Gambia to pay victims of Yahya Jammeh's rule from proceeds of his seized US mansion
The Gambia has confirmed receiving $2.5m from the sale of the house in Maryland.
**Gambia to compensate victims of Yahya Jammeh’s rule using money from seized US mansion**
Jammeh governed The Gambia for more than 20 years
The Gambia will use money received from the United States after the forfeiture of former ruler Yahya Jammeh’s property to compensate victims of his rule, officials have said.
The Gambia’s Reparations Commission said it had received $2.5m (£1.86m) from the sale of a mansion in Maryland owned by the former leader of the West African country.
In 2022, the US secured the right to sell the property on the basis that it had been bought with "criminal proceeds and misappropriated Gambian public funds".
Jammeh ruled The Gambia for more than 20 years after seizing power in a coup in 1994, a period associated with allegations of human rights abuses, forced disappearances and extrajudicial killings.
On Tuesday, the Gambia Reparations Commission said it was "pleased to inform victims, survivors and the public that it has received a total of $2,573,414.10" from the sale of Jammeh’s property.
It said it was committed to making sure the money was handled responsibly and transparently, "with due regard to the rights and needs of victims and survivors".
Jammeh lost to Adama Barrow in the 2016 election, initially accepting defeat before later rejecting the result.
He eventually resigned in 2017 under heavy regional and international pressure.
Troops from several West African countries, including Senegal, had been deployed to The Gambia, threatening to force Jammeh from power.
In the end, he agreed to leave office and went into exile in Equatorial Guinea.
A national commission later found that the former president owned 281 properties in The Gambia, along with the one in the US and another in Morocco, and controlled more than 100 bank accounts.
It said there was no way he could have afforded this on his salary and concluded that he had misappropriated more than $300m.
Jammeh is accused of overseeing the murder of political opponents, disappearances, rape and torture.
A commission of inquiry found that widespread abuses had led to the deaths of "240-250 Gambians and non-Gambians at the hands of the state or its agents".