The Edward Francis Small Centre has received with satisfaction the conviction of Jungler Michael Sang Correa on April 15, 2025, by a U.S. federal court for torturing five individuals allegedly involved in a 2006 failed coup against tinpot dictator Yaya Jammeh. This marks the first conviction of a non-U.S. citizen under a seldom-used U.S. law allowing trial of foreign nationals for acts of torture committed abroad. This conviction sends a clear message that individuals who commit human rights abuses cannot evade justice by seeking refuge in other countries. We wish to note that Correa’s conviction underscores the importance of international cooperation in addressing human rights violations and serves as a milestone in the global fight against impunity.
While we welcome this conviction, we must however express our disquiet that while foreign governments are holding perpetrators accountable, at home the Gambia Government is still not near prosecutions while several other TRRC Recommendations remain hanging. We review the Government’s White Paper and identify numerous no-cost or low-cost or low-hanging recommendations which could have been easily implemented but remain undone. An example is the declaration of April 10 and 11 as school holidays or the President to renounce his position as patron of the Supreme Islamic Council, among others.
For that matter, we wish to urge the Government to revisit their implementation process, which has achieved less than 10% so far. We find this unacceptable and strongly hold that significant progress should have been achieved by now. While we welcome the creation of several laws and institutions, we remain disturbed by the threats of democratic backsliding with the increasing incidence of weaponizing laws against rights and the return of dictatorship enablers back into public office.
We wish to take the opportunity of this conviction to send a clear message to all security officers and public officials to uphold the law, protect human rights and adhere to democratic principles and standards in the performance of their duties. The lawyers for Michael sought to defend him by claiming that he could not refuse to torture because he was ordered to and could lose his life if he refused. But the court rejected that claim as defence for violations of human rights. Therefore, we remind our public officials and security forces that they are not under any obligation to carry out illegal orders and instructions that break the law, violate human rights, and perpetrate corruption and other abuses.
EFSCRJ stands for transparency and accountability, and for that matter we are continuously monitoring and documenting the decisions and actions of public officials and security officers for posterity when we shall present evidence for justice. We urge all state officials and indeed all citizens to always uphold the law and refrain from acts that violate human rights or enable corruption for the day of reckoning shall arrive.
2025: The Year of Transparency and Accountability
