Victim Center Calls Government to Action, Commemorates November 11th Soldiers Massacre
November 11th Victims Banner © Askanwi
By the Gambia Center for Victims of Human Rights Violations on 11th November 2025,
Today marks the 31st anniversary of 11th November 1994, the day the Armed Forces Provisional Ruling Council (AFPRC) Junta ordered the unlawful execution of some soldiers who were accused of attempting to overthrow the government. In the same vein, there were several arrests, tortures, detentions and subsequent charges and convictions. This unfortunate incident has impacted both direct and indirect victims with so many challenges, such as psychological trauma, loss of property, unlawful dismissal, health complications and so on.
For more than three decades, victims of this tragedy are still demanding the justice they deserve. With the emergence of the Truth Commission, the truth about how the soldiers were brutally executed, tortured and detained has been revealed, which has given the victim families some knowledge about the whereabouts of their loved ones. Now that the Special Prosecutors Office, the Special Accountability Mechanisms and the Reparations Commission have been set up, we hope that finally the victims and their families will get the justice and reparations they truly deserve.
Furthermore, on this commemoration, we call on the government through the Ministry of Justice and other relevant stakeholders, such as the National Human Rights Commission and the National Assembly Standing Committee on Human Rights and Constitutional Matters, to ensure the full implementation of the TRRC recommendations and continue searching for the remains of the remaining soldiers, who were improperly buried at the Yundum Barracks, so that they can be received by their families for a decent burial.
Finally, we would like the government to fulfil its promises in building a state-of-the-art forensic laboratory for the identification of all exhumed bodies, including the remains of those already exhumed and kept in the mortuary at the EFSTH.
In remembrance today of Lt Basiru Barrow, Lt Abdoulie Dot Faal, Lt Gibril Saye, Lt Abdoulie Bah (Achopin Chopin), Lt Bakary Manneh (Nyancho), Lt Buba Jammeh, Lt Momodou Lamin Darboe, Cadet Amadou Mbackeh Sillah, Sgt Ebrima M. Ceesay, Sgt Basiru Camara and Sgt Fafa Nyang. Among those remembered today are survivors who later succumbed to the cold hands of death after surviving the ordeal in 1994: Lamin Jammeh, Lamin Jarju and Alieu Bah.
In conclusion, we would like to thank the National Human Rights Commission for their continuous update on the status of implementation of the TRRC recommendations by the government. In the same vein, we would also like to thank all local, regional and international partners for their unflinching support in ensuring a successful TJ process in the Gambia.
The Victims Center will continue to fight for the rights of victims, to ensure justice, and to promote the NEVER AGAIN SLOGAN.
#Justiceforall
#Ourvictimsdeservejustice
#ReparationsNow
#Reconciliation
