Nigeria, May 29 -- On 9 May, British Barrister Martin Hackett was sworn in as The Gambia's Special Prosecutor for crimes committed under Yahya Jammeh's rule from 1994 to 2017. His mandate covers serious human rights violations and international crimes, including torture, extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances.

Mr Hackett will serve both the Special Criminal Division of the High Court and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)-backed Special Tribunal for The Gambia. Attorney General Dawda Jallow said he was selected from a broad pool of candidates.

However, appointing a non-Gambian prosecutor seems hard to reconcile with the 'Gambian-driven' accountability process envisaged in the 2024 Special Accountability M...