Dr Lamin Sise, Chairman of Gambia’s Truth Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC) has revealed that the much anticipated report of the Commission will be delivered to the President of the Republic on 30th September, 2021.
This revelation was made at a press conference hosted by Chairman Sise at the TRRC Secretariat at the Dunes Hotel in Kotu, where he said the new agreed date will not be subjected to any changes.
Statement by Lamin J. Sise, Chairman of the TRRC on the Submission of the TRRC Final Report “Following the end of the Public Hearings of the TRRC on 28th May 2021, the Commission embarked intensely on the preparation of its Final Report for submission to the President of the Republic of The Gambia pursuant to Section 29(1) of the TRRC Act, 2017″ said TRRC Chairman.
He added: “The Commission, the Attorney General and Minister of Justice and Office of the President, after consultations, agreed on 12th July, 2021 as the date for the submission of the Final Report to the President.
However, The Office of the President informed that due to the previously arranged engagement, the President was not available to receive the Commission on the 12th of July and therefore proposed the new date of 30th July 2021″.
According to him, the heavy schedule of work devoted to completing the draft report, the Commission informed the Attorney General on 27th July that it needed more time (about eight weeks) to complete all 16 volumes of the report and other important documents, disclosing that following a meeting between the Chairman of the Commission and the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, the Commission suggested a new date of Thursday, 30th September, 2021 as the date of submission of the Final Report of the TRRC to the President.
Dr. Sise continued that the Attorney General, in his capacity as the line-Minister for the TRRC, confirmed the new date on behalf of the Office of the President, adding that the Justice Minister has assured that the Government will fully fund the extension requested to complete the report.
“Considering that the Commission received Two thousand six hundred statements and heard testimonies from 393 witnesses covering sixteen themes, the report writing process was a daunting task for the Commission. The team involved in the process is working round the clock to make sure it is given the attention it deserved,” Chairman Sise disclosed.
Adding that, “The work to be continued during the eight weeks extension period involves the finalization of the following: 1. Sixteen volumes, each containing overview, findings, and recommendations on (a) Soldiers with a difference (b) November 11, 1994 – Extra Judicial Killings of Security officers (C) Unlawful killing of Finance Minister Ousman Koro Ceesay (D) The convoy of the President – Accidents and Deaths (E) April 10 and 11, 2000: Student Demonstrations (F) Attacks on Freedom of Expression and the Media (G) Attacks on Religious Freedoms (H) The Junglars – Unlawful killings, Tortures and Human Rights Violations (I) The Presidential Alternative Treatment (HIV/AIDS) Programme (J) Sexual and Gender based Violence (K) President Witch Hunt Exercise (L) Enforced Disappearances (M) Killing of West African Migrants Institutional hearings – National Intelligence Agency (NIA), (O) Institutional Hearings – Prisons (P) Institutional Hearings – Justice Sector Institutions 2. Sixteen volumes of transcripts of the Commission’s Public Hearings. 3. TRRC’s Outreach Engagements: Activity Report. 4. Public Hearings: Witness Portrait Album.
The commission is currently intensely working on final stages of these documents in an effort to present the report in full to the President on the new scheduled date. The TRRC expects to complete the preparation of its Final Report and does not expect any further extension”.