By Fatou Sowe
“We are at a cross road and a society in dilemma, it is time for some critical decisions. We want accountability and at the same time we do not want it to divide us further and jeopardize our peace and stability.”
These were the words of the attorney general and minister of justice at the opening ceremony of a two-day training on transitional justice targeting national stakeholders in the country’s transitional justice process.
AG Abubacarr Tambadou said, restructuring of the judiciary in terms of personnel, training and infrastructure becomes necessary, likewise the security forces which were mostly perceived to be at the center of most violations of human rights in the past 22years.
He disclosed that as an outcome of the national consultative meetings on TRRC there was an overwhelming support and consensus on the need to speedily establish the TRRC as most Gambians believed it is a tool to serve in reconciling the nation.
“Most Gambians also outlined that the Commissioners through the truth commission should be Gambian Nationals of Proven integrity.” He continued.
Tambadou urged the media to expand the frontiers of its outreach, as Transitional Justice has multifaceted dimensions and one important component is outreach. “We need to engage the general populace to achieved the transformation we desire.” He added.
He further stated that he expects that the knowledge and skills that will be acquired during the training will broaden the understanding of the participants on the concept of transitional justice.
He finally revealed that they want to put victims at the center of the transitional justice process to restore their dignity and provide reparations against the background of the realities of our fragile economy.
Briard Luc the deputy head of mission of the French Embassy and others experts in transitional justice also spoke at the ceremony.
