Gambia inches closer to its moment of truth as Faal named lead counsel

JFJustice
JFJustice
Sep 6, 2018 · 3 min read
Forensic experts examine a mass grave. The Truth, Reconciliation and Reparation Commission (TRRC) is looking into such crimes. (Photo: Gainako)

By Thomas Verfuss and Brian Obara

Gambia inched a step closer to starting an inquiry into its dark past with Tuesday’s appointment of lawyer Essa M. Faal, 52, as lead counsel to the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparation Commission (TRRC).

Faal, a Gambian national who has years-long experience at international courts dealing with mass atrocity crimes in Africa like the International Criminal Court, shall assist the TRRC Commissioners by guiding investigations and leading witnesses appearing before the commission.

Gambia’s Parliament passed the law establishing the TRRC in December last year, and Dr Baba Galleh Jallow was appointed as the commission’s chief executive officer in February this year but the commissioners are yet to be selected. The TRRC has been mandated to deal with the aftermath of the state crimes and human rights violations committed during the authoritarian rule of ex-president Yahya Jammeh, 53, who seized power in the small West-African country in a military coup in 1994 and was ousted in democratic elections last year. Alleged crimes and human rights violations during his tenure in power include killings, enforced disappearances of dozens of citizens and indefinite detention without charges being brought for years.

Truth and Reconciliation Commissions are one way of dealing with the aftermath of such periods in the history of a nation, next to national or international criminal proceedings. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission set up in South Africa after decades of apartheid is perhaps the best-known example worldwide of such a mechanism, although there are at least 17 such efforts.

Lawyer Essa Faal

Faal has years of experience with the international court aspect of transitional justice, on both the prosecution and the defence side. At The Hague-based ICC, he led and coordinated investigations in the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) in the situation in Darfur, Sudan, which led to the issuance of arrest warrants against (among others) President Omar al-Bashir. The warrant of arrest against Bashir is a matter that has been dividing the African Union and the community of states that support the ICC for years.

Faal “switched sides” and went to work for the defence at the ICC. After then ICC Chief prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo requested charges to be brought against six prominent Kenyans in relation to the post-2007 election violence that claimed 1,300 lives, Faal represented one of them, secretary to the cabinet Francis Kirimi Muthaura, as co-lead counsel alongside Karim Khan.

He was also on Kenyan deputy president William Ruto’s defence team alongside Khan. He is still representing Saif Al Islam Ghadaffi, son of the former Libyan strongman Muammar Gadaffi, initially together with Khan, who was also Ruto’s lawyer.

Khan recently abandoned all ICC activity to become Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations to head the investigation into the crimes of Da’esh/ISIL.

Faal also represents former president Charles Taylor of Liberia, who is serving a prison sentence of 50 years in the United Kingdom, imposed on him by the Special Court for Sierra Leone.

Before his appointment as legal adviser on victim issues in his native Gambia, Faal already represented victims from Darfur and the Philippines before the ICC.

Karim Khan said of Faal’s appointment: “I am delighted to hear of the appointment of Mr Essa Faal as Lead Counsel to the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparation Commission. Faal brings a quarter of a century of legal experience to the post. [He is] a senior national and international prosecutor and a practitioner possessing a very impressive record of representing victims and accused persons in numerous international fora.

“He has demonstrated, time and time again, that he is a lawyer of significant ability and complete integrity. I have no doubt he will discharge his new responsibilities with characteristic diligence, fairness and with unwavering regard for the truth,” Khan added

Faal, holds a Master of Laws degree from the University of the West Indies.

JFJustice

JFJustice

JFJ promotes a balanced discussion of the international criminal justice system and advocates justice and reparations for victims. RTs ≠ endorsements.

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