A/HRC/45/45/Add.3 have so far been insufficient, 11 signalling an absence of strategic planning or, possibly, insufficient commitment to future prosecutions. 46. The Special Rapporteur received concerning reports that the Government had released or dropped charges against several alleged perpetrators. In August 2018, four of the Junglers were released from detention. On 28 October 2018, the Ministry of Justice announced the withdrawal of charges against several officials from the National Intelligence Agency. On 3 January 2019, a soldier accused of killing another soldier in 2011 was released from prison. On 8 January 2019, President Barrow announced that he would discontinue prosecution of police officers responsible for the death of demonstrators in Faraba Banta in June 2018. 47. The release of the Junglers after having confessed the commission of gross human rights violations before the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission shocked Gambian society and undermined its confidence in the transitional justice process. For victims, the release of the Junglers also represented a form of revictimization. In addition, their release triggered fear in society about having dangerous criminals walking the streets freely. Over the course of the Special Rapporteur’s visit, virtually every person with whom he met strongly criticized and expressed concern about this decision. The Government justified the release, explaining that the Junglers had been detained for two years without charges. The explanation did not dissipate social doubts about the motivations for the decision or the perception that accountability had been circumvented in their case. In addition, it raised concerns about the serious impact of delayed accountability in the Gambia, including the risk of criminals absconding to elude justice. 48. The adoption of decisions of this nature, criticized by most local and international actors as illegitimate, can erode the Government’s political capital and risk the country’s incipient but thriving transitional justice process. 49. In his meetings with victims, civil society, international organizations, the diplomatic community and some government officials, the Special Rapporteur has heard repeated concerns about the lack of progress in the area of accountability for past abuses. Each of these actors has insisted on the important role that criminal prosecutions will serve in the healing and reconciliation of Gambians and in the transitional justice process as a whole. This is in line with the results of a survey, according to which 68 per cent of Gambians believe that perpetrators of crimes and human rights abuses during the regime of former President Jammeh should be tried in court.12 50. It is unclear if the lack of progress in this field is due to a lack of political will, or the result of a phased approach in which truth-seeking, through proceedings at the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission, will precede criminal investigations and prosecutions. To some extent, it could also be a consequence of an ineffective judicial system, which is highly inadequate for the challenge facing it (as described in paras. 90–92 below). 51. A comprehensive transitional justice process cannot be achieved if one of its vital components is not pursued. While an overhaul of the judicial system needs to be carried out in order for democratic and transitional justice processes to effectively take place in the Gambia, this cannot be used as an impediment to move forward with criminal investigations and prosecutions or to set up the conditions required for this undertaking. The prosecution and effective sanctioning of perpetrators of gross human rights violations is a State obligation of immediate effect and the Government needs to take urgent measures to initiate this long-awaited process, with the support of the international community. 52. The concerns regarding the absence of accountability for the serious abuses committed during the regime of former President Jammeh is compounded by the possibility of amnesties being granted to perpetrators. Article 19 of the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission Act affords power to the institution to recommend the granting of amnesties to individuals who have fully disclosed their involvement in human rights 11 12 10 www.hrw.org/world-report/2018/country-chapters/gambia. Sait Matty Jaw, “Gambians expect Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission to heal the nation but want human-rights violators prosecuted”, Afrobarometer Dispatch No. 249, 31 October 2018, p. 2.