A/HRC/45/45/Add.3 I. Introduction 1. From 20 to 27 November 2019, the Special Rapporteur conducted an official visit to the Gambia. He thanks the Government of the Gambia for extending the invitation to visit the country and for their cooperation during the visit. He also extends his gratitude to the United Nations country office in Gambia and in particular to the Regional Office for West Africa of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights for its support in the preparation of and during the visit. 2. The objective of the visit was to assess the measures adopted by the authorities of the Gambia in the fields of truth, justice, reparation, memory and guarantees on nonrecurrence to address the serious human rights violations committed during the authoritarian regime of former President Yahya Jammeh. The visit was aimed at developing a broad view of the initiatives adopted, identifying best practices, determining problems and challenges and providing recommendations. 3. The Special Rapporteur visited Banjul, Kotu, Kololi, Fajara, Kanifing, Jambur, Yundum and Kanilai. The visit provided an opportunity to meet with State officials, victims, civil society organizations, and religious and traditional leaders, as well as with representatives from United Nations agencies, international and regional organizations, and the diplomatic community. 4. He also carried out field visits to sites of mass graves, exhumation locations, and sites where torture, summary executions and enforced disappearances are believed to have occurred, such as the Yundum Barracks, the Kanilai Barracks and the former National Intelligence Agency headquarters, including the infamous torture chamber known as bambadinka. 5. Over the course of the visit, the Special Rapporteur met with the Vice-President of the Gambia; officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Finance; and with the Attorney General, the Minister of Justice, the Solicitor General, the Legal Secretary, the Chief Justice and other members of the judiciary. He also met with officials from the National Human Rights Commission; the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission; the Constitutional Review Commission; the Commission of Inquiry into the Financial Activities of Public Bodies, Enterprises and Offices; the National Assembly and its selected Committee on Human Rights and Constitutional Matters; the National Security Office; the State Intelligence Service and former National Intelligence Agency; the Armed Forces; the Police Force; the National Youth Council; and the Transitional Justice Technical Committee. 6. The Special Rapporteur also met with victims and the families of victims of torture, enforced disappearances, summary executions, sexual violence and arbitrary detention. In addition, he met with victims of the witch-hunt campaign and of the alternative HIV/AIDS treatment programme carried out under former President Jammeh. II. General background A. Historical context 7. Former President Yahya Jammeh ruled the country from 1994 until January 2017. During his 22-year tenure, the Government was characterized by disregard for the rule of law, rampant State-led violence, infringements of human rights and civil liberties, persecution of the media and critical voices, and the existence of a repressive State apparatus. Impunity for those violations was the norm. State institutions were weak and under the influence and control of the President, and there were no independent institutions or processes to channel alternative voices or social demands. 1 8. The mass and egregious violations committed during the dictatorship included torture; enforced disappearances; extrajudicial executions and unlawful killings; sexual and 1 A/HRC/29/37/Add.2, para. 10. 3