Africa-Press – Gambia. Representatives of families of West African Migrants massacred in the Gambia in 2005 have petitioned the government demanding for justice.
They are calling for swift prosecution of former President Yahya Jammeh and all those found culpable. It would be recalled that in July 2005, some 56 West African migrants including over 44 Ghanaians and nationals from Nigeria, Senegal, Togo, and Côte d’Ivoire were summarily executed in Gambia.
The “Association of Families of Gambian Killing” have marked twenty years since the tragic massacre of their loved ones. The representatives of these families from Ghana visited The Gambia this week and had several engagements with concerned authorities.
The families respectfully call on the government of The Gambia to uphold its obligations to truth, justice, and regional solidarity.
“In July 2005, these migrants were arrested, tortured, and summarily executed on Gambian soil. These were unarmed, innocent civilians seeking passage to Europe, brutally cut down in what was later confirmed by The Gambia’s own Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC) to be a state-sanctioned atrocity carried out under the regime of former President Yahya Jammeh,” the families said in their petition to the Gambian authorities.
The families have recognized and commend the efforts that the government of The Gambia has taken to begin the process of reparations, noting that it respectfully admonish and urge the government to expedite the full implementation of the TRRC recommendations.
“Swift and transparent prosecution of all those found culpable, including former President Yahya Jammeh, to end the culture of impunity and show that no leader is above the law,” the petition stated.
It also asked immediate disbursement of full compensation to the families of the victims, who have waited for two decades in “grief, pain, and uncertainty.”
The petition further encouraged the government to identify and release the remains of the “murdered migrants” so that their families can perform the necessary rites and give their loved ones the dignified burial they deserve.
It also demanded from the government to give public apology on behalf of the Gambian State to the affected countries and families.
Furthermore, calls were made for the government to erect a permanent memorial to honour the memory of the victims and remind future generations of the sanctity of life and the importance of justice.
“This solemn 20th anniversary must not pass as just another date. It must be a turning point for truth and justice. To ignore the plight of the victims’ families is to undermine The Gambia’s own democratic rebirth and its commitment to human rights,” the petition highlighted.
The TRRC’s comprehensive findings and recommendations identified the perpetrators and advised the Gambian government to compensate the families of the victims, prosecute those responsible, and release the remains of the victims to their relatives for proper and dignified burial.
The petition was signed by forty (40) individuals representing victims families.
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