Gambia Appoints British Barrister Martin Hackett to Lead Landmark Prosecution of Jammeh-Era Human Rights Abuses

British barrister Martin Hackett is named The Gambia's first special prosecutor to try crimes and human rights abuses from the 22-year Yahya Jammeh era.

By: AXL Media

Published: Apr 9, 2026, 5:34 AM EDT

Source: Information for this report was sourced from BBC Africa and AFP

A Decisive Move Toward Accountability

The appointment of Martin Hackett on April 8, 2026, marks a significant milestone in The Gambia's long and arduous journey toward justice for victims of the Jammeh dictatorship. Attorney General and Minister of Justice Dawda Jallow confirmed that Hackett was selected from a global pool of candidates to head the Special Prosecutor’s Office (SPO), a body created specifically to address the findings of the 2021 TRRC report. This report detailed a systematic campaign of repression, extrajudicial killings, and enforced disappearances that defined the period between the 1994 coup and Jammeh’s eventual ouster in 2017. Hackett is expected to arrive in Banjul before the end of April to begin the formal recruitment of his legal team and the review of thousands of pages of testimony.

Veteran Experience in International Justice

Martin Hackett brings a wealth of international legal expertise to the role, having previously served with the UN-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon and conducted war crimes investigations during the Kosovo conflict. His experience in prosecuting command responsibility cases and navigating the complexities of sexual violence in conflict is seen as vital for the Gambian context. International observers, including human rights advocates who have worked with Jammeh’s victims for nearly a decade, have praised the selection of a prosecutor with Hackett's credentials. His mandate involves deciding whether to bring cases before the Special Criminal Division of the High Court in The Gambia or wait for the full operationalization of a hybrid international tribunal.

Addressing Notorious Cases of State Violence

The Special Prosecutor’s Office is tasked with seeking justice for some of the most heinous crimes committed by the former regime's security apparatus. Among the high-priority cases is the 2004 assassination of journalist Deyda Hydara and the 2005 massacre of more than 50 West African migrants who were executed by "the Junglers," a notorious paramilitary death squad. While several members of this unit have already been convicted in foreign jurisdictions like Germany and the United States under the principle of universal jurisdiction, the appointment of Hackett represents the first major effort to hold perpetrators accountable through a domestic mechanism within The Gambia itself.