A witness embraces counsel at the Gambian Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission, which called for the prosecution of former President Jammeh, the “Junglers” and others for alleged crimes, in Eassau, Gambia.
A witness embraces counsel at the Gambian Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission, which called for the prosecution of former President Jammeh, the “Junglers” and others for alleged crimes, in Eassau, Gambia.
On April 7, 2025, Michael Sang Correa, an alleged former member of a Gambian death squad, stands trial in a US federal court in Denver, Colorado. Correa faces charges of torture and conspiracy to commit torture. Correa faces charges of torture and conspiracy to commit torture. This trial is possible because US laws recognise universal jurisdiction over certain serious crimes under international law, often termed atrocity crimes, including torture, genocide, and war crimes. Universal jurisdiction allows for investigating and prosecuting these crimes no matter where they were committed, and regardless of the nationality of the suspects or victims.
Michael Correa’s trial was originally scheduled to start on September 16, 2024. However, on September 11, the presiding judge postponed the trial until 2025, following a defense motion seeking a delay to allow the defense to take depositions from two witnesses in Gambia.
US trial against Gambian accused of torture
This trial, the third of its kind in the United States, is part of ever-increasing efforts to use universal jurisdiction to ensure that victims of the most heinous crimes – including those committed during Yahya Jammeh’s brutal rule in Gambia – have additional pathways to justice. The following updated question-and-answer document provides background on understanding the implications of this important case.
What happened in Gambia?
Yahya Jammeh’s 23-year rule in Gambia, from 1994 to 2017, was marked by widespread human rights abuses. The systematic oppression of alleged opponents of the government such as journalists, human rights defenders, student leaders, religious leaders, political opposition members, judiciary officials, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people resulted in serious human rights violations, including torture, extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearance, and sexual violence. These violations were carried out by state security forces and shadowy paramilitary groups, including a paramilitary unit created by Jammeh known as the “Junglers.” Jammeh sought exile in Equatorial Guinea in January 2017 after losing the December 2016 presidential election.
Who is Michael Sang Correa and what is this case about?
Michael Correa is a Gambian national and former army captain who is alleged to have been a member of the Junglers. The Junglers, created in 1996, operated outside the structure of the country’s law enforcement agencies. They are believed to have reported directly to Jammeh, based on accounts of former members and other government insiders. Human Rights Watch research implicated the Junglers in serious human rights violations, which include torture, enforced disappearance, and killings.
In its final report issued in 2021, Gambia’s Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC) concluded that the crimes committed by the Junglers and others amounted to war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Correa entered the United States in 2016, and in September 2019 was arrested on immigration grounds after overstaying his visa. Following his arrest, Correa sought to apply for asylum. Gambian and international civil society groups urged US authorities to investigate and prosecute Correa on torture charges, as did US lawmakers. Gambian human rights organisations expressed concern over the possible deportation of Correa to Gambia, stating that this risked allowing him to escape justice.
On June 11, 2020, a grand jury indicted Correa and charged him with six counts of torture under the US Torture Act, and one count of conspiracy to commit torture following a failed coup attempt against Jammeh. His trial began on April 7, 2025, before the US District Court of Colorado in Denver and is expected to last for about two weeks. The Gambian government has cooperated in the case.
The Center for Justice and Accountability (CJA), TRIAL International, the Alliance of Victim-Led Organisations (AVLO), the African Network Against Extrajudicial Killings and Enforced Disappearances (ANEKED), the Solo Sandeng Foundation, the Women’s Association for Victims’ Empowerment (WAVE), and Women in Liberation & Leadership (WILL) are supporting alleged victims seeking justice for crimes committed during the Jammeh regime, by providing legal and psychological support.
Have victims of Jammeh-era crimes been able to get justice in Gambia?
Many of the human rights violations committed under Jammeh were brought to light during the hearings of the TRRC, which was set up in 2018. The TRRC’s final report, published on December 24, 2021, concluded that Jammeh and 69 of his associates’ committed crimes against humanity and called for their prosecution. The report highlighted the need to prosecute Jammeh and the Junglers, members of the junta, senior military officers, and other state officials; along with “enablers and accomplices” for alleged crimes including enforced disappearances, killings, unlawful detention, torture, and inhumane and degrading treatment of people in custody.
