Abuses by Guinea’s Security Forces

http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2010/11/29/guinea-witnesses-describe-security-force-excesses

Officers Take Sides Politically, Abuse People Affiliated With Certain Party

When contested election results in Guinea led to outbreaks of political and ethnic violence, security forces used lethal force against some protesters and targeted the Peuhl ethnic group – who supported a different party than most security force members did. At least seven people died and 220 were wounded in the post-election violence, which erupted between supporters of presidential candidates Alpha Condé and Cellou Dalein Diallo and security forces in several cities. Interviews with 80 victims and witnesses made clear that security forces, dominated by ethnic groups who largely supported Condé’s party, used excessive force to suppress violent protests by the Peuhl, who were rioting because of perceived electoral irregularities against Diallo, their candidate. Officers made ethnic comments, like, «You, the Peuhl, will never rule the country.» They stole mobile telephones, money, and household items from people suspected of supporting Diallo. Security forces also supported civilian mobs of Condé supporters. Although the officers may have sought to quell the violence that seized the cities, they failed to provide equal protection to all Guineans. Guinea’s Supreme Court is expected to announce the election results this week. Despite the violence, this election was considered Guinea’s freest in 50 years.

INTERVIEW-Guinea sectarian troubles highlight greater risks

http://www.alertnet.org/db/an_art/58388/2010/01/9-170249-1.htm

09 Feb 2010 17:02:00 GMT

Written by: George Fominyen

Captain Moussa Dadis Camara, chief of the ruling junta in Guinea, salutes during a ceremony with Burkina Faso’s President Blaise Compaore at the international airport in Conakry October 5, 2009. REUTERS/Luc Gnago

DAKAR (AlertNet) – Sectarian violence which erupted last week in the southeastern forest region of Guinea has exposed the country’s vulnerability to a major humanitarian crisis, a senior U.N. official has warned. 

Three people were killed and 68 wounded when clashes broke out on Feb. 5 in Nzerekore about 500 km (310 miles) from the capital Conakry. 

The violence began when a Christian woman, accused of wearing an indecent dress while passing Muslims at prayer, was attacked. In retaliation, Christians stoned Muslims trying to pray and the violence continued throughout the weekend. 

«We can quickly move from a relatively stable humanitarian situation to a critical situation,» Philippe Verstraeten, head of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Guinea, told AlertNet. «We have seen this risk with the … incidents at Nzerekore.» 

Analysts say the clashes, which seem to have both ethnic and political undertones, could lead to a national and regional crisis if not properly handled. 

«It is a fragile region that can be explosive given that it is at the junction of three countries that are just recovering from war – Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Ivory Coast,» Verstraeten said in a telephone conversation from Conakry. 

About 4,000 Ivorian refugees live in Nzerekore alongside thousands of Liberians, according to the United Nations. The poor state of roads in that part of the country makes it difficult for humanitarian agencies to reach those in need of aid. 

Access has worsened since the clashes. On Monday, the United Nations cancelled its regular humanitarian flight to Nzerekore. And the World Health Organisation sent a truck with medicines for Nzerekore’s hospital on Friday but it has not yet been able to enter the town. Although the fighting has stopped, the situation remains tense. 

Humanitarian agencies have kept impoverished Guinea in their sights since the military junta crushed an opposition protest on Sept. 28, 2009. About 150 people were killed and many were raped by security forces, according to Human Rights Watch. 

Optimism has grown in Guinea since January when a civilian prime minister was appointed to head a power-sharing government and oversee a return to civilian rule. But the international community remains cautious. 

«We are not in an acute emergency situation like in other countries, but we are facing a serious problem of vulnerability,» Verstraeten said. 

«When one looks at what happened to neighbouring countries like Liberia, Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast, it is clear that there are political, ethnic and other elements in Guinea which can lead to a collapse but we are not yet there,» he added. 

Reuters AlertNet is not responsible for the content of external websites.

Wounded Guinea leader in Morocco after gun attack

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE5B25T720091204?feedType=nl&feedName=usmorningdigest

Saliou Samb

CONAKRY

Fri Dec 4, 2009 1:59pm EST

//

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//

CONAKRY (Reuters) – Guinea junta chief Captain Moussa Dadis Camara was flown to Morocco on Friday for hospital treatment after being wounded in a gun attack by a former military aide, Moroccan authorities said.

World

Guinea’s leadership played down the extent of Camara’s injuries and denied his departure left a power vacuum in the unstable West African nation, the world’s top exporter of the aluminum ore bauxite. His powerful deputy Sekouba Konate returned to the capital Conakry from a trip abroad.

