Image copyright AFP Image caption Yahya Jammeh first seized power in a coup in 1994

The Gambia will set up a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to investigate abuses committed during ex-President Yahya Jammeh's rule, the justice minister has said.

The finances of Mr Jammeh would also be investigated, Abubacarr Tambadou added.

People would be encouraged to confess to crimes, and victims would be offered compensation, he said.

The former regime was accused of widespread torture and enforced disappearances during its 22-year rule.

There were also unconfirmed allegations that more than $11m (£8.8m) went missing from The Gambia's state coffers following Mr Jammeh's departure in January.

He fled to Equatorial Guinea in January after regional troops entered the tiny West African state to force him to accept defeat to property developer Adama Barrow in elections the previous month.

"A Truth and Reconciliation Commission with appropriate reparations for victims will be set up within the next six months and public hearings will be expected to commence by the end of the year," Mr Tambadou said in a statement.

Former intelligence chief Yankuba Badjie was arrested in January, making him the first of Mr Jammeh's security officials to be taken into custody by the new government.

No official reason was given for his arrest.

Five notorious cases for The Gambia's TRC:

Opposition member Solo Sandeng allegedly beaten to death in detention in April 2016

Journalist Alagie Abdoulie Ceesay allegedly forced to drink cooking oil and beaten unconsciousness in detention in July 2015

Ex-army chief of staff Ndure Cham allegedly ordered to dig his grave and shot dead in 2013 for plotting coup

Journalist Ebrima Manneh missing since he left his newsroom on July 2006

Newspaper editor Deyda Hydara shot dead in his car in December 2004

Jammeh's inglorious end

After his election victory, Mr Barrow pledged that his government would not seek vengeance against officials of the former regime, and would instead set up a South Africa-styled Truth and Reconciliation Commission to heal wounds of the past.

In a 2015 report, campaign group Human Rights Watch said Mr Jammeh's regime "frequently committed serious human rights violations, including arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, and torture against those who voiced opposition".

Torture methods included the "electroshock of body parts, including genitals and dripping melted plastic bags onto the skin", it said.

The regime relied heavily on its intelligence agency to target opponents, and was also accused of running paramilitary hit squads.

It denied the allegation, insisting that it upheld the law.</s>The new Gambian government has announced it is setting up a truth and reconciliation commission, the Justice Minister Abubacarr Tambadou, has said. The commission will provide reparations to the victims of alleged human rights abuses committed during the government of previous leader, Yahya Jammeh.

Tambadou said during a conference on 22 March that consultations were taking place to identify appropriate people who could be appointed as commissioners, Fatou News Network reported.

He added the government would first study similar commissions established in the past.

The commission was first proposed by The Gambia's new President, Adama Barrow, who defeated Jammeh in presidential elections held in December 2016.

Barrow said he would set up the commission to promote reconciliation in the country which, according to some, is divided due to ethnic tensions exacerbated during Jammeh's rule.

Jammeh, who ruled Gambia for 22 years, has often attracted criticism for – among other things – persecuting homosexuals, activists and political opponents and inciting ethnic hatred.

Gambia faced a political deadlock when Jammeh refused to relinquish power following his defeat in December's presidential elections. He eventually went into exile in Equatorial Guinea following pressure from world leaders and a military intervention by Economic Community Of West African States (Ecowas) troops.</s>Gambia's President Yahya Jammeh, who is also a presidential candidate for the Alliance for Patriotic Re-orientation and Construction (APRC), smiles during a rally in Banjul, Gambia, November 29, 2016. REUTERS/Thierry Gouegnon

BANJUL (Reuters) - Gambia said on Thursday it would set up a Truth and Reconciliation Commission and offer reparations to victims of former President Yahya Jammeh's government, which is accused of the torture and killing of perceived opponents.

Justice Minister Abubacarr Tambadou said in a statement the government will also probe the finances of Jammeh, who fled into exile in January to Equatorial Guinea after a rule that began in 1994 when he seized power in a coup.

Jammeh lost an election in December to the now President Adama Barrow but refused to accept the result. He only stepped down after pressure from regional leaders who sent troops to Gambia to force him to leave. [L5N1GN4WN]

Since his departure Barrow's government has taken steps to restore the rule of law and strengthen the judiciary.

