At first, there was elation and hope: A Banjul court had just issued a warrant of arrest for Sanna Manjang, one of the most vicious members of the Junglers death squad, which has been accused of extrajudicial killings, forced disappearances, and torture at the behest of former Gambian President Yahya Jammeh.
Then came disappointment as days turned into weeks and weeks into months, with no sign that the authorities were any closer to executing the order than when it was issued at the end of February 2025 to apprehend the elusive fugitive who went into hiding soon after Jammeh fled into exile in January 2017.
“There’s a sense of despair … it’s been a long time. We are growing impatient. We were very impatient then, and we are even more impatient now … some of the victims are dying,” said Baba Hydara, aptly capturing the growing sense of anguish and urgency among countless Gambian victims who have waited for years to get justice for their suffering under the former dictator.
Baba Hydara knows what this means. His family has been waiting for justice since the murder of his father, renowned journalist Deyda Hydara, in December 2004. His family has known the anguish of hope giving way to despair as they waited in vain for the authorities to act on an arrest warrant issued against Sanna Manjang in 2017.
Many questions remain unanswered: Where is Manjang? What of the other alleged perpetrators who fled? Can justice be delivered after so many years?
The struggle for accountability in this small West African nation is a fickle process that pits the powerful demand for redress against the perpetual challenges of dismantling a deeply entrenched system of impunity. For the victims, every small step forward matters even though the finish line remains distant.
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Sanna Manjang’s name evokes terror among the victims in The Gambia. As a key operative in the Junglers, a paramilitary unit that answered only to President Jammeh, he stands out as one of the most notorious and feared members. Witnesses testifying before the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC) identified him as one of the most enthusiastic participants in the crimes of the Junglers. He gained a reputation of notoriety, described as a “terrible person” and “more aggressive” in his actions. The TRRC noted in its report that Manjang and Solo Bojang were considered the “most feared Junglers” due to their brutality and gruesome methods of killing victims and disposing of bodies in hidden locations.
For Baba Hydara and his family, Manjang’s name carries deeply personal significance.
“My father, Deyda Hydara, was assassinated on December 16, 2004, by a group of soldiers working for President Jammeh called Junglers,” he said during an interview with Journalists For Justice (JFJ). “They executed the president’s orders, and we believe one of those orders was to assassinate my father. One of those soldiers was Sanna Manjang, who was named in a lot of other assassinations.”
Deyda Hydara, co-founder and managing editor of The Point newspaper, was assassinated in front of his office. According to the TRRC and witness testimonies, Sanna Manjang was directly involved in his murder.
Malick Jatta, another Jungler, testified that after Tumbul Tamba identified Hydara as “the idiot”, “I shot, Sanna Manjang fired, and Alieu Jeng also fired.” Jeng further stated that Tamba ordered Manjang and Jatta to shoot. The arrest warrant a Gambian court issued for Sanna Manjang and Kawsu Camara in May 2017 in connection with this killing is still pending.
Manjang also played a central role in the extrajudicial execution of approximately 56 West African migrants, including 44 Ghanaians, whom the Jammeh regime falsely accused of being mercenaries. Omar Jallow, another Jungler, testified that Manjang was the one giving the briefing for the operation. Jallow also recounted a chilling detail: a migrant asked to be allowed to pray, and while he was doing so, “Sanna Manjang shot him on the head”. Other testimonies claimed that Manjang and Malick Jatta shot the victims and pushed their bodies into a well.
Arrest warrants and fugitive status
The report consistently named Manjang as a perpetrator in a litany of other unlawful killings, including those of Dawda Nyassi, Ndongo Mboob, Haruna Jammeh, Jasaja Kujabie, Daba Marenah and six others, and Saul Ndow, and Mahawa Cham. Witness Ensa Keita provided graphic testimony, alleging that Manjang decapitated Kajali Jammeh with a sword, stating, “I will kill you, chop off your head and take it inside, and give your body to the crocodiles”. Keita also claimed to have watched as Manjang dismembered Yama Colley’s body and fed it to crocodiles.
