By: Nicholas Osei-Wusu
The only survivor, as well as families of victims of the massacre of about 44 Ghanaians in The Gambia, have expressed satisfaction with the steps being taken by the government of President Adama Barrow towards serving justice to them and all the other West African migrants allegedly brutalized by former President Yahaya Jammeh.
The Ghanaian victims of the atrocities are however appealing to the Government of Ghana to constitute a Committee of key interested parties in the matter to secure and disburse the 612 thousand Dollars accepted by The Gambia as part of the reparation to all the victims.
These were some of the key issues raised at a news conference in Kumasi in their reaction to the Release of a White Paper by The Gambia’s government in relation to a Report by The Truth, Reconciliation and Reparation Commission last week.
In December 2017, President Adama Barrow of The Gambia established the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparation Commission, TRCC to establish impartial historical records of violations and abuses of human rights from July 1994 to January 2017 to promote healing and reconciliation, respond to the needs of victims and address impunity and make recommendations to prevent future human right violations and abuses.
Among the testimonies heard by the TRCC was the account of alleged extrajudicial killings of about 67 West African migrants including 44 from Ghana in July 2005.
The 45th Ghanaian in that alleged massacre however managed to escape the murder and was assisted by the JusticeToJameh Campaign to testify before the TRCC.
Last week, President Adama Barrow’s government accepted most of the recommendations in the Commission’s Report including the prosecution of the former President of The Gambia, Yahaya Jameh now in exile after it was established by the TRCC that was involved in the extrajudicial killings.
The J2JCampaign made up of human rights and other civil society organizations in Ghana which sustained the call for justice for the victims and the only survivor and therefore organized a News Conference in Kumasi to react to the TRCC’s Report and subsequent White Paper by President Adama Barrow.
The Coordinator of the Jammeh2Justice Ghana Campaign, Mr. William Nyarko, who is the Executive Director of the Africa Centre for International Law and Accountability disclosed that apart from accepting to prosecute Mr. Yahaya Jammeh, President Adama Barrow’s government has also accepted to compensate the victims of the massacre with an amount of money equivalent to 612 thousand dollars among others.
Jammeh2Justice Ghana Campaign Manager who is also from CDD-Ghana, Madam Regina Amanfo, said the services provided to the victims continue to be free and is happy that they have not worked in vain.
The bereaved families of victims of The Gambia massacre of 44 Ghanaians thanked President Adama Barrow’s government for the steps taken so far towards assuaging their grieving.
They however appealed to President Adama Barrow and his government to consider a top-up of the amount to ensure that each victim or family receives at least 100 thousand dollars.
They are also appealing to the Government of Ghana to intervene by constituting a Committee to facilitate the release and disbursement of the compensation.
The only survivor of the mass killings whose tipoff blew the alarm over the situation, Mr. Martin Kyere, in an interview with GBCNews, emphasized that having dedicated his life in seeking justice for himself and the dead for 17 years already, he is ready to travel to testify anywhere in the world in the prosecution of former President Yahaya Jammeh to bring an end to the efforts.