The Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Abubacarr M. Tambadou, has called on Gambian women who were sexually assaulted by former President Jammeh to come forward to speak about their experiences.

The call came in the wake of a former Miss Gambia, Fatou Jallow’s, interview with the U.S based newspaper, The New York Times, where she alleged that Jammeh raped and sexually assaulted her at the State House in 2014.

In a press release issued on Thursday, Mr Tambadou urged Gambian women and girls who were victims of Jammeh “to emulate Ms Jallow by speaking up about their own experiences with former President Jammeh and to do so in any manner that they see fit including through testimony before the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC).”

Below we reproduced the full press release from the Justice minister.

“The Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mr Abubacarr M. Tambadou, has followed with keen interest the recent publication on 25 June 2019 of an interview by the New York Times of Ms Fatou Jallow, a Gambian national, who was reportedly raped by former President Yahya Jammeh.
 
“The Attorney General salutes the courage of Ms Jallow for speaking up and sharing her story with the world and for exposing yet another serious allegation of reprehensible conduct by former President Jammeh who abused his position as head of state to the detriment of many Gambians including the sexual assault of Ms Jallow, a young and brave girl.
 
“I take this opportunity to call upon all women and girls in the country to emulate Ms Jallow by speaking up about their own experiences with former President Jammeh and to do so in any manner that they see fit including through testimony before the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC). It is only through speaking up and exposing such despicable acts especially by those in positions of power can we effectively combat the scourge and menace of sexual violence against women and girls in our society.”