"A Truth and Reconciliation Commision with appropriate reparations for victims will be set up within the next six months and public hearings will be expected to commence by the end of the year," Tambadou said.

The government would first study other such commissions. South Africa established a Truth and Reconciliation Commission after apartheid ended in 1994 and other African countries have set up similar bodies.

The aim is to encourage people to confess crimes committed under the previous government and for victims to air injustices they suffered. Reparations can also be set.</s>These are external links and will open in a new window

The Gambia will set up a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to investigate abuses committed during ex-President Yahya Jammeh's rule, the justice minister has said.

The finances of Mr Jammeh would also be investigated, Abubacarr Tambadou added.

People would be encouraged to confess to crimes, and victims would be offered compensation, he said.

The former regime was accused of widespread torture and enforced disappearances during its 22-year rule.

There were also unconfirmed allegations that more than $11m (£8.8m) went missing from The Gambia's state coffers following Mr Jammeh's departure in January.
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He fled to Equatorial Guinea in January after regional troops entered the tiny West African state to force him to accept defeat to property developer Adama Barrow in elections the previous month.

"A Truth and Reconciliation Commission with appropriate reparations for victims will be set up within the next six months and public hearings will be expected to commence by the end of the year," Mr Tambadou said in a statement.

Former intelligence chief Yankuba Badjie was arrested in January, making him the first of Mr Jammeh's security officials to be taken into custody by the new government.

No official reason was given for his arrest.

After his election victory, Mr Barrow pledged that his government would not seek vengeance against officials of the former regime, and would instead set up a South Africa-styled Truth and Reconciliation Commission to heal wounds of the past.

In a 2015 report, campaign group Human Rights Watch said Mr Jammeh's regime "frequently committed serious human rights violations, including arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, and torture against those who voiced opposition".

Torture methods included the "electroshock of body parts, including genitals and dripping melted plastic bags onto the skin", it said.</s>Gambia to set up truth commission to probe Jammeh’s Rule

The Gambia will set up a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to investigate abuses committed during ex-President Yahya Jammeh’s rule, the justice minister has said.

The finances of Jammeh would also be investigated, Abubacarr Tambadou added.

People would be encouraged to confess to crimes, and victims would be offered compensation, he said.

The former regime was accused of widespread torture and enforced disappearances during its 22-year rule.

There were also unconfirmed allegations that more than $11m (£8.8m) went missing from The Gambia’s state coffers following Jammeh’s departure in January.

He fled to Equatorial Guinea in January after regional troops entered the tiny West African state to force him to accept defeat to property developer Adama Barrow in elections the previous month.

“A Truth and Reconciliation Commission with appropriate reparations for victims will be set up within the next six months and public hearings will be expected to commence by the end of the year,” Tambadou said in a statement.

Former intelligence chief Yankuba Badjie was arrested in January, making him the first of Jammeh’s security officials to be taken into custody by the new government.

No official reason was given for his arrest.

Five notorious cases for The Gambia’s TRC:

Opposition member Solo Sandeng allegedly beaten to death in detention in April 2016

Journalist Alagie Abdoulie Ceesay allegedly forced to drink cooking oil and beaten unconsciousness in detention in July 2015

Ex-army chief of staff Ndure Cham allegedly ordered to dig his grave and shot dead in 2013 for plotting coup

Journalist Ebrima Manneh missing since he left his newsroom on July 2006

Newspaper editor Deyda Hydara shot dead in his car in December 2004</s>BANJUL, Gambia (AP) - Gambia will set up a truth and reconciliation commission to look into crimes committed by the former regime, and it will offer to pay reparations to victims, Justice Minister Abubacarr Tambedou announced Thursday night.

The government of new President Adama Barrow has promised to reverse many of the actions taken under former leader Yahya Jammeh, who was accused by rights groups of overseeing abuses of opponents during his 22-year rule. Jammeh flew into exile in January under international pressure after a political standoff when he lost the December election and refused to step down.

This tiny West African nation is under pressure to act on the new government's promises as calls for justice grow. Last month, nine former high-ranking officers with the National Intelligence Agency were arrested and charged with murder in the death of an opposition activist.

