Geneva - Switzerland on Thursday detained former Gambian interior minister Ousman Sonko, who is accused of committing grave abuses under the regime of ousted president Yahya Jammeh.

The arrest, confirmed by Swiss prosecutors, comes as The Gambia prepared to welcome their new president Adama Barrow, who had fled to Senegal after beating Jammeh in a landmark election that sparked a political crisis.

Sonko had been one of Jammeh's top allies, serving in his presidential guard before leading the interior ministry from 2006 to 2016.

Jammeh sacked him in September and Sanko fled to Sweden where his request for asylum was rejected.

Sonko was detained in the Swiss capital Bern following a complaint filed by rights group TRIAL.

"He will be interrogated soon," Amael Gschwind, a spokesperson for Bern prosecutors told AFP, confirming the arrest.

TRIAL, which campaigns for the Swiss judicial system to act on crimes committed abroad, described Sonko as one of Jammeh's "strongmen" and said he must have been aware of the violations committed under the fallen authoritarian regime.

"Sonko could not have ignored the large-scale torture that political opponents, journalists and human rights defenders suffered", said Benedict de Moerloose of TRIAL's criminal law division.

According to TRIAL, Sonko arrived in Switzerland in November and applied for asylum.

It was not immediately clear where he had lived between his arrival and his arrest.

TRIAL urged Switzerland to move forward with prosecution, suggesting it could give positive momentum to the unprecedented political developments underway in The Gambia.

"The crimes of Jammeh's government have never been judged, and torturers walk free. At the time Gambia is preparing for a democratic transition, these developments send a strong message of hope," the rights group said in a statement.

Jammeh refused to step down after his election loss to Barrow, but was ultimately forced to quit power and flee to Equatorial Guinea amid strong regional and international pressure.

Residents of The Gambia, a country of roughly two million people, were anxiously awaiting Barrow's arrival which will cap the first-ever democratic transition of power in the nation's history.</s>Switzerland on Thursday detained former Gambian interior minister Ousman Sonko, who is accused of committing grave abuses under the regime of ousted president Yahya Jammeh.

The arrest, confirmed by Swiss prosecutors, comes as The Gambia prepared to welcome their new president Adama Barrow, who had fled to Senegal after beating Jammeh in a landmark election that sparked a political crisis.

Sonko had been one of Jammeh’s top allies, serving in his presidential guard before leading the interior ministry from 2006 to 2016.

Jammeh sacked him in September and Sanko fled to Sweden where his request for asylum was rejected.

Sonko was detained in the Swiss capital Bern following a complaint filed by rights group TRIAL.

“He will be interrogated soon,” Amael Gschwind, a spokesman for Bern prosecutors told AFP, confirming the arrest.

TRIAL, which campaigns for the Swiss judicial system to act on crimes committed abroad, described Sonko as one of Jammeh’s “strongmen” and said he must have been aware of the violations committed under the fallen authoritarian regime.

“Sonko could not have ignored the large-scale torture that political opponents, journalists and human rights defenders suffered”, said Benedict de Moerloose of TRIAL’s criminal law division.

According to TRIAL, Sonko arrived in Switzerland in November and applied for asylum.

It was not immediately clear where he had lived between his arrival and his arrest.

TRIAL urged Switzerland to move forward with prosecution, suggesting it could give positive momentum to the unprecedented political developments underway in The Gambia.

“The crimes of Jammeh’s government have never been judged, and torturers walk free. At the time Gambia is preparing for a democratic transition, these developments send a strong message of hope,” the rights group said in a statement.

Jammeh refused to step down after his election loss to Barrow, but was ultimately forced to quit power and flee to Equatorial Guinea amid strong regional and international pressure.

Residents of The Gambia, a country of roughly two million people, were anxiously awaiting Barrow’s arrival which will cap the first-ever democratic transition of power in the nation’s history.</s>Swiss take former Gambian minister Sonko into custody - media

ZURICH, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Swiss police detained former Gambian Interior Minister Ousman Sonko near the Swiss capital of Berne on Thursday, newspaper Berner Zeitung said on its website, citing police.

Swiss television programme Rundschau reported on Wednesday that Sonko, who had been interior minister under ousted Gambian leader Yahya Jammeh, had been living in a home for asylum seekers near Berne for over two months.

