BANJUL - The Gambia has made remarkable achievements in confronting a legacy of unlawful killings and preventing their recurrence, but the work is still in progress, a UN expert said today.
"The Gambia has made important strides," said Morris Tidball-Binz, the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, in a statement at the end of an official visit to the country. "The urgent task now is to ensure that commitments turn into justice, answers for families and lasting protection of the right to life and materialise as expected and deserved by The Gambian people."
Tidball-Binz called on the international community to continue supporting the country.
He paid tribute to the exemplary work of the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC) and to the victims and families whose struggle for truth, justice and reparations, who made it possible. The TRRC revealed gross human rights violations committed between July 1994 and January 2017, including extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions amounting to crimes against humanity. They include cases documented by the Mandate of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions during a 2014 visit.
"Ensuring justice and reparations, including non-recurrence of violations is the best way to honour the TRRC's work and ensure its legacy for The Gambia and the world," Tidball Binz said.
He welcomed the Government's acceptance of 263 of the TRRC's 265 recommendations, including security sector reform, prosecutions before the ordinary courts and the launch of a transitional justice process. This includes the appointment of a Special Prosecutor in April 2026 and the ongoing investigations of the Special Prosecutor's Office, as well as concrete steps with ECOWAS towards establishing the Special Tribunal for The Gambia.
Tidball-Binz, a forensic doctor specialising in human rights investigations and humanitarian action, stressed the urgent need for concrete action and resources to support Gambian institutions and experts in building the forensic capacity required for the Special Prosecutor's investigations and other agencies responsible for investigating suspicious and unnatural deaths in The Gambia.
"Complex investigations underway by the Special Prosecutor require trained forensic experts, laboratories, equipment and reliable systems for recovering and identifying remains," he said. He called for long-term assistance in forensic archaeology, anthropology, pathology, genetics and other specialties, so that The Gambia can even serve as a regional resource for forensic assistance and training.
He also welcomed the Criminal Offences Act 2025, which removed the death penalty from the country's criminal law. However, he was concerned that it remains in the Constitution and that courts have continued to impose death sentences for earlier offences, most recently in June 2026. He urged full abolition, including by amending the Constitution and resolving outstanding death sentences, as required under the Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR, which The Gambia ratified in 2018.
The Special Rapporteur welcomed security sector reforms, including a 2020 police Code of Conduct on the use of force. He noted deaths from excessive force since 2017, including three protesters at Faraba Banta in 2018 and called for prompt, independent investigations under the Minnesota Protocol and full accountability.
Concerned by hundreds of migrant deaths at sea and on land, Tidball-Binz noted efforts by the National Task Force on Missing Migrants to prevent deaths and disappearances. He urged adoption of the Immigration Bill 2026 to ensure dignified identification of the dead and support for families of the missing, and called for international support for these efforts.
Tidball-Binz welcomed the Government's cooperation, including by granting unrestricted access to places of detention and sites of investigative relevance.
The expert reaffirmed his readiness to support The Gambia's efforts through his mandate, including with technical advice and assistance drawing on his experience as a forensic doctor.
