Bodies discovered of 12 west Africans human rights groups say were killed by paramilitary hit squad under orders of Yahya Jammeh. A mass grave containing the bodies of 12 west Africans allegedly killed by a paramilitary force controlled by the former president Yahya Jammeh has been identified near the Gambian capital, Banjul. The only survivor of the massacre told the Guardian that he and his friends were arrested at sea and tortured before being driven to a forest, where they were killed.
He said that on the way to the forest, when a fellow captive complained that he was in pain, one of the military men lunged at him with his cutlass. I succeeded in untying myself and fled. Just before he jumped off, his friends whispered to him, asking him to find their families if he made it back to Ghana, and tell them what had happened. Most of their bodies have never been found. For this crime Human Rights Watch and Trial International are building a case to prosecute Jammeh, who remains in exile in Equatorial Guinea after losing the election.
He initially conceded victory , then changed his mind and holed himself up in the presidential palace, before finally being persuaded to leave , taking with him a fleet of luxury cars.
A former military officer who in led the overthrow of a democratically elected government, Jammeh presided over a brutal regime characterised by allegations of human rights violations, including claims of extrajudicial killings and torture.
The Gambia is preparing to launch a truth, reconciliation and reparations commission to examine crimes committed between and , but with its justice system being radically reformed and very little money, it is unlikely that the small west African country would be able to prosecute Jammeh even if it could secure his extradition.
