A/HRC/45/45/Add.3 violations and expressed remorse. Article 19 (3) exempts from this provision those acts that qualify as crimes against humanity. The Commission’s website justifies this amnesty provision on the basis of the difficulties facing the judicial system to prosecute all perpetrators, “given the long duration and complex realities of the previous regime”.13 The Amnesty Recommendation Committee is responsible for the investigations and victim consultations that may lead to a recommendation of amnesty. However, only the President can grant amnesties. 53. The Special Rapporteur would like to remind the Government that international human rights law impedes the use of amnesties not only for offences that reach the threshold of crimes against humanity, but also for all serious human rights violations. Among others, this includes acts of torture, murder, enforced disappearance and sexual violence, which owing to their scale and context may not amount to crimes against humanity. The Human Rights Committee has observed that the State may not relieve perpetrators of such violations from personal responsibility through amnesties and prior legal immunities. 14 The Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission should in no case recommend – nor should the President grant – amnesties that contravene these wellestablished international standards. 54. The Special Rapporteur warns about the risk of entrenching impunity, with the concomitant danger of undermining non-recurrence efforts, if amnesties are granted for serious human rights violations. While prosecutorial prioritization strategies could – and should – be devised to respond to the complexities facing the country’s criminal justice system by offering a strategic order in which cases and situations should be investigated and prosecuted, the granting of amnesties should not constitute a part of such strategies. 55. When the complexities of past violations are considered, the prospects for prosecution in the Gambia may be different from those in other countries in the region, which transitioned from different forms of violence, such as armed conflict. While the dictatorship and concomitant violations indeed lasted many years, the country’s abusive past was characterized – as in other authoritarian regimes – by a unidirectional employment of violence led by the former president and his entourage. This made the number of perpetrators relatively small and the networks of power and responsibility clearer, which in turn can facilitate prosecutorial strategies and efforts. Criminal justice in these conditions, notwithstanding the difficulties mentioned above, should not be portrayed as unsurmountable or analogous to countries with a different set of circumstances. 56. The Special Rapporteur praises the criminal proceedings initiated in Switzerland against Ousmane Sonko, who was the Minister of Interior from 2006 until he fled the country in September 2016. Mr. Sonko is being investigated for alleged crimes against humanity committed during his time in office. The Special Rapporteur welcomes the collaboration of the Gambia with the process. The Special Rapporteur also welcomes the coalition formed in October 2017 by Gambian victims, civil society organizations and international human rights groups to campaign to bring former President Jammeh and his accomplices to justice. In relation to the latter, he also commends the Minister of Justice for his statement, in January 2020, indicating that there would be accountability of the highest order for the violations committed by the past regime, including for former President Jammeh if he comes back to the country, while assuring victims that it is a question of when, not if.15 Statements of this kind provide a good indication to victims and Gambian society of the political will to prosecute these crimes. D. Reconciliation 57. The Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission is mandated to promote healing and reconciliation by engaging in activities that encourage self-healing, forgiveness, 13 14 15 www.trrc.gm/trrc-special-committees/. Human Rights Committee, general comment No. 31 (2004) on the nature of the general legal obligation imposed on States parties to the Covenant, para. 18. BBC News, “Yahya Jammeh faces arrest if he returns to Gambia – minister”, 20 January 2020; and Freedom Newspaper, “Jammeh will be arrested and prosecuted if he comes to the Gambia – Justice Minister Tambadou declares”, 19 January 2020. 11