Fatou Ceesay, a rape victim and plaintiff, has taken the stand in the ongoing crimes against humanity trial against former Gambia’s interior minister, Ousman Sonko. Sonko was the police chief under ex-president Yahya Jammeh from 2005 to 2006 and later the minister of interior from November 2006 to February 2012.

The Swiss Attorney General’s office and 10 plaintiffs from Gambia are accusing Sonko of torture, murder, false imprisonment, rape, and deprivation of liberty, allegedly committed against Gambians during the 22-year rule of Jammeh.

Ceesay was accused of being involved in a foiled coup led by army chief of defense staff Col. Ndure Cham. After the coup, several people, including Ceesay, were rounded up, including Ceesay, who was a civilian.

A panel was established and composed of various heads of security institutions, and Sonko allegedly sat on it. Several investigations have established that such panels are confession exercises accompanied by the beating of Junglers, a paramilitary hit squad operating on Jammeh’s orders.

Ceesay has no means of identifying the person who raped her and is not accusing Sonko personally. She claims that Sonko, who was the police chief at the time of her arrest, formed part of the panel that supervised her torture and maltreatment.

The trial continues tomorrow with the testimony of Demba Dem, a torture victim.