NHRC Chair Urges Security Personnel to Commit to Principles of Human Rights and Justice
The Gambia's NHRC Chair - Mr Emmanuel Joof (c) Yusef Taylor
The Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Mr Emmanuel Joof, urged members of The Gambia Armed Forces to commit to the principles of human rights, justice and equality for all whether civilians or members of the armed forces last week on 9th July 2024.
The NHRC Chair issued this plea during his opening remarks at a three-day training organized by his institution in collaboration with the government focusing on International Human Rights Law, International Humanitarian Law and Handling of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) Cases for officers of The Gambia Armed Forces at Metzy Hotel.
According to the TRRC findings, the security forces most especially the army perpetrated numerous human rights violations during the former regime including SGBV. In Volume 10 of its findings, the document captured the testimonies of victims of rape, sexual harassment and exploitation among others.
“Witnesses testified that during arrest and detention, both men and women were subjected to various forms of sexual violence including rape, sexualized torture, forced nudity and castration. Detainees were threatened that they would be raped and that they would be punished in sexualized ways for opposing Jammeh” revealed the TRRC.
The Truth Reconciliation and Reparation Commission is a defunct Commission enacted by the National Assembly to investigate the human rights violations that occurred under the leadership of former President Yahya Jammeh from 1994 to 2016.
After its conclusion in 2019, the Commission recommended that The Gambia Government provide training to security personnel of various security institutions on human rights, the Geneva Convention, the Rome Statute, crowd control, journalism and freedom of expression, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence and more. In reaction to these recommendations, the government collaborated with the NHRC to conduct a series of training on human rights violations, including SGBV for officials of the security sector.
NHRC Chairperson Joof highlighted that the three-day “training is premised on the findings and recommendations of the TRRC and its subsequent findings reveal the existence of a serious gap in knowledge and appreciation of gender equality and human rights principles, norms and values within the security sector, including the Gambia Armed Forces”.
He added that the training will provide a unique opportunity to the Army “to learn, understand and engage in [an] intensive training session led by experts covering a wide range of topics relating to International Human Rights Law and SGBV which are essential to promoting a culture of respect for human rights within the security sector”.
Representing the National Security Adviser, Mr Mulie Colley revealed that the aspect of human rights and the rule of law especially on SGBV has been given less focus therefore the training will enhance the capacity of the security institution on SGBV-related cases.
On the other hand, Mr Alieu Jallow who spoke on behalf of the Solicitor General and Legal Secretary said “such a platform will provide a space for knowledge sharing on lapses in our delivery of justice to survivors and exchange of ideas on best practice as well as the areas of intervention”. The Deputy Permanent Secretary of Defense urged “the participants to take the training seriously and make the best use of the three days”.
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