In 2024, military authorities in Guinea continued to crackdown on media, opposition, and dissent.
In December 2022, the military junta committed to holding presidential and legislative elections by December 2024 as part of a transition roadmap agreed with the regional bloc, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). However, on September 19, Foreign Affairs Minister Morissanda Kouyaté said that elections will take place in 2025.
On February 19, Colonel Mamady Doumbouya dissolved the government without providing any reason. On February 28, Mamadou Oury Bah was appointed as the new prime minister.
In July, the junta released a draft of the new constitution expected to be voted in a referendum before December 2024. The draft provides for a five-year presidential term, renewable once.
Also in July, a Guinean court convicted Guinea’s former self-declared president Moussa Dadis Camara, and seven others, in a landmark trial for rapes and killings of protesters in 2009.
Guinea’s penal code punishes undefined “indecent acts” or “acts against nature” with six months to three years in prison.
Excessive Use of Force
The junta banned protests in May 2022. Security forces have used excessive force, including tear gas and live ammunition, to disperse those who defied the ban, leading to the death of at least 59 protesters and other citizens since 2022, including at least 20 in 2024, according to the National Front for the Defense of the Constitution (Front national pour la défense de la Constitution, FNDC), a coalition of Guinean civil society groups and opposition parties. Human Rights Watch documented the killing by security forces of at least eight people, including three children, during protests in Conakry since January, with protesters assaulting the police and gendarmes.
Crackdown on Media, Opposition, and Dissent
On October 29, the Territorial Administration and Decentralization minister dissolved 107 political parties, and placed 67 more under observation, giving them three months to provide the ministry with required information. Among the parties under observation are three prominent opposition parties, including the Rally of the Guinean People (Rassemblement du peuple de Guinée, RPG) headed by former President Condé, the Union of Democratic Forces of Guinea (Union des Forces Démocratiques de Guinée, UFDG) headed by Cellou Dalein Diallo, and the Union of Republican Forces (Union des forces républicaines, UFR) headed by former Prime Minister Sidya Touré. The opposition contends that the decision aims at excluding key political figures from the elections.
On January 18, ahead of a press union-led protest against the jamming of radio stations in November 2023, security forces besieged the House of the Press, an independent media organization in Conakry, trapping at least 30 journalists inside for hours, and arrested nine other journalists. Taken to two gendarmerie posts for questioning, the nine were released in the evening without charges.
On the same day, security forces arbitrarily arrested Sékou Jamal Pendessa, secretary-general of the Union of Press Professionals of Guinea (Syndicat des professionnels de la presse de Guinée, SPPG). After three days of detention, Pendessa was charged with “unlawful participation in public demonstration,” and convicted by a court in Conakry. He was released on February 28.
On May 21, Information and Communication Minister Fana Soumah signed a decree revoking the licenses of six media outlets, citing their lack of compliance with “the laws on press freedom, ... and the Code of Good Conduct for Journalists.”
The junta used arbitrary arrests to silence dissent.
On July 9, security forces forcibly disappeared Oumar Sylla, Mamadou Billo Bah, and Mohamed Cissé, FNDC members. The FNDC said that they were tortured during extrajudicial interrogations. Mohamed Cissé was released the following day, while Oumar Sylla and Mamadou Billo Bah remain missing. Authorities have yet to acknowledge their detention or disclose their whereabouts, despite inquiries by lawyers representing the men.
Trial for 2009 Massacre
On July 31, a Guinean court convicted Guinea’s former self-declared president Moussa Dadis Camara, and seven others, for rapes and killings of protesters in 2009, when security forces opened fire on a peaceful protest, killing over 150 people and raping dozens of women and girls.
The court decided to reclassify all the charges from ordinary crimes to crimes against humanity, based on a request by the prosecution. This was the first time crimes against humanity have been prosecuted in Guinea.
The judges found Moussa Dadis Camara, Aboubacar Diakité, also known as Toumba, and Moussa Tiégboro Camara guilty under the principle of command responsibility for the crimes against humanity of murder, kidnapping, sexual violence, and torture, among others. They sentenced both Dadis Camara and Tiégboro to 20 years in prison and Toumba to 10 years. The judges also found five others guilty of committing various crimes against humanity, ranging from murder to sexual violence and torture, among other crimes, and ordered sentences ranging from 10 years to life in prison. The judges acquitted four men.
The judges also ruled on reparations claims, awarding between 200 million to 1.5 billion Guinean francs (approximately US$23,000 to $172,500) to the different groups of victims, including those who suffered physical and psychological trauma.
The convicted men have the right to appeal.
On September 17, 2024, Claude Pivi, a former Guinean minister for Presidential Security, was arrested near the Liberian-Guinean border by the Liberian police. Pivi was convicted in absentia on charges of crimes against humanity in July. Pivi has been brought to detention facilities in Conakry to serve his sentence.
After the 2009 assault, security forces engaged in a cover-up, burying bodies in mass graves. The trial began on September 28, 2022, and lasted almost two years, during which judges heard from more than 100 victims, 11 accused, and over a dozen witnesses, including high-level government officials.
On October 14, 2009, the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) announced that the situation in Guinea was under preliminary examination, during which the court assesses whether it should open an investigation. The Guinean minister of Foreign Affairs at the time, Alexandre Cécé Loua, told the ICC that Guinea was “able and willing” to ensure justice for the September 2009 crimes through its national courts and that an ICC investigation was, thus, unnecessary.
The ICC has pursued a robust program of activity to help ensure justice for the September 2009 crimes and appears to have been a major factor in galvanizing progress over time. Guinean government officials, civil society activists, and international observers all pointed to the ICC as pivotal to domestic progress in this case.
The ICC prosecutor attended the start of the trial, after which the prosecutor’s office closed its preliminary examination on September 29, 2022. At the same time, the prosecutor’s office signed a memorandum of understanding with Guinea, saying that it would “work actively and collaboratively” with Guinean authorities to ensure accountability for the September 28 crimes.
Natural Resources and Community Concerns
Guinea has the world’s largest reserves of bauxite, the ore needed to produce aluminum, and is on track to become the world’s largest producer in 2024. Bauxite mining, which has expanded rapidly over the past decade, has led to tens of thousands of farmers losing their land, often not adequately compensated, and has damaged communities’ water sources in the Boké region.
Two multinational mining consortia continued construction on the railway, port, and mining infrastructure necessary to develop the massive Simandou iron ore deposit in southeastern Guinea. Guinean and international civil society groups have expressed concern that the Simandou project will severely harm the land and water access of nearby communities.