Former Gambian 'Death Squad' Leader Sanna Manjang Faces Military Trial for Desertion

Sanna Manjang, the former head of the Gambian paramilitary unit known as the "Junglers," has appeared in a military court in Banjul to face charges of desertion.

Manjang is accused of deserting the armed forces after fleeing the country in 2017 following the end of the 20-year rule of President Yahya Jammeh. The case marks another official bid at accountability for killings that occurred under Jammeh's administration, following the dropping of a separate murder case against Manjang in July.

He is facing trial for an absence of "a continuous period of nine years with the intention of deserting." Manjang was arrested in Senegal last November and repatriated to The Gambia a month later.

The Junglers armed group, which operated independently from the Gambian army, has long been accused by the United Nations of extrajudicial killings and torture. Longtime leader Jammeh was forced into exile after losing power in 2016 to Adama Barrow, then opposition leader and now president.

Following Jammeh’s departure, the country established the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC). The commission investigated alleged crimes under his rule and found that between 240 and 250 people were killed by the state, alongside evidence of widespread extrajudicial killings, torture, kidnappings, and witch hunts. Several of Jammeh’s accomplices, including Junglers, have been detained and sentenced abroad in Germany, Switzerland, and the United States.

Previously, Manjang was charged with four counts of murder, including the 2004 killing of AFP correspondent Deyda Hydara, but those charges were dropped in July as The Gambia struggled to summon witnesses, some of whom were allegedly members of the death squad. In addition to Hydara’s shooting, Manjang was accused of killing three other men, including one he personally decapitated. After those charges were dropped, Manjang was charged separately for the assault of two other men in an ongoing trial.