed or heard a glimpse of any of the undertakings that he’s being accused of,” she stated in her statement. “I stand here as a living testament that for the duration that I knew him, he was a harmless, caring and considerate figure who would go to great lengths to make someone safe and happy.”
The Swiss court must now decide if Sonko’s alleged crimes were part of a broader context of state-sponsored terror visited upon Gambians during Jammeh’s 22-year rule.
The hearings are closed until March 4, when the court will hear the lawyer’s pleading statements.
This was a collaboration with New Narratives as part of the West Africa Justice Reporting Project. |
A clear conscience fears no accusation - proverb from Sierra Leone |
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Gambian Ex-Minister Sonko Faces Crimes Against
