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.
Correa’s defense attorneys filed a motion arguing that the charges are unconstitutional. On 28 February 2024, a federal judge declined to dismiss the charges against Correa for three reasons: Correa was on notice his alleged conduct violated U.S. law, torture is a “universally condemned” activity, and Correa’s decision to flee The Gambia and remain in the U.S. established a sufficient enough connection for the justice system.
On 11 September 2024, the judge granted a motion filed by Correa’s defense lawyers, asking the court to delay the trial to allow Correa’s attorneys to travel to The Gambia to record sworn testimony from two witnesses. The judge ruled that ensuring Correa the right to present witnesses for his defense was crucial to protecting his due process rights.
The trial has thus been postponed and will be rescheduled to a date in 2025.