But Camara’s evacuation for treatment in Morocco’s main military hospital raised questions about his health and political future, with many observers believing he may not return to Guinea and could be persuaded to go into exile.

«I think he will probably undergo an operation because he was hit by bullets,» Burkina Faso President Blaise Compaore told reporters in his capital, Ouagadougou.

«The information we had from his personal doctor an hour ago is that Dadis is in a difficult but not desperate situation,» said Compaore, who has led mediation on the Guinea crisis and whose presidential plane was used to evacuate Camara to Morocco.

Guinean Communications Minister Idrissa Cherif said earlier Camara had merely been grazed in the head in the attack in Conakry late on Thursday, and the situation was under control.

«Power is in the hands of the CNDD (junta) and the government,» he told Reuters. Camara took power at the head of the junta after a bloodless coup in December 2008 that followed the death of strongman leader Lansana Conte.

However, a diplomat in Guinea said earlier: «If he leaves the country, that would be it for him.»

Metals analysts said aluminum prices could rise if Guinea’s troubles escalated, but that there was no lack of global supply and so the impact would be limited for now.

«EL TIGRE» RETURNS

Camara was rushed to the Hay Riyad military hospital outside Morocco’s capital Rabat for treatment on what the Moroccan Foreign Ministry said were «strictly humanitarian grounds.»

Morocco has been a longstanding destination for West Africa’s elite to seek medical care. Officials there did not comment on his injuries.

Political analysts have said any outbreak of wider unrest in Guinea threatens to destabilize neighbors Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone and Liberia, still recovering from civil wars that ended earlier this decade.

Ex-colonial power France, which cut off defense ties with Guinea after it crushed pro-democracy protesters in September, said it had received «reassuring news» about the safety of the French community there since Thursday’s incident.

The attack on Camara happened as U.N. investigators in Conakry wound up their inquiry into the crackdown on September 28, which witnesses said killed more than 150 people. The inquiry could lead to international prosecutions of those responsible.

A junta statement late on Thursday said Lieutenant Aboubacar «Toumba» Diakite, Camara’s former aide de camp and the soldier named by witnesses as a leading figure in the September killings, had carried out the gun attack on Camara.

Sources in Conakry said tensions had been mounting for weeks between Camara and Toumba, who suspected that he would be made to shoulder the blame for the massacre.

«This was the only way out for him (Camara),» one diplomat said of the theory that Camara would try to implicate Toumba in the September 28 killings and so remove any blame from himself.

Residents said Conkary was calm on Friday but there were conflicting reports as to whether Toumba was still at large.

Konate, Camara’s deputy, widely known as «El Tigre» because of his ferocity in combat against rebels in 2000 and 2001, returned to Conakry on Friday after a trip to Lebanon, sources close to Konate said.

(Additional reporting by David Lewis in Libreville, Diadie ba in Dakar, Michael Taylor in London; Lamine Ghanmi in Rabat; writing by Mark John and Richard Valdmanis; Editing by Mark Trevel

La UE aprueba sanciones contra Guinea por la violenta represión de septiembre

http://www.google.com/hostednews/epa/article/ALeqM5gOha8PquT59sELlGv4JzQuEQkI8Q

Por Agencia EFE – 27/10/2009

Luxemburgo, 27 oct (EFE).- La Unión Europea (UE) aprobó hoy un embargo de armas y sanciones contra los responsables de la represión en Guinea Conakry, a finales del pasado septiembre, que dejó 157 muertos.

Las sanciones incluyen, además del bloqueo a la venta de armas, la restricción de visados a los responsables de la represión y la congelación de los bienes y cuentas bancarias que éstos puedan tener en territorio comunitario, según acordaron hoy los ministros de Exteriores de la UE.

El pasado 28 de septiembre, las fuerzas de seguridad de Guinea Conakry dispararon sobre una concentración de la oposición y causaron 157 muertos y un millar de heridos.

Además, miembros de las fuerzas de seguridad y militares violaron a varias mujeres, y entre los heridos figuraban los ex primer ministros y líderes de la oposición Cellou Dalein Diallo y Sidya Touré, que estuvieron varias horas detenidos y cuyas viviendas fueron saqueadas posteriormente por militares.

El Gobierno de Guinea aceptó la pasada semana la creación de una comisión internacional para investigar esos acontecimientos, según anunció el secretario general adjunto de la ONU para Asuntos Políticos, el eritreo Haile Menkerios.