The former Jungler is also implicated in several cases of torture and enforced disappearance.
The latest arrest warrant against Manjang was triggered by an inquiry from Interpol’s Washington office, which asked Gambian authorities to confirm whether the former Jungler remained a wanted fugitive and recommended issuing the warrant to ensure he faces trial. This indicates that Interpol has either located him or received intelligence about his whereabouts. He will likely be arrested by local authorities in coordination with Interpol and extradited to The Gambia for trial on the strength of a court warrant.
Victims like Baba Hydara see both opportunity and frustration in the latest developments.
“Manjang was named in a lot of testimonies provided by the TRRC, so he is clearly guilty of a lot of crimes committed during Jammeh’s era,” he said. “For a long time, victims have been calling for Manjang’s extradition from Guinea Bissau, where we understood he was living, but this never happened. The government always gave excuses. At first, they said they were waiting for the TRRC to complete its work, then they were waiting for the prosecution to begin…there was always a reason.”
However, Baba Hydara is more hopeful of justice this time around, perhaps because of the involvement of Interpol. “Hopefully, this new arrest warrant will put more pressure on the Gambian government to extradite Manjang to the country.”
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In a stinging indictment of his country’s justice processes, he is prepared to welcome the former Jungler’s trial in a third country. “I hope he is extradited to the US because he participated in the murder of two Gambian Americans who were in the country on holiday. This will help to speed things up,” he told JFJ.
The Gambian authorities have not disclosed whether they are aware of Manjang’s whereabouts, but he is widely believed to be in exile, possibly in the neighbouring Casamance region of Senegal or neighbouring Guinea-Bissau.
The unending wait for victims
For many victims in The Gambia, justice is not an abstract concept; it is a deeply personal and urgent need. For years, they’ve lived with the physical and psychological scars of torture, the unending grief of losing loved ones to enforced disappearance, and the economic hardship resulting from the persecution they endured. Their consistent advocacy has been the primary engine driving the transitional justice process.
Baba Hydara’s frustration reflects the sentiments of many victims. “The commission mentioned Sanna Manjang, and we have been very vocal about his extradition to The Gambia, but nothing has been done. And now the operationalisation of this proposed special court is taking ages again. We don’t even know if it will ever function. This makes us even angrier at the prospect of not getting justice and more frustrated because of the wait.”
Although the wait for justice is frustrating, there are a few positive developments to ease victims’ suffering. Organisations like The Gambia Centre for Victims of Human Rights Violations have kept up pressure on the government to prosecute perpetrators and make reparations to the victims. The government has committed to a reparation programme and victims do not need to wait for the conclusion of criminal trials to receive official recognition or reparations. The UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances has commended The Gambia’s efforts, including its domestication of the international convention against the practice.
Sheriff Kijera, the chairman of the Gambia Centre for Victims of Human Rights Violations, welcomed the new arrest warrant. “It is long overdue but should not stop with Sanna Manjang. There are many others at large – Peter Singhateh, Edward Singhateh, and even Jammeh himself – who have yet to be held accountable. Many of the victims are dying without seeing justice. The government needs to act – urgently,” he was quoted as saying by local media.
Manjang is not the only Jungler who fled The Gambia following Jammeh’s fall in January 2017. Many of them are believed to be hiding in the Casamance region of Senegal, where porous borders and local protection rings hinder Gambian efforts to arrest them
The Jungler unit, comprising several dozen members, dispersed after Jammeh’s fall in January 2017. Bora Colley, a former Brigadier General and Jungler, surrendered to Gambian authorities in 2024 after eight years in exile, but died while in detention. His death only deepened victims’ frustration over delays in the justice process.
“It would have been gratifying to see him face the justice system in court,” said Baba Hydara.