Jammeh has denied allegations of torture and killing opponents while in power. But his repressive rule and a flagging economy saw thousands flee across the Sahara and Mediterranean to Europe each year

"(Berne police director Hans-Juerg) Kaeser confirmed on Thursday that the canton took the Gambian into custody in Lyss and is transferring him to a new location," Berner Zeitung said on its website. Kaeser declined to comment to Reuters.

Christof Scheurer of the Berne prosecutor's office would not confirm that Sonko had been taken into custody, but said the office had taken measures linked to a complaint filed against Sonko by non-governmental organisation Trial International.

The State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) said an asylum request had been received from a former member of the Gambian government, without naming Sonko.

"The SEM was aware of the case's significance when it started processing the asylum request and informed all relevant authorities," SEM spokesman Martin Reichlin said in an email.

Chloe Bitton, spokeswoman for Geneva-based Trial International, confirmed the NGO had filed a complaint against Sonko on Wednesday, hoping it would trigger proceedings in Switzerland that would help Gambia's democratic transition. (Reporting by Silke Koltrowitz; Editing by Alison Williams)</s>Swiss police detained former Gambian Interior Minister Ousman Sonko near the Swiss capital of Berne on Thursday, newspaper Berner Zeitung said on its website, citing police. Swiss television programme Rundschau reported on Wednesday that Sonko, who had been interior minister under ousted Gambian leader Yahya Jammeh, had been living in a home for asylum seekers near Berne for over two months.

Start the conversation, or Read more at The Star Online.</s>Swiss authorities have opened an investigation into suspected crimes against humanity against a former Gambian interior minister who applied for asylum in Switzerland, officials said on Thursday.

A Bernese court ordered the arrest of Ousman Sonko, who served under Yahya Jammeh, the dictator who ruled the West African country for 22 years. Sonko was sacked by Jammeh and then fled for Europe. He has been living in an asylum center in canton Bern since last November.

"He has been arrested and will be heard soon," Amaël Gschwind, a spokesperson for the cantonal prosecutor, told Swiss public television, SRF. Authorities confirmed they also launched an investigation into suspected crimes against humanity by Sonko, who commanded an elite squad in Gambia notorious for its brutality.



Last September, Sonko tried to obtain asylum in Sweden. He then fled to Switzerland, where he filed an asylum application. After his presence became known, the Geneva-based group TRIAL International filed a criminal complaint against him for alleged participation in what the group calls the Jammeh regime's "widespread use of torture and extrajudiciary executions".

The complaint asked Bernese judicial authorities to prosecute Sonko for alleged brutality against opponents through detentions, beatings and killings. The group asked for Sonko to be charged, as is allowable in Switzerland, under an international anti-torture treaty and the Swiss criminal code.



“As the head of detention centers, M Sonko could not have ignored the large-scale torture that political opponents, journalists and human rights defenders suffered there”, Benedict de Moerloose, head of the inquiries and criminal law division at TRIAL, said in a statement.

A regional public prosecutor in Bern received the criminal denunciation from TRIAL and was examining Sonko’s case. Hundreds of Gambians disappeared during Jammeh’s rule.

Jammeh was linked to money launderers, drug traffickers and others with ties to organized crime or terror-linked organizations. He was defeated as president in December elections, but only left the country this month under international pressure backed by a West African regional military force.</s>A top member of the repressive Gambian regime under ousted President Yahya Jammeh has requested refugee protection in Switzerland, Bern’s Police Chief confirmed on Wednesday.

Former Interior Minister Ousman Sonko has been staying in an asylum centre in Bern since November, police chief Hans-Juerg Kaeser said.

Mr. Sonko was a key figure of Mr. Jammeh’s repressive rule, and he ordered the detention and torture of government critics, Gambian opposition politician Alhasana Jobarteh and human rights lawyer Yankuba Darboe told Swiss public broadcaster SRF.

Mr. Sonko apparently fell out with Mr. Jammeh already before the president was voted out of office in early December.

Mr. Jammeh, who ruled the small West African nation for 22 years with an iron fist, had refused to step down.

He finally left for Equatorial Guinea on Saturday, after weeks of pressure from regional leaders.</s>Former Gambian Minister of the Interior Ousman Sonko has been arrested in Switzerland for crimes against humanity, alleged while he served under 22-year leader Yahya Jammeh.

