His Excellency President Adama Barrow hosted H.E. Beth Van Schaack, the US Department of State’s Ambassador at Large for Global Criminal Justice, at the state house in Banjul on Friday, March 1, 2024.

Her Excellence Ambassador Van Schaack was led to the State House by Dawda A. Jallow, the minister of justice, and Sharon L. Cromer, the US ambassador in The Gambia.
This is her second visit to the Gambia, where she has been working with the Justice Ministry to support the Transitional Justice Process.

Ambassador Van Schaack lauded the remarkable progress that transitional justice has made in implementing all of the TRRC’s recommendations at a press briefing shortly after her meeting with the President.

She also praises Dawda A. Jallow, the Minister of Justice, and his team for starting the process and assembling a cooperative task force with Ecowas to establish a hybrid court with international elements and expertise to hear cases involving international crimes committed during the administration of former President Yahya Jammeh.

“I’m happy to see the incredible progress that transitional justice has achieved in implementing each and every one of the important recommendations in the TRRC report. I commend Minister Jallow and his team for pushing these initiatives forward. Participating in the joint ECOWAS task force launch to establish a hybrid court was an honour for me. She said that this court will have international components and capacity to help with the prosecution of some of the international crimes perpetrated during the Jammeh government.

A Special Prosecutor will be appointed soon to start the investigations and gather dossiers on the accused offenders, she added. The establishment of the new Task Force will take a month because it needs approval from ECOWAS member states.

“Those dossiers will then be prepared for the tribunal’s commencement of operations; however, in the interim, certain cases may be transferred to the national side for proper adjudication,” said the spokeswoman.

“I understand that the Covid period took a significant amount of time after the TRRC released its report, but it’s really encouraging to see the energy now in developing new institutions finding justice for the horrible crimes that were truly experienced by so many Gambians during the protracted Jammeh era,” she said. Ambassador Van Schaack expressed his happiness with the most recent developments and hope that the victims would soon receive justice after years of waiting.

She reaffirmed that the US will support the initiative by providing financing for a rewards campaign that will offer incentives for information that results in the capture or extradition of fugitives or suspects who are evading capture in The Gambia, the surrounding area, or elsewhere.

She begged the government to set up a tracking team in the Ministry of prosecution to ensure that those who are charged do not avoid justice.

Her Excellence Sharon L. Cromer Said Van Schaack is closely observing transitional justice in The Gambia.

Ambassador Beth Van Schaack closely monitors transitional justice here in the Gambia. She and her team have assisted the Ministry of Justice in getting up because the TRRC needs a lot of the work completed. She says.