By Abdoulie John
As the tiny West African nation continues to be rocked with gruesome crimes confession by Yahya Jammeh’s former hitmen, the Gambia’s Attorney General and Minister of Justice Aboubacarr Tambadou said Gambians have now known the Truth.
“I think the truth is being told, and revealed. That is what this country needs,” Minister Tambadou told this medium. The defeat of Yahya Jammeh in December 2016 elections had given Gambians the opportunity to build a bleeding nation.
Last Monday, Malick Jatta, an ex-member of the Junglers testified before the ongoing Sixth Session of the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC) and confirmed that the kill team carried out a number of extra-judicial killings at the direction of ex-President Yahya Jammeh. He further stated that he took part in the assassination of journalist Deyda Hydara, an Agence France Presse (AFP) correspondent and co-founder of The Point newspaper.
Mr. Tambadou said Gambians need to establish the truth about all the human rights violations that occurred in the country.
“Yesterday (Monday) was just another episode of that truth telling process,” he added. The TRRC is giving Gambians the opportunity to uncover truth on gross violations of human rights committed during 22 years of the Jammeh dictatorship.
Meanwhile, Malick Jatta, a brother to the former Army Chief of Staff, ended his testimony on Tuesday with a vibrant call for forgiveness. He had expressed regrets for being allowed to used as a tool to kill innocent people.
Jatta said in the army, the position of subordinate is very critical because they are bound to follow orders – written or unwritten – from the top brass.
“When we were at the bottom, we take and implement orders,” Jatta said remorsely.
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