Dr. Baba Galleh Jallow, the Executive Secretary of the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC), in an exclusive interview with The Gambia Times, said the commission will not be biased, partial or corrupt. “We are going to be as principled, as independent and impartial as possible,” he added. Jallow was appointed in February to investigate human rights abuses committed during the regime of former president Yahya Jammeh, who, now living in exile in Equatorial Guinea, was forced to step down from office after losing the presidential election in December 2016.
Jammeh’s regime was accused of numerous human rights abuses, forced disappearances, arbitrary arrests, illegal detentions, and torture. In fulfilling his campaign promise, President Adama Barrow signed in January 2018 the TRRC Act to investigate atrocities committed under Jammeh’s rule.
Jallow, a prominent journalist and publisher of the defunct Independent Newspaper in The Gambia before he emigrated to the United States, is now tasked with the responsibility to oversee the Commission carry out its mandates of investigating the truth, facilitating reconciliation and determining reparations for victims. Until accepting the role as the Executive Secretary of the TRRC, Jallow was an assistant professor at La Salle University in the State of Pennsylvania in the United States. Many people consider him a victim of the former regime which allegedly firebombed the headquarter of his newspaper in April 2004. Read Full Article