By: Nyima Sillah
The Victim Centre has urgently requested the National Assembly Members to call for an extraordinary session to review the TRRC report, and the Government Whitepaper to propose a timeline for the Government to come up with a realistic roadmap.
According to a statement released by the Victim Centre, the roadmap should indicate the process of implementation, as well as set up committees that would collaborate with the National Human Rights Commission in monitoring the implementation at any stage of the process.
More so, “we are optimistic that our request for the National Assembly to call for an extraordinary session on the TRRC report and Government Whitepaper will be treated with the urgency and diligence it requires.”
The report stated that the main objectives of the TRRC, in section 13 of the act, are to create an impartial historical record of violations and abuses of human rights from July 1994 to January 2017, to promote healing, and reconciliation, address impunity, prevent petition of the violations by holding perpetrators to account, and grant reparations to victims. “It is in the light of this background that the Victims Centre stresses the need for an urgent roadmap outlining the steps involved in the implementation process of the whitepaper.
In “Pursuant to section 30 of the TRRC act of Government obligation subsection 1, clearly states that within thirty days of receiving the report, the President shall submit a copy of the TRRC report to the National Assembly, and subsequently subsection 3 under section 30, states that the Government shall, within six months following the submission of the report, issue a whitepaper containing its proposed plan on the implementations in the Gazette.
“However, the report also stated that, on December 24th, 2021, the Minister of Justice publicized the TRRC report, and presented a copy to the National Assembly through the office of the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
“It is incumbent and duty bound on National assembly members to reconvene on the debate of the important work and findings of the TRRC for holding the Government of the Gambia to task, on the effective and diligent implementation of TRRC recommendations.”
The statement continued that “On the 25th of November 2021, the final report of the TRRC was submitted to the President’s office. Six months after the report was submitted, the Government Whitepaper was released. The Gambia Centre for Victims of Human Rights Violations (VC) thus wishes to bring to your attention this development.
“Following the release of the Whitepaper, the Victims Centre and some of its partners acknowledged the efforts of the Government for the timely release of the Whitepaper. The Victim Centre also took note of the fact that out of 265 recommendations made by the TRRC the Government rejected only two, therefore accepting the rest of the recommendations for implementation,” the report added.