The justice minister said the truth and reconciliation commission will be established in the next six months.

Barrow has said is too soon to tell whether Jammeh could face trial at the International Criminal Court or elsewhere. Jammeh is now in Equatorial Guinea, which is not a state party to the treaty that created the ICC.

"We aren't talking about prosecution here. We are talking about getting a truth and reconciliation commission," Barrow told The Associated Press in an interview in January. "Before you can act, you have to get the truth, to get the facts together."

Many Gambians were arbitrarily detained for years, often without access to family members or lawyers.</s>BANJUL, Gambia (AP) — Gambia says it will set up a truth and reconciliation commission to look into crimes committed by the former regime, and it will offer to pay reparations to victims.

The government of new President Adama Barrow has promised to reverse many of the actions taken under former leader Yahya Jammeh, who was accused by rights groups of overseeing abuses of opponents.

This tiny West African nation is under pressure to act as calls for justice grow. Last month, nine former high-ranking officers with the National Intelligence Agency were arrested and charged with murder in the death of an opposition activist.

The justice minister says the truth and reconciliation commission will be established in the next six months.</s>The Gambia's former leader, Yahya Jammeh, has been pictured for the first time since he went into exile in Equatorial Guinea in January. In one of the pictures, the 51-year-old strongman is seen next to a man believed to be Equatorial Guinea President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo at a farmland.

Jammeh, who left Gambia following a post-election politic crisis that culminated in his exile, is also seen walking among bushes and talking to locals.

Gambia faced a political deadlock when Jammeh refused to relinquish power following his defeat in December's presidential elections. Adama Barrow, a former businessman and leader of a coalition of opposition parties, won the vote.

Jammeh eventually went into exile in Equatorial Guinea following pressure from world leaders and a military intervention by Economic Community Of West African States (Ecowas) troops.

The former leader, who ruled The Gambia for 22 years, has often attracted criticism for – among other things – persecuting homosexuals, activists and political opponents and inciting ethnic hatred.

Jammeh's choice of country for his exile sowed division among the public, with some arguing he would escape prosecution if he remained in Equatorial Guinea, which does not recognise the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court.

The ICC, however, told IBTimes UK it s not currently planning an investigation into alleged crimes committed by Jammeh.</s>* Gambian president said would rule for "a billion years"

* Government denies deterioration of civil liberties (Adds quote from Jammeh, detail from event)

DAKAR, July 22 A month after 29-year-old Lieutenant Yahya Jammeh seized power in Gambia in a bloodless coup in 1994, the U.S. Ambassador cabled Washington to warn that the "anti-western" and "anti-democratic" new president was seeking an "open mandate".

As Gambia marks the 21st anniversary of Jammeh's rule, Andrew Winter's warning still resonates as rights groups accuse the president of cracking down on opponents before an expected bid for a fifth term next year.

Unlike long-ruling African leaders in Burundi and Burkina Faso, whose efforts to extend their presidencies have provoked violent demonstrations, Jammeh appears unlikely to encounter resistance in his tiny West African country.

Gambia has not seen a public protest since 2000 when security forces killed 14 people, a government inquest showed. A shambolic coup attempt in December last year led by U.S.-based Gambians was quickly snuffed out.

Jammeh, who once told a reporter he could rule for "a billion years", has scrapped term limits from the constitution and blocked an attempt by regional bloc ECOWAS to reinstate them in May. The bloc refused to send observers to the last polls in 2011, citing intimidation of the opposition and the electorate.

"The chances of political change are very, very slim, mostly because the regime ensures the opposition remains weak," said Sidi Sanneh, a former foreign minister who has become a U.S.-based dissident.

The government denies that civil liberties have worsened and says that Gambia has been transformed during Jammeh's rule from a near Stone Age economy to a modern nation.

Jammeh, 50, is perhaps best known outside Gambia for a claim to have found a herbal cure for AIDS. His country, a beach-fringed strip of land surrounded by Senegal which Jammeh calls "the smiling coast", attracts thousands of sun-seeking tourists from Britain and the Netherlands each winter.

But thousands of young Gambians from a population of less than 2 million are fleeing each year in the other direction, seeking a better life in Europe, according to European Union migration data.