Las sanciones afectarán a varias decenas de dirigentes guineanos y personas consideradas responsables de la represión, aunque la cifra exacta será divulgada mañana, miércoles, cuando las medidas serán publicadas en el diario oficial y entrarán en vigor, indicaron fuentes comunitarias.

Los ministros comunitarios aprobaron una declaración en la que condenaron la violenta represión contra civiles indefensos y el elevado número de muertos.

También mostraron su satisfacción por la decisión de la cumbre de la Comunidad Económica de África Occidental del pasado 17, en la que también se impuso un embargo de armas a Guinea y se pidió la instauración en ese país de una nueva autoridad de transición política.

Guinea: September 28 Massacre Was Premeditated

In-Depth Investigation Also Documents Widespread Rape

(New York) – An in-depth investigation into the September 28, 2009 killings and rapes at a peaceful rally in Conakry, Guinea, has uncovered new evidence that the massacre and widespread sexual violence were organized and were committed largely by the elite Presidential Guard, commonly known as the “red berets,” Human Rights Watch said today. Following a 10-day research mission in Guinea, Human Rights Watch also found that the armed forces attempted to hide evidence of the crimes by seizing bodies from the stadium and the city’s morgues and burying them in mass graves.

Human Rights Watch found that members of the Presidential Guard carried out a premeditated massacre of at least 150 people on September 28 and brutally raped dozens of women. Red berets shot at opposition supporters until they ran out of bullets, then continued to kill with bayonets and knives.

“There is no way the government can continue to imply the deaths were somehow accidental,” said Georgette Gagnon, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “This was clearly a premeditated attempt to silence opposition voices.”

“Security forces surrounded and blockaded the stadium, then stormed in and fired at protesters in cold blood until they ran out of bullets,” added Gagnon. “They carried out grisly gang rapes and murders of women in full sight of the commanders. That’s no accident.”

A group of Guinean military officers calling themselves the National Council for Democracy and Development (Conseil national pour la démocratie et le développement, CNDD) seized power hours after the death on December 22, 2008, of Lansana Conté, Guinea’s president for 24 years. The CNDD is headed by a self-proclaimed president, Captain Moussa Dadis Camara.

Human Rights Watch reiterated its call for full support for, and speedy implementation of, the international commission of inquiry into the violence as proposed by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), to be led by the United Nations and with involvement from the African Union. Criminal investigation leading to fair and effective prosecutions of the crimes – through domestic efforts, but failing that, international efforts – is essential, Human Rights Watch said.

A four-member team of Human Rights Watch investigators interviewed more than 150 victims and witnesses in Guinea from October 12 to 22. Among those interviewed were victims wounded during the attack, witnesses present in the stadium, relatives of missing people, military officers who participated in the crackdown and the cover-up, medical staff, humanitarian officials, diplomats, and opposition leaders.

GUINEA: «Terror» as troops open fire, loot shops in Conakry

Photo: Maséco Condé/IRIN

Guineans who were in Conakry during a military crackdown in 2007 say the recent repression was far more brutal (file photo)

DAKAR, 30 September 2009 (IRIN) – Guinean soldiers have been looting shops, breaking into homes and firing indiscriminately at people who ventured onto the streets of the capital Conakry, residents say, one day after scores were killed and hundreds injured in a military crackdown on a demonstration on 28 September.

“They are going around sowing terror,” Lamine*, a resident of the Cosa neighbourhood, told IRIN. “This is clearly their intention – to terrorize the people.”

He said he saw two young men shot dead when soldiers opened fire in Cosa on 29 September. The streets of Conakry were mostly deserted except for groups of police and military, residents said.

Several residents of Conakry told IRIN they saw soldiers breaking into shops and forcing their way into homes, stealing money, mobile phones and other belongings.

Most people IRIN spoke with were holed up in their homes, not daring to go out. “We are hostages of this military,” one said. “There is absolutely nothing we can do.”

Following the violent military crackdown on a 28 September demonstration against the candidacy of junta leader Moussa Dadis Camara, in which an estimated 157 people were killed and more than 1,000 injured, Camara told the media some elements of the army were “out of control”.

On 29 September Camara called for two days of national mourning.

Shops closed

Shops, markets, banks and most petrol stations remained closed on 30 September. “People are just too afraid to open their businesses,” Lamine said.

In many cases, he said, men instead of women – who usually do the food shopping – went in search of condiments and whatever they could find for the daily meal.

Guineans are among the poorest people in the world and most do not have the means to buy food for more than one day at a time.

“If this continues we will see people going hungry,” Lamine told IRIN.

