Former Gambian death squad member Michael Sang Correa has been sentenced to 67 years in prison by a United States federal court for torture and conspiracy to commit torture, marking a landmark moment in the pursuit of justice for victims of the Yahya Jammeh regime.
The sentence, delivered on Friday in Denver by Judge Christine M. Arguello, imposed 135 months for each of the six counts of torture and one count of conspiracy, with the terms to run consecutively.
Judge Arguello described Correa’s crimes as “flagrant violations of international human rights” that warranted exemplary punishment.
Correa, a former member of the notorious Junglers paramilitary unit, was arrested in June 2020 in the US after overstaying his visa and was convicted on 15 April 2025 under the US Extraterritorial Torture Act.
He became the first foreign national to be convicted in the United States for acts of torture committed outside its borders.
The case centred on systematic abuses carried out following the failed 2006 coup in The Gambia.
Correa, then serving in the Gambian army, participated in the brutal crackdown on suspected coup plotters.
Detainees were tortured at Mile 2 Prison and the National Intelligence Agency headquarters in Banjul using methods that included beatings with military boots and pipes, electric shocks, plastic bag suffocation, acid attacks, and electrocution.
During the trial, several victims, including Pharing Sanyang, Ebou Jarjue, Tamsir Jasseh, and Barton Garrison, provided harrowing testimony.
Three identified Correa as one of their torturers. Sanyang described him as “very aggressive,” saying he attempted to force a false confession. Jarjue recounted nine months in detention followed by four years’ imprisonment on fabricated charges of poisoning Jammeh, while Jasseh, a Gambian-American and former immigration director, testified that Correa “enjoyed” inflicting suffering.
The Gambian Ministry of Justice welcomed the ruling as a “significant milestone” and “a victory for international justice,” praising the US government and prosecutors for their role in the case.
Banjul reaffirmed its commitment to pursuing accountability for crimes committed under Jammeh’s rule, including through its Special Prosecutor’s Office established to prosecute perpetrators identified by the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC).
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