Gambia’s Sanna Manjang faces military court over desertion allegations

Sanna Manjang, a lieutenant colonel and former head of Gambia’s Junglers paramilitary unit, appeared before a military court in Banjul on Monday to face charges linked to his alleged desertion from the armed forces.

The charges accuse Manjang of deserting the Gambian Armed Forces on or about January 21, 2017. He is also accused of being absent for a continuous period of nine years with the intention of deserting.

Earlier murder charges

Manjang had previously faced four counts of murder, including the alleged killing of longtime AFP journalist Deyda Hydara. Those charges were dropped in mid-July while the state worked through how it planned to call witnesses, most of whom were themselves alleged members of the Junglers.

The murder charges are expected to be filed again at a future date. No date for their refiling has been provided.

Manjang was arrested in Senegal in November and repatriated to Gambia in December. The years of those events were not specified.

He is also facing separate charges over the alleged assault of two other men in a trial that remains ongoing.

Junglers’ alleged role under Jammeh

The Junglers operated independently of Gambia’s regular army. The unit has been described as a death squad under Yahya Jammeh, who ruled Gambia from 1994 to 2017. The United Nations and rights groups have accused the group of involvement in extrajudicial killings and torture.

In a statement announcing the court martial, the Gambian Armed Forces described Manjang as being “implicated in serious human rights violations.”

Jammeh lost Gambia’s December 2016 presidential election to opposition leader Adama Barrow. He initially refused to accept the result before later leaving the country for Equatorial Guinea.

After Jammeh’s departure, Gambia established the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission to investigate alleged abuses committed during his rule. The commission found evidence of widespread extrajudicial killings, torture, kidnappings, witch hunts and other abuses. It estimated that between 240 and 250 people were killed by the state during Jammeh’s reign.

Several of Jammeh’s accomplices, including members of the Junglers, have been detained and sentenced abroad in Germany, Switzerland and the United States.

The outcome of Manjang’s military proceedings has not been reported.