Dr. Lamin Sise, Chairman of the Truth Reconciliation and Reparations (TRRC) has disclosed that the 11th session of the commission will look into the rights violations meted on to religious leaders both Muslims and Christians during the past regime, adding that the 11th Session will begins with expert analysis of Professor, Abdoulie Saine, who was assigned to chronicle how former President Yahya Jammeh becomes a dictator in The Gambia.
Dr. Sise made the revelation at the Commission house at Kololi where proceedings into the eleventh session began yesterday, 20th January, 2020.
Many religious leaders were subjected to gross human rights violations during the past dispensation of Yahya Jammeh, some of them were arrested, tortured, imprisoned plus other forms of right violations meted onto them.
Prominent Imams including late Imam Karamo Touray of Brikama, Imam Bakawsu Fofana of Sanchaba, Imam Baba Leigh of Kanifing Estate, Imam Sawaneh of Kanifing East, Imam Al haiba Hydara of Airport Mosque among other religious leaders were subjected to rights abuses during the time of former President Yahya Jammeh.
“As we begins this 11th Session of public hearings, we brace ourselves for yet another series of revelations of human rights violations and abuses perpetrated against the people of this country by the very government that was supposed to protect their lives and liberties.” Chairman Sise revealed in his opening statement of the 11th Session of the TRRC.
According to him, the establishment of the Truth Commission has taken the country by storm, adding that Gambians and all those who followed the commission can attest to have heard the horrendous violations of human rights and abuses orchestrated by the regime of the former President.
“From the extrajudicial killings of November 11, 1994 victims, to the murder of innocent people like Deyda Hydara, Haruna Jammeh, the April 2000 student victims, and the sexual violence meted out to several young women by none other than the custodians of the state. The graphic confessions of the jungulars almost made it imperative to wonder whether reason itself had gone mad in this country,” TRRC Chairman recollect some of the rights violations meted out to innocent Gambians by the repressive regime of Yahya Jammeh.
He added: “Anyone who watched and listened to the testimonies of the witch-hunt victims is not likely to forget anytime soon or to outgrow the feelings of the sadness that was generated by the senseless pain inflicted on those victims. During that dark days and tragic episode of our nation’s history, hundreds of innocent men, women and even children were picked up at random by security forces accompanied by quack witch doctors, subjected them to all manners of humiliating treatment, and forced to drink strange concoctions that instantly caused them to momentarily lose their senses.”
According to him, thirty nine (39) people died as a result of taking the strange concoction, adding that hundreds more continue to struggle with seemingly intractable health conditions. He added that only a fraction of the witch-hunt gave testimonies at the TRRC, while significant numbers decline to appear to give their testimonies or been persuaded by families not to testify.
Chairman Sise assures that with determination and use of reason the commission will see the successful completion of this important national project and collectively move the country towards abiding peace, reconciliation, healing and well deserved justice for all victims in the country.
“TRRC continues to encourage victims of human rights violations and abuses to come forward and give statements to the commission. TRRC continues to crave the support and blessings of all members of the public hearings,” Dr. Lamin Sise submitted.