Sonko was arrested as Gambia welcomed the arrival of Adama Barrow, Jammeh's successor and Gambia's first democratically elected president since independence, following a weeks' long political crisis.

Sonko directed Jammeh's feared security services, and served in the former leader's presidential guard, before heading the interior ministry from 2006 to 2016.

Swiss prosecutor Christof Scheurer told AFP that Sonko was being investigated under article 264a of Switzerland's criminal code, which pertains to crimes against humanity.

"He will be interrogated soon," Amael Gschwind, a spokesman for the prosecutor's office in Bern was quoted as saying.

The Gambia was plunged into political uncertainty in December when Jammeh refused to step down after losing a presidential election. Barrow, who led a broad opposition coalition to defeat the incumbent, was forced into exile in neighbouring Senegal and was inaugurated at Gambia's embassy in Dakar.

Jammeh, who crushed political opposition against him, and operated a police state over his decades-long rule, only agreed to step down following an intervention by the West African regional body of states. The military operation to force Jammeh from power was spearheaded by Senegal and Nigeria.

The human rights organisation, Trial International, which lobbies the Swiss judicial system to prosecute on crimes committed abroad, has said Sonko is a lynchpin of the Gambian regime and claimed he must have been aware of the violations committed under the regime, characterising him as a "strongman".

"Sonko could not have ignored the large-scale torture that political opponents, journalists and human rights defenders suffered," Benedict de Moerloose from Trial's criminal law division said.

"The crimes of Jammeh's government have never been judged, and torturers walk free. At the time Gambia is preparing for a democratic transition, these developments send a strong message of hope," the group said in a statement.

Sonko was forced into exile in September after he was ejected from Jammeh's government. He applied for asylum in Switzerland in November.

Jammeh left The Gambia for Equatorial Guinea in a deal orchestrated by African leaders. The country is not a member of the International Criminal Court.</s>In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the United Nations says it recorded a significant increase in the number of human rights violations committed over the past year, and that state security forces were the main perpetrators.

The spike in violations has been recorded by the U.N. Joint Human Rights Office in its newly-released report for the Congo for 2016. The director of the human rights office, Jose Maria Aranaz, says there was marked deterioration.

 

 “We are particularly worried about the dramatic increase in human rights violations documented in the territory of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Our office has documented 5,190 human rights violations, which represents a 30 percent increase compared to 2015, which was already a year of increase compared to 2014,” Aranaz said.

 

 DRC government spokesman Lambert Mende told VOA the figures sound “exaggerated” but declined further comment as he said he has not seen the report.

 

 The U.N. says Congolese security forces committed most of the documented violations, while the rest were attributed to armed groups active in the east of the country.

 

 “It is a matter of particular concern the fact that state agents are responsible for the majority of these abuses,” said Aranaz. “They committed 64 percent of the violations and left behind 480 victims of extrajudicial killings and summary executions. The main perpetrator of human rights abuses in the country is the national police, followed by the army and the national intelligence services.”

The report draws special attention to the restriction of political rights which Aranaz said quadrupled in the past year amid opposition to delayed elections.

On New Year's eve, President Joseph Kabila’s ruling alliance and most of the opposition signed an agreement. If implemented, this deal paves the way both for delayed elections to take place in late 2017 as well as a delayed departure for Kabila, whose second and final term expired last month.

 

 Aranaz says it is crucial to ensure political freedoms during this precarious transition.

 

 “There is also a specific part in the political agreement signed on 31 December which refers to confidence-building measures. This refers basically to the opening of democratic space, the release of political prisoners or prisoners of opinion," Aranaz said.

 

 Aranaz added that his office has also been pushing for other rights.

 

 "We have been advocating that these confidence-building measures go beyond the political prisoners’ element and include lifting the ban on demonstrations for the opposition, stopping the instrumentalization of the judiciary, bringing the perpetrators of human rights abuses to justice, allowing media professionals to conduct their activities in a healthy environment and without threats, and for the police to refrain from using lethal weapons in crowd control,” Aranaz said.

 

 Earlier this week, Congolese authorities ejected a Human Rights Watch researcher from the country for the second time.
Former Gambian Interior Minister Ousman Sonko is arrested in Switzerland on allegations of human rights abuses.