In our series of letters from Afrikaans journalists, the Sierra Leonean-Gambian writer Ade Daramy reflects on the impact that evidence has on Gambia’s truth commission.
Gambians are being forced to reevaluate their self-esteem as a relaxed, peace-loving people, living on what is marketed to tourists as the “Smiling Coast”.
Revelation by revelation teaches them the shocking truth about what really happened during the 22-year reign of President Yahya Jammeh, who ended up fleeing the country in 2017.
The proceedings of the Truth, Reconciliation and Recovery Commission (TRRC) have just reached the biennial point and the live daily broadcasts have gripped the country.
Viewers heard stories of extreme violence and torture, arbitrary arrests and murders, and the impact of the president’s fake health drugs.
Some things have always been suspected, and there was no doubt that people feared President Jammeh, but the scale of the crimes came as a surprise.
Here are five things we’ve learned so far:
1) The president’s ‘five star hotels’ were not comfortable
Mr. Jammeh loved to joke that if anyone crossed him, he would end up in one of his ‘five star hotels’ – his nickname for prisons.
Witnesses, both former prisoners and guards, told the TRRC that if the alleged crime was related to the president, the torture of prisoners was guaranteed.
One former head of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) admitted to the commission that after the fall of Mr. Jammeh tried to disguise the violence by having builders renovate a prison to get rid of the torture chamber and most equipment.
Many former inmates told the TRRC how they were sentenced to prison on the rarest evidence.
One man admitted that he was a “witness to hire” and testified in several high-profile cases (including alleged coups that led to the execution of people) when he had no knowledge of the events. In all, he said he gave 32 paid statements against 12 people.
2) Informants were everywhere
Several witnesses testified about how they were detained after someone passed on their name.
Omar Jatta was a victim of the NIA’s ‘special treatment’. He told the commission he was arrested in 1995, taken to the NIA, pulled out and electrocuted.
He was detained for talking to a veteran opposition politician during a nomination ceremony.
I was aware of the fear of informants after attending a dinner-dance event in 1998. A comedian had the perfect impression of President Jammeh, but I was the only audience member out of the 300 who failed.
All the others just stare at the floor. Later, someone explained, “You never know who’s watching.”
3) Jammeh’s paranoia led to murder
A group of soldiers have admitted to capturing and killing more than 50 African migrants, including 44 Ghanaians who made the mistake of traveling through Europe on their way to Europe in July 2005.
They were arrested by security forces when their boat came ashore, and without evidence and no trial, they are accused of being mercenaries hired for a possible coup attempt.
Over the next ten days, almost everyone detained was killed in Gambia or taken across the border to Senegal and shot and their bodies dumped in wells.
One soldier recounted how, just before he was shot, one of the migrants asked if he could grab his bag and get something. It turns out to be a $ 100 bill he hands to the soldier and says, “Of course I will not be able to spend it, you can get it.”
The soldier admitted that he took it and spent it.
4) Jammeh’s ‘HIV patients’ are stripped naked
In one of his most bizarre allegations, 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 undress naked. He then rubbed a lotion on his body and got something to drink.
The patients who did not die are still HIV-positive and are now undergoing conventional treatment.
5) The presidential convoy was deadly
When the president was on his way, all traffic had to give way. So far so normal, but there have been serious consequences for those who did not move.
The TRRC heard from several witnesses who were left disabled after not getting out of the way of the presidential convoy fast enough. Others died.
Sometimes soldiers break away from the stream of vehicles to defeat drivers or pedestrians who do not move in time.
The former family waiter of mr. Jammeh was one of many who commented on his habit of throwing cookies among the crowd as the convoy swept past.
People scrambling to pick up the snacks are then run over by other fast cars in the entourage. The witness estimated that 20 died in this way between 2001 and 2008.
The stories that came out of witnesses as well as offenders 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 should have been behind any alleged crimes. But not a single self-confessed murderer or martyr is from outside the country.
While the truth about some of what happened may now be known, it is still not clear what room there is for reconciliation.
The commission has at least another six months to run and only after the report is published will there be a final settlement of Gambia’s violent and troubled past.
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