Ousman Sonko, a former Gambian Minister of Interior, is set to be tried by the Swiss Federal Criminal Court (FCC) on January 8, 2024, for crimes against humanity allegedly committed under ousted Gambian dictator Yahya Jammeh, as reported by TRIAL International.
The charges unveiled against Sonko, 54, involve heinous acts including the killing of a political opponent in 2000; instances of sexual violence between 2000 and 2002, and again in 2005; involvement in torture and unlawful detention linked to a coup plot in March 2006; and the murder of a politician in 2011. Nine Gambian plaintiffs are poised to journey to Switzerland for the trial. One of the original ten plaintiffs passed away in October 2023.
Gambia’s historical landmark election in 2016 saw Adama Barrow appointed president and the lengthy dictatorship of Yahya Jammeh concluded. Jammeh’s reign witnessed egregious infringements of human rights, including the arbitrary arrests and extrajudicial killings of journalists and political figures, along with widespread instances of torture and sexual violence. In response to these atrocities, a Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC) was established in 2017.
After stepping down as Minister of Interior following the 2016 election, Sonko fled to Senegal and later Sweden, where his asylum request was denied. Allegedly entering Switzerland in 2016, Sonko was arrested in Bern in January 2017, following a tip-off concerning his whereabouts. TRIAL International promptly lodged charges against the accused the day after his arrest. The indictment filed before the FCC by the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) in 2023 accuses Sonko of acts encompassing torture, kidnapping, sexual violence, and murder.
The Swiss trial is made possible due to the principle of universal jurisdiction, recognized by Switzerland, which allows the prosecution of international crime perpetrators regardless of where the crimes were committed. Sweden also enforces universal jurisdiction over serious international crimes under the Rome Statute of 2002 and certain offences under the Swedish Criminal Code. Sonko is the first high-ranking official to be tried in Europe under universal jurisdiction, according to Leslie Haskell, President of TRIAL International.
However, TRIAL International voiced concerns over the decision to conduct proceedings solely in German without interpretation, potentially impeding worldwide comprehension, particularly in the Gambian community.
In a related case emerged in November 2023, when a German court sentenced another Gambian, Bai Lowe, to life in prison for crimes against humanity. Lowe was a former member of the Gambian paramilitary unit known as the “Junglers.” These cases demonstrate an increasing global capacity to deal with international crimes on a judicial level, regardless of where they were committed.
For more details, read the full post on JURIST.