Amnesty International’s West and Central Africa Director, Samira Daoud, has called on the coup plotters who ousted President Alpha Condé “to protect and guarantee the human rights of Guinea’s entire population, which has suffered years of violations and repression.”
Recall that Lt Col. Mamady Doumbouya had led other soldiers from the National Committee for Reconciliation and Development (CNRD) to seize power and detain Conde, who has ruled the country since 2010.
Daoud said, “We call on CNRD leaders to protect and guarantee the human rights of Guinea’s entire population, which has suffered years of violations and repression.
“Many political opponents and protesters were arrested before and after last October’s presidential election. All those arbitrarily detained must be released.
“Coup leaders must also clarify on which legal basis they are detaining President Alpha Condé. He must either be charged with a recognizable criminal offence or be immediately released.”
In announcing the coup, Doumbouya said Condé is “in a safe place and has seen a doctor.” He also dissolved Guinea’s constitution; suspended all institutions, including the government; imposed a curfew; and blocked all borders.
The ten years and nine months that Conde was in office were marked by a number of human rights violations, including the ban on peaceful protests, the shut down of the Internet, the use of excessive force, and the arbitrary arrest of opposition and civil society activists.
In a report published in 2020, Amnesty International reported 50 deaths during protests against the authorities’ constitutional reforms in 2019 and 2020. Over 200 more people were injured, and opponents were unlawfully arrested and imprisoned for peacefully exercising their right to free expression and peaceful assembly.
Amnesty International documented 75 protesters, bystanders, and three security personnel killed during protests between January 2015 and October 2019.