Ousman Sonko (born 9 January 1969) is a former Gambian politician. He served as

Interior Minister An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

between 2006 and 2016 under the Gambian dictator

Yahya Jammeh Yahya Abdul-Aziz Jemus Junkung Jammeh (born 25 May 1965) is a Gambian politician and former military officer who was the leader of The Gambia from 1994 to 2017, firstly as chairman of the Armed Forces Provisional Ruling Council (AFPRC) from 199 ...

. During this period he is suspected of taking part in acts of torture, including in detention centers.

Youth

Sonko was born in

Serekunda Serekunda (proper: Sayerr Kunda or Sere Kunda, ar, سيريكوندا, sometimes spelled Serrekunda) is the largest urban centre in The Gambia. It is situated close to the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast, south-west of the capital, Banjul, and i ...

Military career

Sonko had a career in the military, starting in 1989. In early 2000 he served as commander of the State Guards Battalion. He later served as Inspector General of

The Gambia Police Force The Gambia Police Force is the primary independent domestic intelligence, security and law enforcement agency in The Gambia. Under the Ministry of the Interior, the force is headed by an inspector general of police. The current size of the force ...

before being appointed to Interior Minister. He was appointed as Interior Minister on 23 October 2006. On 19 September 2016 Sonko was replaced as Interior Minister by

Momodou Alieu Bah Momodou Alieu Bah is a former Gambian senior army officer, who served as Yahya Jammeh's last Minister of the Interior. Bah served as Minister of the Interior from 19 September 2016 to 18 January 2017, when he resigned as a result of the constitut ...

Exile in Europe

In September 2016 Sonko fled to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

, applying for residency on 21 September.

Legal case

On 26 January 2017 Sonko was arrested in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, where he had been reportedly living since November 2016, after his request in Sweden had been denied. Sonko was arrested after the rights group TRIAL International filed a complaint against him on the basis of human rights violations. At the time of his arrest he was living in a center for asylum seekers. He was detained to investigate the allegations, initially for three months, and for another three months in May 2017. In November 2019 his detention was extended by the

Federal Criminal Court of Switzerland french: Tribunal pénal féderal it, Tribunale penale federale rm, Tribunal penal federal , image = Bundesstrafgericht logo.svg , imagesize = , caption = , motto = , established = , country = ...

until late January 2020. As of May 2020 he was still in custody. On 18 April 2023, the Swiss Attorney General declared that Sonko had been charged with

crimes against humanity Crimes against humanity are widespread or systemic acts committed by or on behalf of a ''de facto'' authority, usually a state, that grossly violate human rights. Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity do not have to take place within the ...

under the principle of

universal jurisdiction Universal jurisdiction is a legal principle that allows states or international organizations to claim criminal jurisdiction over an accused person regardless of where the alleged crime was committed, and regardless of the accused's nationality, ...

. He was accused of "having supported, participated in and failed to prevent 'systematic and generalised attacks' as part of a repressive campaign by security forces against Jammeh's opponents".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sonko, Ousman 1969 births Living people Gambian military personnel Gambian police officers Interior ministers of the Gambia People from Serekunda