Q&A: How Jammeh rape allegations were uncovered | News | Africa | M&G

During his 22-year dictatorial rule that ended in early 2017, Gambia’s former president, Yahya Jammeh, used his power as well as state institutions to entrap and sexually abuse young women, according to a new investigation. Jammeh’s reign was already characterised by enforced disappearances, extrajudicial executions, and torture, but now new evidence unearthed by Human Rights Watch and TRIAL International links the former leader directly to rape and sexual exploitation of women.

One day, Fatoumatta Sandeng, the spokesperson of the #Jammeh2Justice campaign, and daughter of an activist whom state security forces had tortured to death, told me over lunch how Jammeh had her confined to a hotel in his home village Kanilai for four days. She was a well-known singer and had caught Jammeh’s eye when she performed on TV. Fatoumatta was 21 at the time and too afraid to leave without permission.

In the end, we were able to document two cases of rape and Bintu’s case of sexual assault. Only Toufah was prepared to go public.Two high-level officials who were working in the Protocol Department, four former members of the presidential guard, and another person who used to work at State House, all told us similar stories. They described how they would hand-pick women for Jammeh, how young women would be sent into his room every night, and how they saw some come out crying.

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