US Launches $930,000 Forensic Project to Advance Post-Jammeh Justice in Gambia

By Hadram Hydara

The United States government has launched a $930,000 (over D68M) forensic investigation project aimed at bolstering The Gambia’s justice system and helping uncover the truth behind human rights abuses committed under former President Yahya Jammeh, the US Embassy in Banjul has announced.

The 24-month initiative, funded through the State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) and implemented by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), will directly support post-Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC) accountability mechanisms.

Speaking at the launch event in Banjul on Tuesday, US Chargé d’Affaires Robert Anderson emphasized Washington’s commitment to supporting victims of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings between 1994 and 2017.

“The United States is proud to support The Gambia as it strengthens its capacity to pursue justice, establish the facts, and provide answers to families who have waited so long,” Anderson said.

The project, according to the US Embassy in Banjul, will upgrade forensic laboratories for DNA analysis, toxicology, and digital forensics, while training local law enforcement officers and forensic experts to build sustainable internal expertise.

It will specifically aid the Special Prosecutor’s Office, the Special Criminal Division of the High Court, and the planned ECOWAS-backed Special Tribunal tasked with prosecuting Jammeh-era crimes.

Standardized protocols will also be established to guide evidence handling and improve coordination between the Gambia Police Force, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Health, and civil society groups, including the African Network against Extrajudicial Killings and Enforced Disappearances (ANEKED) and The Gambia Center for Victims of Human Rights Violations.