The Gambia has appointed British barrister Martin Hackett as its first special prosecutor to lead trials over alleged human rights abuses committed during the rule of former President Yahya Jammeh. The appointment was announced as part of efforts to deliver justice for crimes committed during his 22-year administration, which ended in 2017.
Hackett will head a newly established office tasked with prosecuting cases linked to widespread allegations of repression, enforced disappearances, and extrajudicial killings. The move follows recommendations by the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission, which submitted its final report to President Adama Barrow in 2021.
The commission documented abuses and identified key suspects, including cases such as the 2004 killing of journalist Deyda Hydara and the deaths of more than 50 West African migrants. Some former members of a paramilitary unit known as the Junglers have already been convicted abroad.
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Gambia’s Attorney General, Dawda Jallow, said Hackett has been given a four-year mandate. Jammeh, who denies wrongdoing, is currently living in exile in Equatorial Guinea.
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