Gambia’s approach to justice
Two others have faced justice through the principle of universal jurisdiction. Bai Lowe was convicted and subsequently imprisoned for life in Germany in November 2023 for crimes against humanity, including his role as a driver in the assassination of Deyda Hydara.
In April 2025, Michael Sang Correa, another Jungler, was convicted in the United States for torture and is expected to be sentenced in August 2025.
Former Interior Minister Osman Sonko was imprisoned for 20 years in May 2024 after a Swiss court found him guilty of crimes against humanity.
“Today we rejoice that finally, justice has caught up with one of the key perpetrators against Gambians, whose victims continue to live in pain and misery,” Madi Jobarteh, a human rights activist, was quoted as saying at the time.
The success of these international cases has offered the victims a sense of hope and showed that justice can be found, even if it is thousands of miles away.
Although considerably slowed down, The Gambia’s approach to post-dictatorship justice has been methodical and ambitious, anchored by the TRRC, which was established in 2018. The commission’s hearings exposed the Jammeh regime’s brutality, documented the abuses, and recommended prosecutions, reparations, and institutional reforms.
The Gambian government, in partnership with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), agreed in December 2024 to establish a Special Tribunal – a hybrid court with Gambian and international judges – to prosecute crimes committed by Yahya Jammeh and his principal enablers.
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As of July 2025, the tribunal is not yet operational, held back by funding and political hurdles. An estimated $60 million is needed for the tribunal over five years, with operations planned to begin once 16 per cent of the funds are secured. The suspension and subsequent dismantling of the USAID by the American government is a major blow to the proposed court as it has halted technical assistance to the Special Prosecutor’s Office and could affect the mobilisation of additional funding.
For victims like Baba Hydara, the delays in operationalising the special court represent a deeper issue with the government’s commitment to justice.
“The Gambia needs to show a willingness to prosecute these perpetrators and give victims justice, otherwise people will not take them seriously,” he said. “We’re sitting here saying that we’re waiting for assistance. We don’t want to assist ourselves by starting something – like trying some of the cases that our courts can handle.”
Support from international partners
The establishment and operationalisation of the hybrid tribunal face significant financial and political challenges.
“The reduction in US funding has impacted our ability to progress, but we are actively engaging with other partners to continue the work,” said Ida Persson, Special Adviser to the minister of Justice. “We have received support from other international partners, and we are confident that the momentum will continue.”
Critics argue that the government should not rely on donor funding alone, pointing out that over a billion dalasis (approximately $14 million) was realised from the sale of former President Jammeh’s assets, which could be used to initiate the process.
ECOWAS will provide technical support to the court but no financial assistance, meaning the court is fully funded by the Gambian government. Current financial support comes from UN peacebuilding funds and the European Union, which has invested 20 million euros in transitional justice since 2017.
The slow pace of establishing domestic prosecutions is interpreted by some as a lack of political will. The tribunal also faces the complex task of balancing the pursuit of justice with the need for national reconciliation, aiming to hold perpetrators accountable without exacerbating societal divisions.
Meanwhile, an Afrobarometer report released in March 2025 revealed significant public distrust in the Gambian judiciary. Fewer than half of Gambians (46 per cent) trust the courts, and only 44 per cent are confident in obtaining justice. Some 43 per cent of Gambians believe most or all judges are corrupt, and 59 per cent believe officials who break the law frequently go unpunished.
While the Gambian victims’ hope is no longer the faint, desperate wish of the early post-Jammeh days, it is somehow grounded in some progress, however small. An arrest warrant for a figure like Sanna Manjang would have been unthinkable a decade ago. The agreement to establish a hybrid court with ECOWAS backing is a major political and legal victory.
Yet for victims like Baba Hydara, the international prosecutions offer both hope and a sobering reminder of domestic failures. According to him, the willingness of other countries to prosecute perpetrators should shame The Gambia into action. Instead, it only seems to highlight the government’s continued reluctance to fully commit to justice for its people.
