Security officers who are found to have tortured suspects should be removed, according to Nyawuru Komma, a regional youth coordinator for the opposition United Democratic Party.
An investigative panel into the case of Ebrima Sanneh which found he was tortured by the Police Anti-Crime Unit boss, Gorgi Mboob, recommended for his transfer from the unit on Thursday.
They also recommended that the Inspector General of Police (IGP) take disciplinary measures against Mboob, whose unit have been accused of several human rights violations.
“If you take someone who beats [tortures] and put him in another position, he will likely beat someone else again,” Komma told Eye Africa TV’s Good Morning Africa programme on Friday. He also suggests Mboob’s prosecution, saying “let the law take it’s course”.
Absolute ban
Torture is prohibited globally by the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
“The prohibition of torture is absolute. The Convention against Torture states unequivocally that the use of torture is illegal under any circumstances, including armed conflict, the fight against terrorism, political instability or other emergency conditions,” according to former UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon.
Torture has been a major weapon of the dictatorship of Yahya Jammeh between 1994 and 2016. Opposition activists, journalists and human rights defenders were silenced using cruel and degrading treatment.
Commissioner Mboob had on July 25 arrested Sanneh and about 30 others and subject them to forced labour by sending them to weed in a garden. Mboob also beat Sanneh on his genitals – causing trauma, according to the panel headed by the National Human Rights Commission, NHRC.
A medical report examined by investigators including the Police, the Bar Association and the umbrella body for NGOs, TANGO, concluded that there was no lasting internal damage.
Nonetheless, the panel made specific recommendations for Sanneh to be compensated financially by the police.
It did not state how much money will be involved, but said the monetary compensation is for the wrongful infliction of pain and suffering on Sanneh by Mboob.
The Chairperson of the NHRC, Emmanuel Daniel Joof, said the IGP told him in a letter that he intends to implement the recommendations.
Cover-up
The panel, which had interviewed 17 witnesses including the victim, Sanneh and the perpetrator, Mboob, found that claims that Sanneh and others were arrested and detained for being in a night club where fighting broke out, are not true.
In an apparent cover-up in July, the Police stated in its official magazine, Poliso, that “this story [alleging torture] is not only false but calculated to mislead the public.”
In the same post on Facebook, the police called on the public to rally behind them under the hashtag (#SUPPORTYOURNATIONALPOLICE) but the majority of people (368 at last count) ignored and called for truth and justice.
Also, claims that the youths violated COVID-19 emergency regulations, have not been substantiated, according to the panel.
The panel found that the arrest of Ebrima Sanneh and his colleagues was unwarranted – revealing the heavy-handed approach to policing in the Gambia from the dictatorship era.
Investigators into this much talked about human right violation also made four general recommendations on policing and police conduct.
These recommendations include ensuring following due process during arrest and detention; fully respect rights and liberties of suspects; notebooks for recording detention and release; not subjecting detainees to forced labour; stop unlawful use of suspects and detainees for land clearing; and undergo more trainings on human rights and rights-based approaches to policing.
- UPDATED: Adds sentence on “prosecution” in fourth paragraph, adds “of” in final paragraph.
