海角大神

At first, Marie Therese Ndeye Sonko refused to believe her son was dead.聽

In the dizzying aftermath of the student protests in April 2000, where police fired live rounds into the crowds, Ms. Ndeye couldn鈥檛 bring herself to go to the morgue where she was told Emil lay.聽

Instead, she walked from hospital to hospital, police station to police station, tallying up untold miles as she trekked across Gambia鈥檚 seaside capital and the surrounding towns hoping for different news. But she couldn鈥檛 change the truth. Eventually, Ms. Ndeye mustered the strength to drag herself to the morgue to identify the body.

In the 21 years since, she鈥檚 gone without knowing the identity of her son鈥檚 killer, and also without so much as a word, an acknowledgment, an apology 鈥� anything, she says 鈥� from Yahya Jammeh, the Gambian dictator in power at the time.

The killings at the protest were hushed up. For years, silence was the policy for Jammeh-era crimes that spanned the torture and murder of political opponents, 鈥渨itch hunts鈥� of women accused of sorcery, and medical abuse of HIV patients.

Recently, the country has moved in a markedly different direction. The Truth, Reconciliation, and Reparations Commission (TRRC) put in place by President Adama Barrow, who ousted Mr. Jammeh at the ballot box in 2016, has collected hundreds of testimonies from victims like Ms. Ndeye and perpetrators. Broadcasts of the proceedings commanded rapt attention at restaurants and in corner stores 鈥� wherever people could access a television or radio. The commission鈥檚 final report was submitted to the government in November and is due to be made public by the end of the year.

However, the hardest part in Gambia鈥檚 post-Jammeh era is yet to come: moving forward with 鈥� and defining 鈥� justice, reconciliation, and healing. It鈥檚 a tall order,聽namely when it comes to how and whom to prosecute, and whether that will include Mr. Jammeh.聽

鈥溾�嬧�婸ost-conflict healing requires a delicate mix of truth-telling, reconciliation, [and] soul-searching to identify the dynamics which gave rise to the violence in the first place,鈥� says Corinne Dufka, West Africa director at Human Rights Watch, in an email.聽

At the same time, truth commissions across the continent and world have infamously issued final reports that sit in boxes collecting dust, with no government follow-up.

Truth commissions, Ms. Dufka says, 鈥渁re not designed nor should be made to bear the burden of delivering justice, which requires the strengthening of rule of law institutions and trials for those who bear the greatest responsibility for mass atrocity.鈥�

Not just a report

In Gambia, doubts have mounted about whether the government will actually implement the TRRC鈥檚 report.聽

For starters, the report鈥檚 submission has been repeatedly delayed. Even more worrying for some, Mr. Barrow created an electoral alliance with Mr. Jammeh鈥檚 old political party ahead of his reelection in December. (Mr. Jammeh didn鈥檛 support the alliance, and 鈥� from exile in Equatorial Guinea 鈥� threw his support behind a rival candidate.)聽

On the other hand, there is tangible pressure for the government to act 鈥� including from the International Criminal Court at a recent democracy conference held in Banjul鈥檚 suburbs.聽

At home, the commission鈥檚 decision to hold testimonial hearings throughout the country 鈥� and broadcast them 鈥� made truth-telling and reconciliation accessible to ordinary people, says Baba Galleh Jallow, the former executive secretary of Gambia鈥檚 TRRC. Doing so also acted as insurance, in case the government fails to implement the commission鈥檚 recommendations.

鈥淲e had to go beyond just writing a report with recommendations. We had to go out there, and talk to the people about what happened,鈥� says Mr. Jallow. Collecting the truth 鈥渨as meant to be a subversive process.鈥�

Mr. Jammeh will be recommended for prosecution in the final report, Mr. Jallow says, but he pegs the odds of all its recommendations being implemented at only around 50-50. Officials still part of the commission were more guarded in their assessment, declining to reveal details or place blame on the Barrow government for the report鈥檚 delays, as Mr. Jallow does.

After his reelection, Mr. Barrow told the press that 鈥渢here will be justice鈥� but has so far been vague on details.聽

Rewriting history

Those fearing the worst in Gambia, though, point to聽Liberia. If the government there had followed recommendations from the country鈥檚 truth commission, a war crimes court would have formed over a decade ago to address two civil wars stretching from the late 1980s to the early 2000s. Instead, rebel leaders accused of atrocities sit in Congress in Monrovia.聽

Others say truth commissions on their own are powerful even in the absence of government action. From Chad to South Africa, they have exposed previously covered-up atrocities and led to some healing, even if they haven鈥檛 always led to prosecutions.

In Burundi, journalist Desire Nimubona has been following a truth commission focused mostly on a 1972 genocide. As mass graves are unearthed, history is being rewritten in real time, says Mr. Nimubona, a Hutu who narrowly survived a stabbing by a Tutsi schoolmate.聽

He鈥檚 also witnessed profound examples of forgiveness, like when victims and perpetrators have come together and publicly declared their reconciliation.聽

Prosecutions are unlikely, though 鈥� and there are plenty of critics who want the commission to expand its scope. Mr. Nimubona, for his part, worries prosecutions might cause instability. But he doesn鈥檛 want the reconciliation process to be so rushed that forgiveness is imposed.聽

鈥淭he government says, 鈥極h no, we need to reconcile, we need to forget.鈥� But I think it is better to forgive someone who has asked for forgiveness. 鈥� I think people need to apologize.鈥�

鈥淧repared for whatever comes鈥�

Ms. Ndeye says she has forgiven whoever killed her son. She鈥檚 even forgiven Mr. Jammeh.聽

But she isn鈥檛 calling for a stop to prosecutions 鈥� and neither is Awa Njie.聽

鈥淭he perpetrators must be brought to justice 鈥� including Yahya Jammeh,鈥� says Ms. Njie, whose husband, an army officer, was killed soon after Mr. Jammeh came to power. For those demanding prosecutions, the issue is about more than individual cases of forgiveness and reconciliation. It鈥檚 about correcting two decades of government impunity.

For now, with the future of the TRRC鈥檚 final report still uncertain, those fighting for justice are forging ahead however they can.

鈥淭ruth-telling is important. It is a commendable step by the government,鈥� says Lisa Camara, a program manager at the African Network against Extrajudicial Killings and Enforced Disappearances (ANEKED), a Gambia-based victims advocacy organization.

But ANEKED isn鈥檛 keen to rely entirely on the government. It leads independent lawsuits on behalf of Jammeh-era victims, organizes community dialogues on healing and forgiveness, and supports a museum that honors victims. 鈥淲e will continue advocating whether the report and the recommendations come out or not, whatever is in [those] recommendations.鈥�

鈥淭he TRRC [is] not the only avenue,鈥� she says. 鈥淲e have a plan. We鈥檙e prepared for whatever comes 鈥� if recommendations come out or not, we鈥檙e going to continue advocacy, we鈥檙e going to continue to support the victims.鈥