A/HRC/45/45/Add.3 violations, which could be used for criminal proceedings and future memorialization processes. An alarming example of this is the National Security Agency, now informally called the State Intelligence Service, whose headquarters was refurbished in 2017, which could have led to the destruction of evidence. The Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission visited the State Intelligence Service’s headquarters in 2018, and ordered it to stop the renovation work. The Commission has also seized relevant documentation. The Special Rapporteur visited the agency’s headquarters and observed that the installations had indeed been recently refurbished. A few days after his first visit, the Special Rapporteur was also allowed to inspect three detention cells located in the agency’s premises, including the infamous bambadinka. The cells appeared not to have been recently refurbished, but it was not possible to assess whether its original conditions or evidence had been preserved. In addition, the archives of the former National Intelligence Agency have allegedly not yet been secured and archived.18 65. The Special Rapporteur is concerned about the continued secrecy surrounding the report of the 2009 fact-finding mission report by the Economic Community of West African States and the United Nations on the killing of 50 foreign nationals, including 44 nationals of Ghana, in 2005. He adds his support to the 2018 request by a group of special procedure mandate holders, urging the concerned entities and Governments to publicize it to facilitate access to truth and accountability for those violations. 19 F. Reparations to victims 66. The Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission has the mandate to devise individual and collective reparations and to design a reparations policy. According to the Commission’s website, it can grant reparations to victims when it is convinced that a person has been the victim of human rights violations. The Commission identifies rehabilitation, restitution, memorialization and compensation as forms of reparation. 20 67. The Government reported the creation of a reparation trust fund, which victims can access if they register with the Commission. In October 2019, the Government reported that the trust fund had received $1 million (50 million dalasis) to be distributed as reparations to victims. The sum was obtained from the sale of the assets of former President Jammeh. 68. The Commission can also grant reparations in the form of interim measures for victims, which include medical attention, livelihood support, and employment and educational opportunities. A Medical Board has been set up with support from the Ministry of Health to assess victims’ needs in this regard, in order to decide on the provision of rehabilitation. The Commission reported that assistance had been provided to some victims, including for medical treatment overseas. However, the implementation of this scheme has been limited so far owing to financial constraints. The Victim Support Unit also offers medical and psychosocial care to several victims. 69. It is unclear how the Commission is made aware of cases requiring interim measures of persons who have not decided to give testimony. At this stage of the process, where a reparation policy has not yet been adopted and therefore a registry of victims has not been launched, access to the interim scheme seems to be subsumed under the provision of testimony, which is clearly problematic. An interim registry of persons requiring urgent rehabilitation should be developed to address this gap until a reparation policy is fully operational. 18 19 20 Gambia Center for Victims of Human Rights Violations, submission for the universal periodic review 2019, p. 1. Available at www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/UPR/Pages/UPRGMStakeholdersInfoS34.aspx. See the following communications: https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=24138; https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=24141; https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=24106; https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=24109; https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadFile?gId=35057. www.trrc.gm/our-mandate/. 13

Select target paragraph3

Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents