A German court on Thursday convicted a Gambian man of murder and crimes against humanity for involvement in the killing of government critics in his West African homeland. The killings took place nearly two decades ago when, the court found, the man was a driver for a military unit deployed against opponents of then-President Yahya Jammeh.
The 48-year-old suspect, Bai Lowe, was given a life prison sentence by the state court in the district of Celle, which also convicted him of attempted murder. The court described it as the world's first sentence under international criminal law for human rights violations in Gambia.
Judges found that the defendant was a driver for a unit known as the “patrol team,” or “Junglers,” deployed by Jammeh to carry out illegal killings to suppress the opposition and intimidate the public.
Jammeh ruled Gambia—a country surrounded by Senegal except for a small Atlantic coastline—for 22 years. He lost a presidential election and went into exile in Equatorial Guinea in 2017 after initially refusing to step down.
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