On Wednesday, February 7, 2024, the Gambia Center for Victims of Human Rights Violations, a group of families and allies of victims of the former dictatorship in The Gambia, requested additional government and stakeholder support.

The center told the National Assembly Standing Committee on Human Rights and Constitutional Matters on their progress and problems in seeking justice and reparations for their loved ones who were killed, missing, wrongfully imprisoned, and tortured.

Despite tremendous development and achievements, Programs head Mr. Kebba Jome told the committee that the center encountered various problems in executing its activities effectively and efficiently.
He said the challenges included lack of long-term funding to sustain the institution and its staff, leading to job insecurity and staff shortage; lack of funds to provide victims with medical and educational support; and lack of a unit to address sexual and gender-based violence in their intervention areas.

The lack of long-term funding to support staff operations costs to continue the institution causes job insecurity and staff shortages. Only the NED project funds the Victims Center, which ends in September 2024. Lack of finances to continue medical and educational help to victims and lack of a sexual and gender-based violence unit to document and address SGBV in our intervention regions, he said.

Mr. Jome also cited the delays in establishing up the Reparations Commission to compensate victims and identifying the corpses of the suspected November 11, 1994 coup plotters at the EFSTH mortuary in Banjul.

Before the TRRC ended, the government earmarked 50 million for victim compensation, according to Victim Center Co-Founder and Program Officer Aisha Jammeh. She said the money was insufficient for full compensation.
We don’t know where the 50 Million came from. 13 million was spent on victims who needed medical treatment abroad in Turkey, and 37 million was paid to the other identified victims for restitution, she told the committee.

The center encouraged the Ministry of Justice to work with them to form repatriation and reconciliation committees and exhume and identify all buried victims forensically and return them to their families.