The Committee for Justice (CFJ) and the Women’s Association for Women and Victims’ Empowerment (WAVE-Gambia) have submitted a joint input to the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID) in response to its call for submissions on “Enforced Disappearances and Memorialization.” The submission highlights how victim- and family-led memorialization in The Gambia functions as a practical pillar of the rights to truth, justice, reparation, and guarantees of non-recurrence, particularly within a transitional justice context that includes emblematic cases and cross-border dimensions.
The joint input documents memorialization practices led by victims’ families and civil society actors, including community-based remembrance initiatives and the need for cross-border commemoration where victims and families are dispersed regionally or in the diaspora. It also identifies persistent challenges that undermine safe and meaningful memorialization: restricted access to certain sites, delays in official follow-up and recognition measures, stigma and intimidation risks affecting families and organizers, and limited resources especially for psychosocial support and safe participation.
The submission sets out practical recommendations directed to State authorities and to international and regional mechanisms. These include: ensuring non-obstruction and proactive facilitation of memorial initiatives; guaranteeing safe and timely access to relevant sites, archives and information; embedding memorial measures within reparations and transitional justice follow-up; providing trauma-informed psychosocial support and safe participation options; and strengthening cross-border cooperation where victims and families are affected across multiple States.
It further proposes concrete measures for UN and regional bodies to safeguard commemorative practices, including timely communications and follow-up with clear benchmarks, public statements condemning reprisals and intimidation, structured country engagement, and coordinated approaches for cross-border cases to ensure that families can participate safely and that evidence and memory are preserved.
“Families in The Gambia have shown that memorialization is not symbolic only but a practical means to preserve truth, counter denial, and sustain demands for accountability and reparation; and because women relatives and survivors have carried much of the burden of remembrance and truth-telling, this joint submission emphasizes protection, inclusion, and dignity so that memorialization can be safe, victim-centred, and lasting,” CFJ and WAVE-Gambia said in a joint statement.
ENDS
