Geneva, Switzerland – Switzerland’s Attorney General has filed an indictment against Gambia’s former interior minister, Ousman Sonko, for crimes against humanity committed during the rule of former authoritarian leader Yahya Jammeh, according to a statement released on Tuesday. Sonko is accused of supporting, participating in, and failing to prevent “systematic and generalized attacks” as part of a repressive campaign by security forces against Jammeh’s opponents, as stated by the Office of the Attorney General.
Sonko, who served as Gambia’s interior minister from 2006 to 2016, fled to Sweden and then to Switzerland, where he applied for asylum. He was arrested by Swiss police in January 2017 after the Geneva-based legal group Trial International filed a complaint under the principle of universal jurisdiction, which allows prosecution of the most serious crimes regardless of where they were committed. Sonko has been held in Switzerland since then.
Sonko’s lawyer, Philippe Currat, told Reuters on Wednesday that his client disputes the charges and argues that some of the alleged acts occurred before articles on crimes against humanity came into force in the Swiss Criminal Code.
The case against Sonko is set to be heard by Switzerland’s Federal Criminal Court at an unspecified date, marking the country’s second-ever trial for crimes against humanity. Human rights activists in Gambia welcomed the indictment, hoping that it will set a precedent for the Gambian government to take responsibility and bring former President Jammeh and his associates to justice.
“We are very satisfied that this is going ahead,” said Philip Grant, executive director of TRIAL International. “We hope this will generate momentum and that the trial will put pressure on Equatorial Guinea to eventually extradite Jammeh,” he added. Jammeh fled to Equatorial Guinea in 2017 after a political crisis in Gambia.
Sheriff Mohammed Kijera from the Gambia Centre for Victims of Human Rights Violations praised the indictment, stating that it brings justice to the victims of Jammeh’s regime. “Today we rejoice that finally justice has caught up with one of the key perpetrators against Gambians, whose victims continue to live in pain and misery,” said Madi Jobarteh, a human rights activist.
During Jammeh’s more than two-decade-long rule in Gambia, a tiny West African country with a population of 2.5 million, allegations of authoritarianism and human rights abuses were widespread. Jammeh has denied any wrongdoing. The trial of Sonko in Switzerland is expected to be closely watched as a significant step towards accountability for crimes against humanity committed during Jammeh’s regime.
