Facts
The Gambia was under the control of Yahya Jammeh from 1994 to 2016. For more than two decades, human rights violations, including enforced disappearances, torture, extrajudicial killings, sexual violence and arbitrary detentions were widespread. The Junglers were a paramilitary unit that answered directly to then-President Jammeh and were considered one of the most brutal enforcement arms of Jammeh’s regime. In 2015, the United Nations special rapporteur on torture found that the Junglers carried out the regime’s most repressive abuses: arbitrary detention, torture, enforced disappearance and extrajudicial killing.
Correa is alleged to be a former member of the Junglers death squad. Correa and other Junglers allegedly tortured the detainees in the Mile 2 Prison and the National Intelligence Agency Headquarters. According to the indictment against him, Correa and other Junglers tortured suspected coup d’état participants for confessions, including by beating their victims with plastic pipes, wires and branches; suffocating them with plastic bags; dripping molten plastic and acid on their bodies; and subjecting them to electric shocks.
In 2016, Adama Barrow defeated Jammeh in a presidential election and launched the Truth, Reconciliation, and Reparations Commission (TRRC) to reckon with Jammeh’s legacy of human rights abuses. The TRRC issued its findings on 24 December 2021 and called for the prosecution of those most responsible for gross human rights violations and abuses during Jammeh’s rule, including the former president and members of the Junglers paramilitary unit. During the TRRC hearings in The Gambia, former members of the Junglers publicly testified about the crimes they committed under Jammeh’s orders. Several victims testified that Correa personally tortured them or was present while other Junglers tortured them.
Procedure
On 17 September 2019, the US Department of Homeland Security arrested Correa in Denver, Colorado for overstaying his visa. Correa was placed in immigration detention and removal proceedings. He applied for asylum, but his application was denied in January 2020. Correa appealed his asylum denial in February 2020, and his removal from the US was stayed pending the resolution of his appeal.
Following news of his detention, a coalition of human rights organizations and Correa’s victims, including the Center for Justice and Accountability, the African Network Against Extrajudicial Killings and Enforced Disappearances, the Gambia Center for Victims of Human Rights Violations, the Guernica Centre for International Justice, Human Rights Watch, the Solo Sandeng Foundation and TRIAL International, called on the US to investigate the credible allegations of grave international crimes committed by Correa in the Gambia.
On 11 June 2020, the US attorney for the District of Colorado announced Correa’s indictment on six counts of torture and one count of conspiracy to commit torture. Following this announcement, the Gambian Ministry of Justice issued a press release in support of the indictment. Correa pled not guilty to the charges against him and is currently in detention awaiting trial.
In 2021, Correa’s trial was delayed because Covid-19 pandemic restrictions prevented Correa’s defense team from travelling to the Gambia to investigate and prepare his defense.
In August 2022, the prosecution stated that it was working with US intelligence agencies to declassify additional evidence to disclose as part of its case. In addition, while in pre-trial detention, Correa attempted to file several motions to dismiss the charges against him on his own behalf and without his attorneys, arguing that the case against him resulted from “malicious prosecution” and caused prejudicial delay. However, the motions were denied for improper procedure.
In October 2023, the US District Court for the District of Colorado scheduled Correa’s trial for two weeks starting on 16 September 2024.
In December 2023, Correa filed two motions challenging the indictment. He argued that the United States Congress lacked constitutional authority to enact the Torture Act. Correa also argued that the prosecution of a noncitizen for crimes committed entirely within the jurisdiction of another sovereign State violated his rights to due process.
In February 2024, the court denied both of Correa’s motions challenging the indictment. The court affirmed that the US Congress has constitutional authority to enact criminal statutes codifying US obligations under international treaties, such as the Convention Against Torture. The court also concluded that Correa had “receive[d] fair warning that he could face prosecution for his actions,” “because he is alleged to have committed an offense (1) in violation of a statute implementing an international treaty which provided global notice of proscribed conduct, and/or (2) which is universally condemned such that he was on notice of potential future prosecution.” While the court found “that nexus to the United States is not required” to comply with Correa’s due process rights, any nexus requirement was satisfied “by Mr. Correa’s willful travel to the United States and prolonged presence in this country,” along with one victim’s US citizenship.
On 19 August 2024, Correa filed a motion to dismiss the indictment against him, arguing that the charges were not timely. The court denied this motion.
On 30 August 2024, less than three weeks before Correa’s trial was scheduled to begin, he filed another motion to dismiss the indictment. He explained that two witnesses whose testimony he wished to present in support of his defense refused to travel to the United States without immunity from prosecution. He argued that the United States government’s refusal to grant immunity to these two witnesses violated his right to due process. The court denied this motion. In a second motion, Correa sought to delay the trial so that his attorneys could travel to The Gambia to record oral testimony from these two witnesses. On 11 September 2024, the court granted Mr. Correa’s motion.
The trial of Michael Correa started on 7 April 2025.