Sanneh says next year's election offers scant opportunity for change.

The government passed a law this month raising the running costs for presidential candidates to 28 times the average annual income of $450, in what it said was a move to ensure parties are well-led. Police halted an opposition party tour in April because they lacked a permit, local paper Foroyaa said.

By contrast, hundreds of young Jammeh supporters sang and cheered in a parade to mark "Revolution Day" - the anniversary of the president's arrival in power - an event more celebrated than independence from Britain in 1965.

"Since the December attacks he is increasingly insecure," said Abdoulaye Saine, a U.S.-based author and professor. "He was nervous before but now he is really lashing out against any perceived threat."

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch report growing repression since the failed coup. Three alleged plotters face execution and dozens of people are missing, campaigners say.

But Jammeh said on Wednesday that he would pardon prisoners charged with treason from 1994-2013. "I turn a new page but the first person to stain the page will pay the ultimate price," he told a large crowd in Banjul.

In a country with army checkpoints every few kilometres, security is increasing, residents said. Jammeh, known as "oga" or "boss" by soldiers, has boosted the numbers of his Jola ethnic group in the army, they said. Residents and diplomats say he has not left Gambia since December.

The Committee to Protect Journalists has also complained of attacks on press freedom. It said journalist Alagie Ceesay was bundled into a car and detained by suspected government agents for nearly two weeks and freed on July 13, only to be abducted again four days later.

Information Minister Sheriff Bojang said he was not available for comment. He told local media in June: "The Gambia has achieved significant progress in legal due process, press freedom and trafficking in persons."

However, local sources told the U.N. Special Rapporteur in a May report of a place called Bambadinka in the National Intelligence Agency headquarters used for interrogation and torture. Gambia says the allegations in the report are unsubstantiated.

Jammeh proposed a bill last month that would increase the crimes punishable by death, according to a copy seen by Reuters.

The last reported executions were in 2012 by firing squad.

Allegations of rights abuses come as one Western diplomat in the region said relations with Gambia are at an all-time low. Jammeh pulled Gambia out of the Commonwealth in 2013, calling it neo-colonial, and in June, the EU's top diplomat was expelled after a meeting with the government.

EU data shows the number of Gambians seeking asylum in Europe more than a tripled last year. This was linked to a recession caused by drought and the Ebola outbreak elsewhere in West Africa which hit tourism in Gambia.

Most of the 11,515 asylum seekers were young adults and 200 were unaccompanied minors. An unknown number have drowned in the Mediterranean. In May, Jammeh suggested families could do more to prevent migration.

Moses Abukari, Gambia country manager for the International Fund for Agricultural Development, said youth migration from rural areas was creating labour shortages.

The government wants to make Gambia self-sufficient in food. But the International Monetary Fund warned that a 15 percent drop in production last year has "serious implications" for food security as the so-called hungry months between harvests approach.

"Instead of voting with marbles, they (youth) are voting with their feet," said Sanneh, referring to a method of voting by dropping marbles into urns. (Writing by Emma Farge; Editing by Daniel Flynn, Giles Elgood and David Stamp)</s>Cape Town – Pictures of former Gambian president Yahya Jammeh working on a farm in Equatorial Guinea have emerged on social media.

Jammeh is shown working on a farm, and talking to a man believed to be Equatorial Guinea’s long-time leader Teodoro Obiang Nguema.

The former ruler appears "smaller" than his usual towering self, according to Africa News.

Jammeh was reportedly actively involved in agriculture besides politics while he was Gambia's president.

Early this month, reports claimed that the exiled former leader was set to take up farming "full time".

It was not clear what type of farming he was set to venture into.

Jammeh flew out to Equatorial Guinea in January from The Gambia, a tiny west African country he ruled for 22 years, to cede power to President Adama Barrow and end a political crisis.

He had initially refused to step down after a December 1 election in which Barrow was declared the winner, triggering weeks of uncertainly that almost ended in a military intervention involving five other west African nations.
The Gambia's justice minister Abubacarr Tambadou states that the country will establish a Truth and Reconciliation Commission "within the next six months" to investigate allegations of abuse dating from the time of former President Yahya Jammeh. According to Tambadou, public hearings are scheduled to get underway by year's end.