West Africa regional bloc sets up court for crimes under dictatorship in Gambia

Associated Press

SERREKUNDA, Gambia (AP) — West Africa’s regional bloc ECOWAS has approved setting up a special court Sunday to try crimes committed in Gambia during its military dictatorship. The landmark decision was announced at the summit of regional heads of state in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja .The court will cover alleged crimes committed under military dictator Yahya Jammeh, whose rule from 1996 to 2017 was marked by arbitrary detention, sexual abuse and extrajudicial killings. Jammeh lost a presidential election in 2016 and went into exile in Equatorial Guinea a year later after initially refusing to step down.