A Gambian ex-soldier, Michael Sang Correa, has been convicted by a US jury for torturing five people accused of involvement in a failed 2006 coup against former dictator Yahya Jammeh. Correa, who was part of the notorious “Junglers” unit that reported directly to Jammeh, was found guilty of conspiracy to commit torture.
According to prosecutors, Correa and his co-conspirators subjected victims to brutal treatment, including electrocution, beatings, stabbings, and burnings. Survivors testified to being tortured by being hung upside down and electrocuted. The jury saw photos of victims with scars left by bayonets.
Correa, who came to the US in 2016 to work as a bodyguard for Jammeh, was arrested by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement in 2019 and indicted under a seldom-used law for torture committed abroad. This law has been used only twice since 1994, and Correa’s conviction marks the first time a non-US citizen has been convicted on torture charges in a federal district court.
“It was a victory of democracy, a victory of all the victims, those alive and those who passed away,” said Demba Dem, a former Gambian parliamentarian who testified to being tortured by Correa. Steve Cagen, head of ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations’ Denver office, emphasized, “If you commit these atrocities, don’t come to the United States and seek refuge.”
Correa faces up to 20 years in prison for each of six counts. Human rights activists in Gambia hope this conviction will pave the way for accountability for others who committed torture under Jammeh’s regime. “Correa’s conviction is significant in the quest for justice for victims of human rights violations, but many Junglers still live in impunity, some freely in Banjul,” said Kadijatou Kuyateh, spokesperson for the Alliance of Victim-Led Organisations ¹ ².