Modou Ngum, a torture victim, has testified before a Swiss court in the crimes against humanity trial of Dictator Yahya Jammeh’s former Interior Minister, Ousman Sonko.
When Ngum testified in court on April 14, 2016, he was crying as he described how, while protesting against election reforms, he was arrested by Gambian police and mistreated by National Intelligence Agency (NIA) employees. A rare demonstration occurred in The Gambia in April 2016 while Yahya Jammeh, the nation’s former president and 22-year tyrant, was on the road.
The lead organizer of the protest was Ebrima Solo Sandeng, an opposition UDP member who was beaten to death while incarcerated in a state prison. Around thirty party members were arrested as a result of the incident, including Ousainu Darboe, the leader of the party.
At least 13 people, including Ngum, were arrested together with Sandeng on the first day of the protests. They were transported to the NIA and subjected to severe torture, which ultimately resulted in Sandeng’s death. Since 2017, at least five more protest participants have passed away. Their families explained their deaths away as a result of the torture they endured at the NIA.
Ngum showed the Swiss court around the NIA facility, detailing the deplorable circumstances and the physical and psychological abuse inflicted against him and his companions.
“They stripped me naked and took me to a room at the NIA,” Ngum, who was 29 years old at the time, said. Ngum told the court that Tamba Masireh, an NIA official found responsible by the High Court in Banjul for the torture of detainees, said they were going to kill him.
“The Junglers came. They beat me until I could not hear myself crying. They later threw me on the grass in an open courtyard. That was where I regained consciousness,” Ngum said. Ngum said he was electrocuted in his genitals. The protesters were sentenced to a 3-year jail term, but Ngum and several others could not appear in court for two weeks due to injuries caused by torture.
“They did not want the court to see me in that condition. That was why I was allowed to see a doctor,” he said. “They told us not to wear the clothes with which we were tortured. They bought us new clothes,” he said.
Madi Ceesay, a lawmaker whose son Ebrima Ceesay was tortured and died shortly after, and Fatoumata Sandeng, the daughter of Solo Sandeng, who died in state custody, sat in tears in the courtroom. Fatoumatta Jawara and Fatoumatta Camara, two torture victims expected to testify before the court, buried their heads in their hands and wiped their tears.
Ousman Sonko, former police chief under ex-President Jammeh, is facing charges of torture, murder, false imprisonment, rape, and deprivation of liberty in Switzerland. Swiss prosecutors are trying to prove Sonko’s responsibility through his involvement in investigation panels and his involvement in the NIA. Sonko denies all wrongdoing and is accused of ordering his transfer from police custody to the NIA, where he and others were tortured.
