Ousmane Sonko says he wants to repeal the amnesty law if he obtains a majority in the legislative elections

From last school year, teacher Mabinta Bibi Djiba remembers the half-amused and half-circumspect looks of her students when they saw the electronic bracelet tied to her left ankle. “They had never seen this. I am the first woman to wear a bracelet of this type in Senegal. But when I told them my story, I became their hero.”confesses this French teacher from the Guédiawaye school, on the outskirts of Dakar.

Like hundreds of Senegalese, she is the leader of a women’s movement within the African Patriots of Senegal for Work, Ethics and Fraternity (Pastef), in power since the election of Bassirou Diomaye Faye as president of the Republic in March, was prosecuted for “looting and destruction of other people’s property” After their alleged involvement in the political violence that occurred between 2021 and 2024. Their repression caused around sixty deaths, hundreds of arbitrary arrests and acts of torture, according to Amnesty International.

Sentenced to wear an electronic bracelet for a year, she kept it until the vote on the amnesty law in March 2024. Decreed by President Macky Sall at the end of his term. “pacify the political space”The measure allowed the release of nearly a thousand people imprisoned for crimes and offenses related to the protests. For Mabinta Bibi Djiba, who nevertheless benefited from it, it was above all “they promoted impunity for criminals. They must be prosecuted to make amends to our country and those who have been harmed. For my part, I fought for justice and my image was tarnished.”.

Sonko, opposed to the law from his prison

It is to these Senegalese people who feel unjustly persecuted and to the families of the victims that Ousmane Sonko addressed on 1^Ahem November, in the middle of the campaign for the early legislative elections. Head of the Pastef list, the Prime Minister has promised to repeal the law if his side obtains an absolute majority after the elections on Sunday, November 17.

“ Using the means of the State to conspire, shoot, kill unarmed protesters, we cannot erase it as if it had never existed. (…) An amnesty law that creates impunity for murderers, we do not accept it », Sonko launched during a meeting in Ziguinchor, in the south of the country. Released like his colleague Bassirou Diomaye Faye, elected president ten days later, thanks to this law, the head of Government recalled that his side had opposed its approval at the time. “ In prison they asked me to support this law. I refused. I told my deputies: “If this law allows the release of young people, vote yes. If it is to cover up blood crimes, vote no.” All deputies voted no. »

Sonko’s announcement, well received by human rights organizations, also arouses the ire of Macky Sall’s camp. According to the latter’s supporters, the repeal aims to prosecute the former president, as well as law enforcement officers such as Félix Antoine Diome, former Minister of the Interior, and General Moussa Fall, former head of the gendarmerie.

“They won’t do anything about it, she’s from Arles, sweeps away lawyer Amadou Sall, head of the group of lawyers of the Takku Wallu Senegal intercoalition, which chose the former head of state as the head of the list. Canceling the amnesty means indicting the national police and the army, some of whose senior leaders are still in office. Furthermore, Ousmane Sonko himself called for an insurrection that caused deaths. Then it will have to be processed. »

If the amnesty law is repealed, the question of reviving the charges against the current Prime Minister would arise. Arrested in July 2023, he was detained for eight months for “call to insurrection” AND “attack on state security”.

“Inextricable legal mess”

“Repealing the law would return us to status quo ante for those arrested. Are we going to imprison hundreds of people again, including today’s ministers? “This would cause an inextricable legal mess.”warns Maurice Soudieck Dione, associate professor of political science at the Gaston-Berger University of Saint-Louis, in the north of the country.

The possibility of a partial repeal remains. “We must reiterate the amnesty for political detainees, but lift it for those responsible for the violence. “It cannot be accepted in a democracy that these crimes go unpunished.” so consider M^my Moussa Sarr, lawyer for hundreds of former prisoners. Macky Sall presented the amnesty, a measure contested since its announcement, as a tool of reconciliation after three years of violence, but its repeal would generate significant legal challenges.

“In Senegalese legislation, the principle of non-retroactivity implies that no one can be punished under a later, more severe law. However, the amnesty law creates acquired rights for the beneficiaries. “To repeal it to restore prosecutions is to violate this principle.”explains El Amath Thiam, president of the NGO Justice Without Borders, which fights against impunity and long sentences.

“Added to this difficulty is that of time. Evidence fades, witnesses disappear or their memory is altered, compromising the effectiveness of investigations and the robustness of prosecutions. In the absence of new evidence, the investigations could appear to be politically motivated actions.continues the lawyer, who recommends the creation of a truth and reconciliation commission to appease the victims and their families.

Macky Sall’s fate at stake

An unthinkable option for the defenders of former political detainees who have been mobilizing for months to bring Macky Sall to trial. Accused by the Prime Minister of economic crimes for having “ arranged » Given the reality of the public deficit, the former president living in Morocco is also the subject of a report for crimes against humanity before the International Criminal Court and a complaint in France for the same facts.

After the latter was presented to the National Anti-Terrorist Prosecutor’s Office, the superior judge pointed out “their incompetence”considering that the events reported in the complaint did not qualify as crimes against humanity. The Franco-Senegalese plaintiffs appealed. The deliberation is scheduled for November 27.

However, Babacar Sèye does not lose hope of one day attending the former president’s trial. At the head of the Macky Sall Victims Collective, he advocates for the issuance of an international arrest warrant and has enlisted the services of former US prosecutor Reed Brody, who specialized in the prosecution of fallen dictators. « Hissène Habré [ancien président du Tchad condamné à la perpétuité pour crimes contre l’humanité en 2017 par un tribunal spécial au Sénégal] It was tried, why not Macky Sall? He is not above the law. “He knows it and is afraid to campaign here in Senegal.”he says, referring to the remote campaign led by Macky Sall, head of his coalition list.

Elected with 54% of the votes in the first round, President Faye now awaits the same plebiscite to dominate the Assembly. However, the path to a trial against his predecessor remains uncertain. To do this, the new Parliament will first have to gather a three-fifths majority of deputies to refer the case to the Superior Court of Justice, the only body empowered to try a former head of state. It is up to elected officials to then define the legally vague notion of “ high treason », so Macky Sall could be prosecuted.