Gambia’s delayed justice for Jammeh-era atrocities exposes neocolonial impunity and transitional justice failures in West Africa

Gambia’s transitional justice process could integrate indigenous mechanisms like *Kanyeleng* (female spirit mediums) or *Tijaniyya* Sufi reconciliation practices, which historically resolved communal conflicts through dialogue and spiritual accountability rather than state prosecutions. These approaches center collective healing over individual punishment, aligning with victims’ needs but are sidelined by Western legal frameworks that prioritize adversarial trials. The marginalization of such practices reflects a broader neocolonial erasure of African epistemologies in post-conflict reconstruction.

Jammeh’s 22-year rule (1994–2017) was enabled by Cold War-era geopolitics, where Western powers tolerated his authoritarianism in exchange for stability and counterterrorism cooperation. The Gambia’s delayed justice mirrors post-apartheid South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), where elite bargains with former oppressors (e.g., the National Party) preserved economic power structures while offering symbolic justice. Similar patterns appear in Liberia’s post-Taylor transition, where warlords were integrated into government rather than held accountable, reinforcing cycles of violence.

In Latin America, transitional justice often involves *desaparición* (forced disappearances) and state terror, but countries like Argentina and Chile have pursued prosecutions decades later, showing that delayed justice is not unique to Africa. The Gambia’s case contrasts with Rwanda’s *Gacaca* courts, where community-led trials expedited justice but risked re-traumatization, highlighting the trade-offs between speed and procedural fairness. Indigenous Australian and Māori justice models, which emphasize land restitution and cultural restoration, offer alternative frameworks for reparative justice that Gambia’s state-led process has yet to consider.

Transitional justice research (e.g., Teitel 2000; Hayner 2011) demonstrates that delayed prosecutions often correlate with higher rates of recidivism and social fragmentation, as impunity normalizes violence. The Gambia’s approach aligns with ‘transitional justice as spectacle,’ where performative accountability (e.g., symbolic appointments) substitutes for substantive change, a phenomenon documented in post-authoritarian Latin America. Psychological studies on trauma (Herman 1992) show that prolonged delays in justice exacerbate intergenerational PTSD, particularly in societies with weak institutional trust.

Gambian griots and oral historians have documented Jammeh’s crimes through *kora* music and *djembe* rhythms, framing his atrocities as a violation of ancestral covenants and communal ethics. The *Senegambia* spiritual tradition of *Serer* and *Wolof* cosmology views justice as a cosmic balance (*Maaya*), where crimes disrupt the natural order and require ritual purification. Artists like *Jali Nyama Suso*’s descendants continue to use music as a tool for resistance, but their work is rarely integrated into formal transitional justice processes.

If Gambia’s special prosecutor fails to secure convictions within 2 years, the risk of renewed authoritarianism rises, as seen in Guinea-Bissau’s post-coup cycles where justice was deferred indefinitely. A hybrid model combining international legal standards with indigenous truth-telling (e.g., Sierra Leone’s hybrid courts) could reduce recidivism by 30–40%, according to post-conflict reconstruction data (UNDP 2020). The appointment’s success hinges on whether it addresses economic reparations—Jammeh’s looted $50M+ fortune remains unaccounted for—rather than just symbolic prosecutions.

Victims of Jammeh’s ‘witch hunts’ (2009–2010), where over 1,000 women were accused of witchcraft and detained, remain largely uncompensated, as their testimonies are deemed ‘less credible’ than state narratives. The *Tostan* movement, led by women, has documented Jammeh’s sexual violence against female detainees but lacks institutional support to influence the prosecutor’s mandate. Diaspora Gambians in the U.S. and U.K., who fund opposition movements, are excluded from decision-making, reinforcing a top-down justice process that silences grassroots demands.