Petrol, usually about 4,500 Guinean francs (90 US cents) per litre, is being sold by youths on the street for 8,000-15,000 Gf, a local chauffeur told IRIN.

“Save us”

The international community has denounced the violent crackdown on the 28 September demonstration. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) commission said on 29 September it “strongly condemns” the repression.

“I do not want to hear the international community simply spouting words like ‘we condemn’,” Conakry youth Amadou* told IRIN. “They must act. They must do something. Save us.”

He said he wanted to see “a total embargo” imposed on Guinea and perpetrators of the violence brought to justice.

“If there is not an international arrest warrant put out on them they will kill all Guineans.”

On 29 September Guinean Interior and Political Affairs Minister Frédéric Kolié said in a statement that 57 people had lost their lives on 28 September – 53 due to asphyxiation in a stampede and “four by stray bullets”.

(* not real name)

np/cb

Guinea: El Ejército reprime con fuego real a los manifestantes en Conakry, hay más de 100 muertos

Decenas de miles de activistas se reunieron en un estadio deportivo. Los militares les dejaron entrar, pero a continuación cerraron las puertas detrás de ellos

Agencias/La Haine | 30-9-2009 a las 17:51

www.kaosenlared.net/noticia/ejercito-reprime-fuego-real-manifestantes-guinea-hay-mas-100-muertos

<!– –>Guinea Conakry

El Ejército de Guinea reprimió el lunes con fuego real a los manifestantes reunidos en Conakry para protestar contra el costo de la vida, la falta de trabajo y de libertad, y oponerse a la posible candidatura del jefe de la junta militar, el capitán Moussa Dadis Camara, en las elecciones presidenciales de enero. La policía ya ha registrado al menos 87 muertos a causa de los incidentes, aunque otras fuentes de más confianza hablan de más de 100 muertos.

Pese a la prohibición de la junta militar, decenas de miles de simpatizantes de una coalición de movimientos sociales y algunos partidos de oposición se reunieron frente a un estadio deportivo con la intención de manifestarse en este recinto. Los militares golpistas les dejaron pasar al interior, pero a continuación cerraron las puertas detrás de ellos.

Pocos minutos después, según Radio Francia, los soldados dispararon a los manifestantes, que se vieron obligados a salir, en medio de escenas de pánico, por la única puerta que había quedado abierta. «Los soldados disparaban a la gente y los que intentaban salir del estadio eran capturados y liquidados con bayonetas», declaró a Reuters un activista guineano de Derechos Humanos, Souleymane Bah. «Vi cómo los soldados desnudaban a las mujeres, las abrían de piernas y las pateaban en sus partes íntimas con las botas», aseguró por teléfono.

Francia, antigua potencia colonial y el mejor apoyo con que cuentan los golpistas, ha condenado «con la mayor firmeza» (y la mayor hipocresía) la «represión violenta» contra los manifestantes y Estados Unidos se ha mostrado «profundamente preocupado», aunque continúa apoyando a la junta militar para mantener el acceso de sus multinacionales a las minas de bauxita y uranio guineanas.

La junta militar, conocida eufemísticamente como el «Consejo Nacional para la Democracia y el Desarrollo» (CNDD), ha advertido de que no negociará con los movimientos sociales y que detendrá (y por lo visto asesinará) a los que intenten desafiar a la autoridad del Estado.

La resistencia popular en Guinea, primer exportador de bauxita del mundo, comenzó el 23 de diciembre de 2008, cuando Camara se hizo el poder mediante un golpe de Estado, tras el fallecimiento del presidente Lansana Conte, quien gobernaba en solitario el país desde 1984.

El nuevo ‘hombre fuerte’ contó desde el principio con el apoyo de las multinacionales mineras y la oposición y rechazo de una población hambrienta y deseosa de cambios. El comportamiento cada vez más errático de su gobierno, las medidas de dureza contra activistas sociales y el apoyo a las compañías mineras que tanto explotan al país han contribuido a generar una resistencia popular cada vez más numerosa y exigente.

Por el lado de los partidos burgueses, el líder de la principal formación opositora, la Unión de Fuerzas Democráticas de Guinea (UFDG), el ex primer ministro y candidato presidencial Cellou Dalein Diallo, y el también ex primer ministro y líder de la Unión de Fuerzas Republicanas (UFR), Sidya Touré, fueron golpeados, trasladados al campamento militar de Alpha Yaya Diallo, sede de la Junta, y porteriormente ingresados en un hospital para ser atendidos. Sus casas han sido saqueadas por los militares, según testigos presenciales. Como para que no les queden dudas de quién manda.