The Gambia’s Special Prosecutor, Martin Hackett, says his office is examining potential criminal cases against not only alleged direct perpetrators of abuses documented by the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC), but also those suspected of ordering, planning, encouraging or facilitating the crimes.
Hackett outlined the approach on Friday during a meeting with legal practitioners at Ocean Bay Hotel in Cape Point, stressing that prosecutions would depend on credible evidence, established legal principles and respect for the rights of accused persons.
He said investigators were looking at different forms of criminal responsibility, including the possible liability of people who exercised command, control or influence over serious offences.
“These are modes of liability that we are actively looking at in our case building,” Hackett said.
The strategy forms part of efforts to pursue accountability for human rights violations committed during former President Yahya Jammeh’s 22-year rule, as identified by the TRRC.
Hackett said his office was reviewing the commission’s recommendations, assessing available evidence and preparing investigative plans. However, he noted that further progress would depend partly on securing the funding needed to begin witness interviews and other investigative work.
Some people who testified before the TRRC may have to give statements again, he explained, because evidence collected during a truth commission process does not automatically meet the requirements for a criminal trial.
He said prosecutors would need to ensure that evidence was properly collected and securely stored, with relevant material disclosed to defence lawyers. That obligation includes sharing information that could weaken the prosecution’s case or help the accused.
The office is also developing its evidence-gathering strategy, secure information systems and operating procedures while seeking financial and technical support from foreign governments and international organisations.
Among the issues under examination are enforced disappearances, mass graves and exhumations. Hackett said such investigations could require specialist forensic skills, cooperation across borders and formal legal assistance from other countries. Cases involving unlawful killings are also likely to rely heavily on witness accounts.
The prosecutor said the needs of victims would remain central, particularly in investigations involving sexual and gender-based violence.
“Sexual and gender-based violence requires investigators trained to take court-standard statements from survivors,” he said.
Hackett said his office was seeking support from international organisations and foreign embassies to train investigators in handling such cases. The aim, he explained, is to obtain detailed and reliable testimony sensitively, while reducing the need for survivors to repeatedly recount traumatic experiences.
He also drew on his previous experience in Britain, where he worked as an accredited prosecutor in rape and sexual violence cases and in counterterrorism. He said specialist training would be essential to preparing cases that could withstand scrutiny in court.
Hackett urged prosecutors and defence lawyers to recognise their shared responsibility in ensuring that justice is delivered, particularly as cases before the Special Division of the High Court could involve former senior government officials, military personnel and police officers.
“There isn’t a perfect prosecution any more than there is a perfect defence,” he said, acknowledging that mistakes can occur but arguing that careful preparation and cooperation could help minimise them.
He said the same principles should guide the treatment of vulnerable witnesses during trials. Defence lawyers must be able to challenge evidence and ask legitimate questions, he said, but victims and witnesses must also be treated with dignity.
“It’s about having a fair trial,” Hackett said. “It’s about being fair to the defendant and allowing defence counsel to ask proper questions of a victim. But it’s also being fair to that victim, that that victim is still treated with respect.”
As preparations continue, the Special Prosecutor said the central challenge would be to pursue accountability for alleged crimes without compromising the legal protections owed to those accused.
He described the goal as establishing “a credible pathway to accountability” built on evidence, the law and a fair judicial process.