In addition, the TRRC proposed a range of options on possible ways to move these prosecutions forward, spanning a purely domestic tribunal in Gambia; an internationalised tribunal in Gambia; a prosecution abroad in a neighbouring country through an internationalised tribunal; and prosecution at the International Criminal Court in the Hague.
In its response to the TRRC report, the Gambian government acknowledged the need for justice and accountability, and accepted recommendations for prosecutions. It committed to establishing a Special Prosecutor’s Office within the Attorney General’s Office tasked with investigating and prosecuting those bearing the gravest responsibility for human rights violations; as well as creating a special judicial framework within the Gambian judicial system. However, since Jammeh’s fall, Gambia has moved forward with only two prosecutions for Jammeh-era crimes.
The Gambian government also stated that it would work with other countries seeking to bring those responsible for international crimes to justice, either through extradition requests, or by providing support for them to be prosecuted in the countries where they were living.
How is a US court able to try Correa if the allegations against him took place in Gambia?
The US is acting under what is known as the principle of universal jurisdiction. Universal jurisdiction is a principle codified in international law that allows for the investigation and prosecution of certain international crimes, regardless of where the crimes were committed, or the nationality of the suspects or victims. Across the globe, universal jurisdiction laws typically allow for the prosecutions of war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, torture, piracy, hijacking, acts of terrorism, and attacks on United Nations personnel.
In line with its international treaty obligations, the US has adopted federal criminal statutes on genocide, war crimes, torture, and the use or recruitment of child soldiers, as well as on female genital mutilation, that allow for the US to exercise criminal jurisdiction under certain circumstances over crimes that occur outside of the country, regardless of the nationality of the suspect or victims. In the US, these laws are known collectively as “substantive human rights statutes.” The application of these statutes, as well as use of related immigration and criminal authorities, is supported by an extensive network of government, immigration and law enforcement agencies, including the inter-agency Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Centre, within the US Department of Homeland Security.
Correa is charged under one of the substantive human rights statutes; the federal torture statute, which gives US federal courts jurisdiction over torture that is committed outside of the US and by either a US national or an individual present in the US, regardless of their nationality or the nationality of the victims.
Are courts in other countries using universal jurisdiction?
Over the past two decades, national courts of an increasing number of countries have pursued cases involving the commission of international crimes abroad, through universal jurisdiction laws.
In its 2024 Annual Report on Universal Jurisdiction, TRIAL International – a nongovernmental organisation fighting impunity for international crimes and supporting victims in their quest for justice – records 233 universal jurisdiction cases globally, with 36 new investigations opened in 2023, a 32 percent increase from the year before.
Universal jurisdiction has advanced the search for justice for years of abuses committed in Gambia. Courts in Switzerland and Germany have convicted two individuals of crimes against humanity committed under the Jammeh government. Gambia’s former interior minister, Ousman Sonko, was convicted in May 2024 for torture, illegal detentions, and unlawful killings. Sonko was the highest ranking official ever to be tried under the principle of universal jurisdiction in Europe. He was arrested in 2017 after TRIAL International filed a criminal complaint against him before the Swiss courts. This followed a German court’s conviction of Bai L., a former member of the Junglers, for crimes against humanity in 2023, following advocacy by organisations like TRIAL and the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights.
Recent advances in universal jurisdiction cases have been made possible by the advocacy of victims’ groups and nongovernmental organisations, as well as participation of victims in litigation efforts. As reported by TRIAL International, in 2023, civil society organisations were involved in 56 percent of the ongoing cases on universal jurisdiction, “by filing complaints, collaborating with or providing information to prosecuting authorities, providing support to the plaintiffs and participating as civil parties.”
Universal jurisdiction cases have been possible when states develop robust legal frameworks, establish special investigation and prosecution units, and cooperation networks between national authorities. As of April 15, 2024, only 13 countries had applied their jurisdiction extraterritorially through universal jurisdiction. The US and other countries should address obstacles that prevent greater use of universal jurisdiction in their courts.
