By: Sulayman Waan
Abubacarr Tambedou, Minister of Justice and Attorney General, has said that his ministry is yet to receive a report from a panel of investigators probing into the death of Haruna Jatta.
Tambedou made the remark during a press conference held at the ministry of justice Tuesday, saying “we had find out the status of the investigation about the death of Haruna Jatta but we have not received any respond about the investigation.
“The investigation was not commission by my ministry; it was a joint investigation by the Gambia Armed Forces (GAF) and the ECOMING Forces,” he added.
According to him, the ministry of defense is responsible for the conduct of that investigation as well to present the report, adding “all I can do is to ask them to share the report, if there is any report I will share it with the public.”
On detain Junglers
On the detention of the Junglers without trial or appearance at the Truth Reconciliation and Reparation Commission, Tambedou, said is a concern for government particularly himself as the minister responsible for justice in the country but noted that there are many complications surrounded the Junglers’ case.
“These are members of our Security Forces who admitted of committing heinous crimes in the country. They had been held in detention and we have look at different options but I had admitted that GAF has given us the responsibility to take the lead in term of dealing with them (Junglers),” he said.
He added: “We have been considering different options; the fact is they post the challenge. They are the only people to my knowledge who had been detained for long and not brought before a court.”
According to him, this long detention happened owing to the extraordinary circumstances the country found itself presently, noting bringing the detainees before a court will involve prosecution and trial which he said will take much time due to the number of Junglers involved on the case.
“Considering the nature and gravity of the crime that these Junglers had admitted, yet we don’t have the infrastructure or financial resources to engage in this kind of trial that will meet international standard considering the gravity of the crime they admitted,” he said.
He said, he is on a process to facilitate the Junglers voluntarily appearance before the TRRC as an options to be given the opportunity to share with the public on the nature and their participation on the right abuse they committed.
He reiterated that the Junglers detention is owing to the complications related to their crimes, adding bearing in mind the kind of crimes they admitted government can’t as well grand them bail.
“However, we are working had to resolve it. I made it clear to the African Commission during my report. We admitted it’s a challenge as it shouldn’t happen under normal circumstance, these are not normal circumstance as a Government,” he said.
