In a report released less than two weeks to the definitive presidential elections in Guinea, Amnesty International has revealed that over 50 people have died over the past year in various crackdowns on protests against a bill that allowed incumbent President Alpha Conde’s run for a third term.
The report entitled: “Marching to their Deaths: Urgent Justice for the Victims of Repression of Demonstrations in Guinea”, breaks down figures and cases that highlight murders that took place between October 2019 and July 2020, during the socio-political tension borne from the constitutional reform that was later passed by the Senate.
According to Amnesty International, for a large section of the public opinion, the Guinean constitution states that presidents can only serve two terms. However, according to some analysts, the new constitution resets the presidential term counter to zero and allows him to run for a third time.
This is the point of view defended by Alpha Condé and his party (RPG). However, the National Front for the Defense of the Constitution (FNDC), which groups parties, unions and civil society groups, campaigned against the constitutional revision adopted in March, which it denounced as an institutional coup d’état.
Following interviews with more than 100 people and the analysis of official documents, videos and photographs, the report, which the group says is based on proof, also mentions 200 injuries, arbitrary arrests, and detentions of at least 70 people in secret during that period. Hospitals also allegedly refused to take in victims who had suffered at the hands of security officers who “have used firearms illegally in several towns across the country” during the protests.
“We spoke to battered families who told us how their children were killed when they were shot in the back, chest, head, or neck. Wounded people have shown us their serious after-effects on their arms, knees or feet, caused by guns, tear gas canisters or even vehicles of the security forces,” said Samira Daoud, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for West and Central Africa.
Condé calls for Peaceful Polls in Guinea
Ahead of the polls, President Condé has called on the people of Guinea to maintain law and order. “There will never be war in Guinea,” Condé said while speaking to supporters in the country’s capital city, Conakry.
The election is scheduled for October 18, with Condé facing off against opponents that include Cellou Dalein Diallo and 11 others.
