Gambian lawyer Mai Fatty meets ICC

--Urges Court to Invoke Art. 53 of Rome statute

By Ebrima G. Sankareh, Editor-In-Chief

Highly placed sources within the Protocol Department of the International Criminal Court (ICC) today, confirmed the visit of Human Rights Lawyer and GMC Flag Bearer, Gambian Barrister, Mai Fatty to The Hague, Netherlands for consultations with the ICC. However, it did not disclose the substantive details of the contact.

ICC- Jammeh's next station? 

Barrister Fatty held closed door meetings with senior officials of all three Departments of the International Criminal Court, namely the Office of the Registrar, the Presidency and the Office of the Prosecutor, Mr. Louis Moreno-Ocampo our sources say. Information reaching us indicates that the meeting which lasted for a little over three hours on the 9^th March 2010 at The Hague centred on substantive human rights abuses in The Gambia, and efforts to involve the jurisdiction of the Court for concrete international redress.

Lawyer Fatty, Tyrant Jammeh & Deputy ICC Prosecutor, Gambian born Fatou Bansuda 

Sources say that Barrister Fatty had urged the Prosecutor’s Office to invoke Article 53 of the Rome Statute with respect to crimes committed by President Yaya Jammeh and his Government contrary to Article 7 of the Rome Statute for international criminal investigation. It is understood that Barrister Fatty went into the meeting armed with comprehensive documents containing the gist of the case evidence against Jammeh and his criminal Government. This would bring the matter before the Pre-Trial Chamber of the International Criminal Court, to put into motion a comprehensive investigation in which more evidence would be gathered against President Jammeh with the help of Gambians, international NGOs and western intelligence agencies.

The Pre-Trial Chamber could determine the issuance of an international arrest warrant against President Jammeh and culpable members of his security forces. If this process is achieved, Jammeh would be the second sitting dictator, next to Omar Al Bashir of Sudan to have an international bounty on his head to face international justice. Already, there are subsisting cases against Jammeh’s government at the ECOWAS Tribunal in Abuja, and one damning verdict delivered against him in the case of the disappeared Gambian journalist, Chief Ebrima Manneh.

It is also gathered that Barrister Fatty is working on measures to heat up Article 8 political dialogue between the European Union and The Gambia with regard to human rights abuses and their impact on the continuation of development cooperation between the EU and The Gambia. Most of the infrastructural developments in The Gambia are being financed by the EU under the framework of the EDF. Our source disclosed that the goal of this is either to secure a suspension of direct budgetary aid and development cooperation with The Gambia or impose targeted sanctions against Jammeh, his Cabinet ministers and members of the security forces identified as perpetrators. The measure is also targeted to freeze financial and economic assets of Jammeh and his cabal around the world, if successful.

We shall follow the progress of Barrister Fatty’s contact with the ICC with respect to efforts to prosecute Jammeh and his cronies for crimes against humanity.