Gov’t apathetic to justice for 44 murdered Ghanaians in Gambia - ACILA

The Africa Center for International Law and Accountability (ACILA) says the government is not doing enough to seek justice for the 44 Ghanaians who were murdered in 2005 at the instance of the ex-president of Gambia, Yahaya Jammeh.

William Nyarko, Esq., ACILA’s Executive Director, reacting to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, said although it was reassuring to hear the Minister say President Akufo-Addo was one hundred percent committed to seeking justice for the 44 Ghanaians, ACILA’s research and monitoring of actions by the government in Ghana, Gambia, and Senegal, showed that it is not doing enough.

Mr. Nyarko said since May 2018, Human Rights Watch and TRIAL International provided new information alleging that ex-President Jammeh ordered the killing of the Ghanaians, and the recent public confessions by two Gambian soldiers who participated in the killings that they killed the Ghanaians on the orders of Jammeh, who has always denied involvement in the killings.

Following a publication of the Human Rights Watch and TRIAL report, the government of Ghana said it was weighing re-opening its investigation into the July 2005 massacre, but one year on, it has taken no action.

The ACILA Director said in spite of this, the Government of Ghana had not taken concrete steps towards addressing the allegations, and expects that it (government ) opens an investigation; establish meaningful contacts with the government of Gambia and Senegal; contact the families of the victims in Ghana, or complete and inform the public about the outcome of its review of the request to re-open the investigation into the killings, which it had promised it had been undertaking since May 2018.

Mr. Nyarko said the seeming apathy on the part of the government was in negation of the Minister of Foreign Affairs’ claims that it is very much interested in seeking justice for the 44 Ghanaian migrants who were killed in the Gambia in 2005. The murdered also included citizens from Nigeria, Senegal, Togo, and La Côte d’Ivoire.

The Minister said at a Meet-the-Press series in Accra that President Akufo-Addo was one hundred percent committed to ensuring justice for the victims, adding that the Minister of Justice and Attorney General was working on the matter.

She said the issue was with the Attorney General of Ghana, and that her outfit was looking at it and she has had a meeting with her counterpart in Gambia, so it is not a closed matter at all, adding that Ghana (government) is taking the matter very seriously, because “one murder of a Ghanaian is one too many.”

Last week, two Gambian soldiers working for a hit squad controlled by former President Yahaya Jammeh admitted to participating in the 2005 execution of 56 West African migrants, including 44 Ghanaians, on the orders of Jammeh.

Lieutenant Malick Jatta and Corporal Omar A. Jallow reportedly revealed to Gambia’s Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC) that the migrants were executed by the “Junglers” Squad, a paramilitary force that took orders from Jammeh, across the Gambian border in Senegalese territory.

“We were told they were mercenaries,” Jatta said, adding that he shot and killed one of the migrants. “I heard people shouting in the forest saying ‘save us Jesus.’”

Jallow told the TRRC that Lt Col Solo Bojang, leader of the operation, told the men that “the order from Yahaya Jammeh is that they are all to be executed.”

The confessions by Jatta and Jallow corroborate findings in a May 2018 report by Human Rights Watch and TRIAL that the migrants were murdered by the “Junglers.”

Jammeh’s rule was marked by widespread abuses, including forced disappearances, extra-judicial killings, sexual violence, torture and arbitrary detentions. Jatta said after killing one migrant, he saw another of the migrants running to hide at a distance of about 20 metres from him.

“I can say I saved this person. If I wanted to kill him, at 20 metres, sir, I will not miss my target,” Jatta told TRRC Chief Counsel Essa Faal.

It is possible that Jatta was referring to the lone survivor of the incident, Martin Kyere. Kyere had dodged gunmen’s bullets after jumping from a truck that was carrying the detained migrants before the Junglers killed them.

In a reaction to the testimonies by the two soldiers, the Jammeh2Justice Ghana Campaign, a civil society coalition seeking to bring Jammeh and those who bear the greatest responsibility for the massacre of Ghanaians to justice, says the public testimonies by the two soldiers add to the mountain of evidence against Jammeh and his accomplices.

The Jammeh2Justice Ghana Campaign is led by the Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), in collaboration with its partners, Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), Africa Center for International Law and Accountability (ACILA), Amnesty International, Human Rights Advocacy Center (HRAC), POS Foundation, and Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI).

Meanwhile, a coalition of Ghana groups, led by the former Head of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative (CHRAJ), Justice Emile Short, has called on the government to expedite action and legal, political, diplomatic steps to ensure justice is served.