The Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Baa Tambadou, has clarified that the controversial pending release of three confessed killers and former members of the infamous death squad, the Jungulers is ‘not an amnesty.’

The release of the three former Jungulers – Lt Malick Jatta, Omar A Jallow and Sgt Amadou Badjie – came a fortnight after their disturbing testimonies before the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission and for cooperating with the Commission in its inquiries into several high profile deaths and human rights abuses during the Jammeh junta.

“Let me clarify from the onset that the recommendation to release the three men is not an amnesty as some people claimed. This is totally false – it is only the TRRC that can recommend amnesty in appropriate cases,”Justice Minister Abubacarr Tambadou said during a press conference in Banjul on Monday.

“At this point the objective of this release is to put the three men in a similar situation as those who have appeared at the TRRC and admitted to participating in human rights violations and abuses.”

He said the objective of the released of the Jungulers is to promote truth telling in exchange for amnesty and promotion of healing and national reconciliation.

Mr. Tambadou said: “all those who assist the TRRC to establish the truth shall and should be treated the same way – neither can we charge anyone including the three men with any crimes at this moment because the TRRC has been mandated to identify for prosecution only those who bare the greatest responsibility for the human rights violations and abuse.”

He said the decision about who to prosecute will “depend on the recommendations of the Truth Commission base on totality of all facts and evidence before it”.

The three men have admitted their roles in several human rights crimes and abuses including the extrajudicial killing of veteran journalist, Deyda Hydara, the 44 Ghanaian migrants , the missing Gambian-Americans among many other victims of the former president Yahya Jammeh.

At least six ‘Jungulers’, all military officers of the State Guards, were arrested and detained in 2017 after former president Yahya Jammeh was ousted from power following a shocked electoral defeat to an opposition Coalition led by Adama Barrow.

Reporting by Adama Makasuba