Bellinzona, Switzerland – Ousman Sonko, the former interior minister of the Gambia, is facing charges of crimes against humanity. Demba Dem, the fourth plaintiff in the case, has informed the court that Sonko was a member of the investigating committee that oversaw his detention and torture.

In 2006, Dem was a politician from Gambia who belonged to the Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC) party, which was led by former president Yahya Jammeh. Security forces detained Dem on suspicion of being involved in an abortive attempt to topple Jammeh. (Dem has consistently insisted on his innocence and refuted any involvement in the coup attempt.)

Dem revealed that he had been abducted from Parliament in March 2006 after confirming the testimony he had made during the course of the investigation, in his own words. After being brought to the NIA premises multiple times, he was questioned about his possible involvement in the purported coup attempt, to which he replied that he had no knowledge of it. He was to sign a prepared written declaration, and he was stabbed as he was refusing to do so.

In other instances, he was subjected to acts of torture. He thus sustained wounds to various portions of his body. He described how horrible atrocities and humiliation had been inflicted upon him, something he never imagined a man could do to another. He was eventually acquitted.

Dem was found not guilty, but the acts of torture he had suffered had a lasting negative impact on his physical and mental health, which has continued to this day.

Demba Dem clarified that the political climate in 2006 was dire for the Gambia in relation to the issue.

In the aftermath of the attempted coup, close to 70 Gambians—military officers and civilians, including Dem—were allegedly arrested and subjected to horrific torture at the complex of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), on the outskirts of Banjul.

“The suspects were all tortured at the NIA. Evidence was fabricated and used against them to convict them of treason,” Gambia’s Truth Commission found. Those tortured also included journalists Madi Ceesay and Musa Saidykhan, both of whom are expected to testify against Sonko in the coming days.

Dem is the third plaintiff before the Swiss court to testify on events related to the alleged 2006 attempted coup. Sonko faces allegations that he participated in the panel that oversaw the interrogations and torture of detainees, charges he has denied. If found guilty, Sonko could face up to 20 years in prison and deportation at the end of his sentence.

Six more plaintiffs will present their cases to the court on Monday as the historic trial moves into its second week. Nogoi Njie, the tenth plaintiff, passed away in September while awaiting her court date. It is said that Sonko and the hit squad operating under his supervision injured her in 2016.

Sonko was accused of crimes outside of the Gambia. The 2005 deaths of roughly 44 Ghanaians, nine Nigerians, two Togolese, and citizens of Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire, combined with an attempt to cover them up, are among the crimes attributed to him. Governments in West Africa have called for responsibility in this instance.

A Truth, Reconciliation, and Reparation Commission was formed by the new government in 2016 to look into Jammeh’s alleged crimes following his defeat in the election. According to the Commission, at least 600 people were involved in human rights violations and crimes during Jammeh’s 22-year rule.

At least 71 were recommended for prosecution. Just eight have faced prosecution for Jammeh-era crimes inside Gambia.

Sonko is the second Jammeh official to face prosecution in a European jurisdiction under the legal principle of “universal jurisdiction,” which holds that crimes committed against all humanity can be tried anywhere, regardless of where they were committed. Sonko is being tried in Switzerland, where he sought asylum in 2016.

Bai Lowe was convicted in Germany in November 2023. Michael Sang Correa, another alleged member of the hit squad, is scheduled to be tried for torture in the United States in September 2024.