The Edward Francis Small Centre for Rights and Justice is deeply concerned by the disturbing allegations of torture, manipulation, and abuse of power made by Ousainou Bojang and his sister, Amie Bojang, during their prime-time interview with Fatou Touray of Kerr Fatou Media on Thursday, June 25.
Ousainou described how he became caught in a web of manipulation and false allegations by Mama Jabbie, who later became a key prosecution witness in his trial. It is public knowledge that Mama Jabbie received one million dalasi from President Adama Barrow as compensation after identifying the alleged shooter of the PIU officers.
However, the evidence presented at trial, corroborated by other public accounts and Ousainou’s own testimony about his interactions with Mama Jabbie, strongly suggests that her allegations were false. Yet her testimony played a central role in Ousainou’s arrest, prolonged detention, and prosecution before he was ultimately acquitted by Justice Jaiteh.
Despite this outcome, Mama Jabbie continues to retain the one-million-dalasi payment while facing no accountability for the false allegations that contributed to Ousainou Bojang’s wrongful arrest, detention, and prosecution.
EFSCRJ is also alarmed by Ousainou’s allegations that police officers tortured and abused him during interrogation and detention. These grave claims cannot be ignored. Torture is prohibited under Gambian and international human rights law, and every allegation of torture requires an immediate, independent, and impartial investigation.
We therefore call on the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to urgently conduct an independent investigation into these allegations. Ousainou has named several officers whom he alleges subjected him to physical, mental, and verbal abuse while in custody. These officers and the specific allegations against them must be thoroughly investigated, and where evidence establishes criminal or disciplinary responsibility, appropriate action must follow.
We are equally disturbed by the prison conditions described by Ousainou and Amie Bojang. Their accounts point to deplorable detention conditions that raise serious concerns about the treatment of prisoners in The Gambia. These allegations require urgent investigation, especially given that the Government has spent billions of dalasi on security sector reform over the past decade. It is deeply disturbing and unacceptable that such prison conditions persist after ten years of reform efforts.
In 2016, the Barrow-led Coalition promised Gambians system change. After his inauguration in 2017, President Barrow launched an ambitious transitional justice programme under the banner of “Never Again.” Supported by Gambians and the international community, the programme sought comprehensive constitutional, legal, and institutional reforms to strengthen the rule of law, human rights, and accountable governance.
It is therefore profoundly disheartening that allegations of torture, abuse of power, and inhumane prison conditions continue to emerge in The Gambia. If proven through an independent investigation, these allegations would represent a gross betrayal of the Government’s promises and expose persistent abuse of office, disregard for the rule of law, and continuing impunity within state institutions.
A failed transitional justice process poses a direct threat to national security because it allows abuse and impunity to recur, undermines public confidence in state institutions, weakens the rule of law, and threatens the country’s peace and stability.
EFSCRJ will formally engage the relevant authorities to demand prompt, independent, and transparent investigations into these serious allegations.
Finally, we reiterate our longstanding call for adequate compensation for Ousainou Bojang and Amie Bojang for their wrongful arrest, prolonged detention, and the immense physical, psychological, and emotional suffering they endured for more than two years. Justice requires more than acquittal; it demands accountability, redress, and institutional reform to ensure that no Gambian suffers such injustice again.
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