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1. Transitional Justice in the Gambia: Enabling Popular Participation

Author:
Fatou Baldeh and Lena Houma
Publication Date:
02-2025
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation (CSVR)
Abstract:
This research report examines the level of popular participation in The Gambia's transitional justice process to date and provides recommendations for ensuring more meaningful participation going forward. It begins with an overview of both formal and non-formal measures in The Gambia, before analyzing in detail the dynamics of participation in the formal measure of the Truth, Reconciliation, and Reparations Commission (TRRC) and in non-formal measures, particularly Listening Circles established by Women in Liberation and Leadership. The study finds that while the TRRC sought to ensure broad-based participation and to gather evidence from a range of victims/survivors and perpetrators, it fell short in areas like sexual and gender-based violence. The sensitive nature of such crimes in the context of existing socio-cultural norms and practices hindered victims/survivors from approaching the commission. Additionally, the TRRC struggled to reach communities where Jammeh has strong support, with the commission being construed as part of a political agenda. Non-formal measures, run by civil society, filled some of the TRRC's gaps and contributed to wider participation of citizens in the process. To promote more meaningful participation in and across both formal and non-formal measures, we provide actionable recommendations for state actors, particularly state representatives on the Steering Committee leading the TRRC recommendations implementation process and the Ministry of Justice and other government ministries and agencies supporting implementation efforts. We also provide recommendations for multilateral actors supporting transitional justice in The Gambia, including international and regional organizations such as the African Union and the United Nations, state donor bodies, private foundations, and international nongovernmental organizations.
Topic:
Civil Society, Transitional Justice, Reconciliation, and Participation
Political Geography:
Africa and Gambia

2. Mainstreaming Popular Participation in Transitional Justice: Lessons from Multilateral, State and Civil Society Actors in the Gambia and Somalia

Author:
Jasmina Brankovic and Simon Robins
Publication Date:
02-2025
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation (CSVR)
Abstract:
Statements on the need for popular participation are increasingly common in international and national transitional justice policy and literature, yet little guidance is available on how to put participation into practice. Based on empirical research in The Gambia and Somalia and with multilateral actors supporting transitional justice in Africa, this research report examines what participation looks like and provides actionable recommendations for enabling participation in a more meaningful way. The findings are relevant for transitional justice policy makers, practitioners and scholars on the continent and beyond. The study builds on the African Union Transitional Justice Policy's provisions for community participation and acknowledgement of both formal, state-run measures and non-formal, civil society-led measures as transitional justice. The findings show that meaningful participation requires four main commitments on the part of multilateral, state and civil society actors: 1) mainstreaming, 2) localisation, 3) decentralisation, and 4) recognition of non-formal measures. Participatory transitional justice results in more inclusive, contextualised and effective processes, with broad-based buy-in for sustainable outcomes.
Topic:
Civil Society, Transitional Justice, Multilateralism, and Participation
Political Geography:
Africa, Somalia, and Gambia

3. Backlash against International Courts in West, East and Southern Africa: Causes and Consequences

Author:
Karen J. Alter, James T. Gathii, and Laurence R. Helfer
Publication Date:
01-2016
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
This article discusses three credible attempts by African governments to restrict the jurisdiction of three similarly situated sub-regional courts in response to politically controversial rulings. In West Africa, when the Court of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) upheld allegations of torture by opposition journalists in Gambia, that country’s political leaders sought to restrict the Court’s power to review human rights complaints. The other member states ultimately defeated Gambia’s proposal. In East Africa, Kenya failed in its efforts to eliminate the East African Court of Justice (EACJ) and to remove some of its judges after a decision challenging an election to a sub-regional legislature. However, the member states agreed to restructure the EACJ in ways that have significantly affected the Court’s subsequent trajectory. In Southern Africa, after the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Tribunal ruled in favour of white farmers in disputes over land seizures, Zimbabwe prevailed upon SADC member states to suspend the Tribunal and strip its power to review complaints from private litigants. Variations in the mobilization efforts of community secretariats, civil society groups and sub-regional parliaments explain why efforts to eliminate the three courts or narrow their jurisdiction were defeated in ECOWAS, scaled back in the EACJ and largely succeeded in the SADC.
Topic:
Civil Society, Human Rights, International Law, and Courts
Political Geography:
Kenya, Africa, Europe, South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Gambia

4. Being an Advocate for Human Rights in Sub-Saharan Africa: Jeffrey Smith

Author:
Jeffrey Smith
Publication Date:
09-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Fletcher Security Review
Institution:
The Fletcher School, Tufts University
Abstract:
Jeffrey Smith is currently Program Officer at Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights where he manages the organization’s advocacy projects that focus on sub-Saharan Africa. He collaborates closely with grassroots civic activists and journalists across the continent—and the world—to highlight pressing human rights concerns to a wider audience. Mr. Smith’s research and advocacy has covered Zimbabwe, The Gambia, Swaziland, and Kenya, among others. He appears frequently in media outlets as an expert commentator on African affairs, including on CNN, MSNBC, Al Jazeera, NPR, BBC, and Voice of America. Mr. Smith is a graduate of the University of Connecticut, where he also received a master’s degree in international relations and was the university’s first recipient of its distinguished human rights graduate certificate.
Topic:
International Relations, Civil Society, Human Rights, and Interview
Political Geography:
Kenya, Africa, Zimbabwe, Swaziland, and Gambia