In our series of letters from African journalists, Sierra Leone-Gambian writer Ade Daramy reflects on the impact that the testimony on the Gambia truth commission is having.
Gambians are being forced to reevaluate their self-image as a relaxed, peace-loving people who live off what is marketed to tourists like the “Costa do Sorriso”.
Revelation by revelation, they are learning the shocking truth about what really happened during President Yahya Jammeh’s 22-year term, which ended with him fleeing the country in 2017.
The procedures of the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC) have just passed the two-year mark and daily live broadcasts have reached the nation.
Viewers heard stories of extreme violence and torture, arbitrary arrests and murders, and the impact of the president’s false health cures.
There were always suspicions of some things and there was no doubt that people feared President Jammeh, but the extent of the crimes was a surprise.
Here are five things we’ve learned so far:
1) The president’s ‘five star hotels’ were not comfortable
Jammeh liked to joke that if someone crossed him, he would end up in one of his “five-star hotels” – his nickname for prisons.
Witnesses, both ex-convicts and guards, told the TRRC that if an alleged crime was related to the president, torture of prisoners was guaranteed.
A former head of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) admitted to the commission that after the fall of Jammeh, he tried to cover up the violence by having builders renovate a prison to get rid of the torture chamber and most of the equipment.
Many ex-prisoners told the TRRC how they were arrested based on the most fragile evidence.
One man admitted that he was a “witness for hire”, giving testimony in several high profile cases (including alleged plotting scams that led to people being executed) when he was unaware of the events. In all, he said he made 32 paid statements against 12 people.
2) Informants were everywhere
Several witnesses gave evidence of how they were detained after someone revealed their name.
Omar Jatta was the victim of the NIA’s “special treatment”. He told the commission that he was arrested in 1995, taken to the NIA, stripped and electrocuted.
He was arrested because he was seen speaking to a veteran opposition politician at an appointment ceremony.
I became aware of the informants’ fear after attending a dance dinner event in 1998. A comedian made a perfect impression of President Jammeh, but I was the only audience member out of 300 who was in trouble.
Everyone else just looked at the floor. Later, someone explained, “You never know who’s watching.”
3) Jammeh’s paranoia led to the murder
A group of soldiers confessed to the capture and murder of more than 50 African migrants, including 44 Ghanaians who, in July 2005, made the mistake of trying to travel around the country en route to Europe.
They were arrested by security forces when their boat docked and, without evidence and without trial, were accused of being hired mercenaries for a possible coup attempt.
In the next 10 days, almost all detainees were killed in Gambia or taken across the border with Senegal and shot and their bodies thrown into wells.
A soldier told how, just before he was shot, one of the migrants asked if he could reach into his pocket and take something. It ended up being a $ 100 bill that he handed to the soldier saying, “Obviously I won’t be able to spend this, you can keep it.”
The soldier admitted that he took it and spent it.
4) Jammeh ‘HIV patients’ naked
In one of his most bizarre statements, President Jammeh said in 2007 that he had a cure for HIV, asthma and diabetes.
He then removed patients from conventional antiretroviral treatments and enrolled them in his Presidential Alternative Treatment Program.
One witness, who was HIV-positive, said he had to be naked. He then rubbed a lotion on the body and received something to drink.
Patients who have not died are still HIV positive and are on conventional treatment.
5) The presidential convoy was deadly
When the president was on the road, all traffic had to give way. So far, everything was normal, but there were serious consequences for those who were unable to move.
The TRRC heard several witnesses who were disabled after failing to get out of the way of the presidential convoy quickly enough. Others died.
Sometimes soldiers fled the flow of vehicles to beat up drivers or pedestrians who did not move in time.
The former waiter from Jammeh’s family was one of many to comment on his habit of throwing cookies to the crowds as the train passed.
People rushing to get their snacks were run over by other high-speed cars from the party. The witness estimated that 20 people were killed in this way between 2001 and 2008.
The stories that emerged from both witnesses and perpetrators led Gambians to reflect on what they knew about the country and themselves.
Before the TRRC, it was common to hear people say that foreigners must be behind any alleged atrocity. But no confessed murderer or torturer has proven to be from outside the country.
While the truth about part of what happened now is known, it is still unclear what space there is for reconciliation.
The commission has at least six more months to function and only after the publication of its report will there be a final reckoning with the Gambia’s violent and troubled past.
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