Gambian ex-soldier convicted at US trial of torturing suspected backers
of a failed 2006 coup
[April 16, 2025]
By COLLEEN SLEVIN
DENVER (AP) — A former member of Gambia's military was convicted in
federal court Tuesday of torturing five people accused of involvement in
a failed coup against the West African country's longtime dictator
nearly 20 years ago, capping a rare prosecution in the United States for
torture committed abroad.
Jurors at the weeklong trial in Denver also found Michael Sang Correa
guilty of being part of a conspiracy to commit torture against suspected
opponents while serving in a military unit known as the “Junglers,”
which reported directly to Yahya Jammeh.
Correa came to the U.S. in 2016 to work as a bodyguard for Jammeh,
eventually settling in Denver, where prosecutors said he worked as a day
laborer.
Correa, who prosecutors say overstayed his visa, was arrested by U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement in 2019 and then indicted the
following year under a seldom-used law that allows people to be tried in
the U.S. judicial system for torture allegedly committed abroad.
The law has only been used twice since 1994 but both of the previous
cases were brought against U.S. citizens. The U.S. Department of Justice
said the verdict was “the first conviction of a non-U.S. citizen on
torture charges in a federal district court.”
“If you commit these atrocities in your country, don't come to the
United States and seek refuge,” said Steve Cagen, the head of ICE's
Homeland Security Investigations' Denver office.
Demba Dem, a former member of the Gambian parliament who testified to
being tortured by Correa and others, was among those in the packed
courtroom to hear the verdict.
“It was a victory of democracy, a victory of all the victims,“ he said.
”Those alive and those who passed away."
1. Dem and other survivors traveled from Gambia, Europe and elsewhere in
the U.S. to testify, telling the jury they were tortured by methods such
as being electrocuted and hung upside down while being beaten. Some had
plastic bags put over their heads.
Prosecutors showed the jury photos of victims with scars left by a
bayonet, a burning cigarette, ropes and other objects. The men were
asked to circle scars on photos and explain how they received them.
Members of the media from Gambia covered the trial in Denver and
immigrants now living in the U.S. attended proceedings, including
sisters Dr. Jaye Ceesay and Olay Jabbi. They said their brother was
killed by Junglers after returning to Gambia in 2013 to start a computer
school for children there and they wanted to support others victimized
by the regime.
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This courtroom sketch provided by Robyn Cochran-Ragland shows
Michael Correa, second from left, with his lawyers during his trial
in federal court in Denver, Monday, April 7, 2025. (Robyn
Cochran-Ragland via AP)
The defense had argued Correa was a low-ranking private who risked
torture and death himself if he disobeyed superiors and that he did
not have a choice about whether to participate, let alone a decision
to make about whether to join a conspiracy. One of his lawyers
declined to comment after the verdict.
But while the U.S. government agreed that there's evidence that the
Junglers lived in “constant fear,” prosecutors said at trial that
some Junglers refused to participate in the torture.
Jammeh, a member of the military, seized power in a coup from the
country’s first president in 1994, and survived three significant
coup attempts, making him suspicious of the very military he
depended on to stay in power, according to testimony.
Jammeh has been accused of ordering opponents tortured, jailed and
killed during his more than 22-year rule of Gambia, a country
surrounded by Senegal except for a small Atlantic coastline. He lost
the 2016 presidential election and went into exile in Equatorial
Guinea in 2017 after initially refusing to step down.
In 2021, a truth commission in Gambia urged that the perpetrators of
crimes committed under Jammeh’s regime be prosecuted by the
government. Other countries have also tried people connected with
his rule.
Last year, Jammeh’s former interior minister was sentenced to 20
years behind bars by a Swiss court for crimes against humanity. In
2023, a German court convicted a Gambian man who was also a member
of the Junglers of murder and crimes against humanity for
involvement in the killing of government critics in Gambia.
Human rights activists in Gambia hope those who committed torture
under Jammeh's regime will also be held accountable at home.
"Correa’s conviction is very significant in the quest for justice
for victims of human rights violations, but many Junglers and other
human rights abusers continue living in impunity. Some are even
living freely in Banjul,” said Kadijatou Kuyateh, spokesperson for
the Alliance of Victim-Led Organisations, referring to Gambia's
capital.
Correa faces up to 20 years for each of the six counts he was
convicted of. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after lawyers
determine when survivors can return to Denver to speak about the
impact of his actions.
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