Calls for Jammeh to be extradited to Ghana

A survivor, families of the disappeared and rights groups are seeking the extradition and prosecution in Ghana of Gambia's former President Yahya Jammeh for his alleged involvement in the killing of more than 50 West African migrants in 2005. Legalbrief Today on Wednesday noted that a paramilitary unit controlled by Jammeh was accused of being behind the killings in 2005. The migrants – 44 Ghanaians and several Nigerians, Senegalese, as well as a Togolese – were arrested on a beach in Gambia while trying to reach Europe. They were suspected of being mercenaries wanting to overthrow Jammeh. They were allegedly handed over to the notorious paramilitary unit and executed. A report on the News24 site notes that Ghanaian authorities worked with Martin Kyere, the sole known survivor of the killings to identify many of the dead, in an investigation that ultimately led to reparations by Gambia for victims' families and the return to Ghana of six bodies. The rights groups now argue that the new evidence shows clearly that the Junglers paramilitary unit was responsible. Human Rights Watch and TRIAL International are part of an international campaign launched in Gambia to prosecute Jammeh for the abuses alleged under his 22-year rule. Jammeh fled into exile in Equatorial Guinea in January 2017 after losing elections. It is not clear if Equatorial Guinea President Teodoro Obiang would agree to an extradition process.

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