West Africa's regional bloc Ecowas has approved the setting up a special court to try crimes committed in Gambia during its military dictatorship. It is the first time the bloc has partnered with a member state to set up such a court.

The landmark decision was announced on Sunday at an Ecowas summit of regional heads of state in Nigeria's capital, Abuja.

The The Special Tribunal for Gambia will cover alleged crimes committed under military dictator Yahya Jammeh, whose rule from 1996 to 2017 was marked by arbitrary detention, sexual abuse and extrajudicial killings.

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Jammeh lost a presidential election in 2016 to current President Adama Barrow and went into exile in Equatorial Guinea after initially refusing to step down.

Calls for justice for the victims of the dictatorship had been growing for years in Gambia, a country surrounded by Senegal except for a small Atlantic coastline.

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In 2021, a truth commission in the country wrapped up its hearings with strong recommendations, urging the government to try perpetrators.

In May, Jammeh's former interior minister was sentenced to 20 years in jail by a Swiss court for this crimes against humanity.

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In November, a German court convicted a Gambian man, Bai Lowe, of murder and crimes against humanity for involvement in the killing of government critics in Gambia.

The man was a driver for a military unit deployed against opponents of Jammeh.

Gambia's Justice Ministry described the move as a "historic development" that "marks a significant step forward for Gambia, the region, and international community" in a statement.