The 2009 Guinean protests were an opposition rally in Conakry, Guinea on Monday, 28 September 2009, with about 50,000 participants protesting against the junta government that came to power after the Guinean ''coup d'état'' of December 2008. The protest march was fueled by the indication of

junta Junta may refer to: Government and military * Junta (governing body) (from Spanish), the name of various historical and current governments and governing institutions, including civil ones ** Military junta, one form of junta, government led by ...

leader Captain

Moussa Dadis Camara Captain Moussa Dadis Camara (; born 1 January 1964), now called Moïse Dadis Camara (),''Le Populaire'', , N°3232, 31 August 2010, p. 2 is an ex-officer of the Guinean army who served as the President of Guinea from 23 December 2008 to 15 Ja ...

breaking his pledge to not run in the next presidential vote due in January 2010. The government had already banned any form of protests until 2 October, and when the demonstrators gathered in a large stadium, the security forces opened fire at them. At least 157 demonstrators were killed, 1,253 injured and 30, including

Cellou Dalein Diallo Cellou Dalein Diallo (3 February 1952
, Xinhua, 14 December 2004 .) is a

Union of Democratic Forces of Guinea The Union of Democratic Forces of Guinea (french: Union des forces démocratiques de Guinée, UFDG) is a social-liberal political party in Guinea. The party was founded in 1991 by a number of opposition parties and groups. In October 2002 it was ...

(UDFG), were arrested and taken away in lorries. On the same day in 2018 six human rights organizations demanded justice to be done for perpetrators. The organizations were the Association of Victims, Parents and Friends of the 28 September Massacre (AVIPA), the Guinean Human Rights Organization (OGDH), the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), Amnesty International, and

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...

Sidya Touré Sidya Touré (born 1945) is a Guinean politician. He was Prime Minister of Guinea from 1996 to 1999 and is currently the President of the Union of Republican Forces (UFR), an opposition party. Prime minister Having previously been in exile in C ...

, former Prime Minister and now an opposition leader, was also injured in the shootings and spoke to the BBC secretly from a hospital's restroom. Opponents have accused the junta of limiting freedom of speech and violating

human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...

. Camara said that the troops responsible for the shooting spree were out of his control.

Background

On 24 December 2008, about six hours after the death of

Lansana Conté Lansana Conté (30 November 1934 – 22 December 2008

, a statement was read on state radio announcing a military

coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...

by Captain Moussa Dadis Camara on behalf of a group called the

National Council for Democracy and Development The National Council for Democracy and Development (french: Conseil national pour la démocratie et le développement, CNDD) was the ruling junta of Guinea from 2008 to 2010. Historical background The CNDD seized power in the 2008 Guinean coup ...

(CNDD), which said that "the government and the institutions of the Republic have been dissolved." The statement also announced the suspension of the constitution "as well as political and union activity." According to Captain Camara, the coup was necessary because of Guinea's "deep despair" amidst rampant poverty and corruption, and he said that the existing institutions were "incapable of resolving the crises which have been confronting the country." Furthermore, Camara said that someone from the military would become president, while a civilian would be appointed as Prime Minister at the head of a new government that would be ethnically balanced. Initially when Camara took over power there was some support, the public being tired of Lansana Conté's 24-year-long authoritarian rule. Camara promised a smooth transition of the country to democracy and a presidential election in which he would not stand. He gained much popularity by cracking down on drug dealers, including Ousmane Conté, son of the former president, and by making them admit wrongdoing on his television show. Later, Camara lost support because of his dictatorship-like rule and abusive behavior by him and his forces that indulged in violence, robberies and

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ...

s. He himself humiliated several foreign ambassadors, politicians and leaders by telling them to "shut up or leave" from meetings. This had a negative impact on his image in public, and garnered him criticism for the erratic behavior.

Protest

The opponents had decided to stage a demonstration on 28 September against the likely participation of Camara in the next presidential election, and despite the government's ban on protests, they decided to carry on with their scheduled protest. A crowd of around 50,000 people gathered at the Stade du 28 Septembre on the day, carrying signs that read "Down with the army in power" and calling for an end of the "Dadis show". According to eyewitness accounts, the elite Presidential Guard, commonly known as the "Red Berets", came in trucks and threw

tear gas Tear gas, also known as a lachrymator agent or lachrymator (), sometimes colloquially known as "mace" after the early commercial aerosol, is a chemical weapon that stimulates the nerves of the lacrimal gland in the eye to produce tears. In ...

on the crowd at first, but later opened fire. In the atmosphere of terror and panic, people started running, falling and getting hit. Youssouf Koumbassa, an eyewitness, claimed that the troops stripped down some female protesters. The equipment of a French journalist was seized and smashed. Protesters fled the stadium and poured into the streets, where they were pursued and fired on by troops. After the shooting incident, soldiers were seen publicly raping women, killing people, and looting stores. According to one eyewitness, soldiers asked people if they supported Camara, and those who did not were summarily executed, that some women were raped with guns, and shot dead, and that civilians were beaten and old men yanked by their beards. The wounded were taken to hospital, where they were visited by

human rights activists A human rights defender or human rights activist is a person who, individually or with others, acts to promote or protect human rights. They can be journalists, environmentalists, whistleblowers, trade unionists, lawyers, teachers, housing camp ...

. Although many had gunshot wounds, some were found to have been severely beaten. The dead were taken to a mortuary, and soldiers stood guard outside. Relatives were called in to collect the dead. According to many victims' families, the military secretly disposed of over 100 bodies, as many had found that the bodies of their relatives had disappeared. Many witnesses reported seeing presidential guards loading some of the bodies into trucks. Images showing dozens of bodies lined up on the street were uncovered, and human rights groups used them as evidence to show that the death toll was much higher than government figures. In the aftermath of the protests, hundreds of protesters who had taken part were arrested and imprisoned without charge.

Government reaction

Camara, in an interview to

Radio France Internationale Radio France Internationale, usually referred to as RFI, is the state-owned international radio broadcaster of France. With 37.2 million listeners in 2014, it is one of the most-listened-to international radio stations in the world, along with ...

(RFI) said that the troops responsible for the killings were "uncontrollable elements in the military" and "Even I, as head of state in this very tense situation, cannot claim to be able to control those elements in the military". He also denied any responsibility for the killings, claiming that he did not issue any shooting orders, and was in his office. Camara has also denied knowledge of sexual assaults by soldiers. He later called for a UN investigation into the incident, an African mediator between the various Guinean political parties and a national unity government. The

Economic Community of West African States The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS; also known as in French and Portuguese) is a regional political and economic union of fifteen countries located in West Africa. Collectively, these countries comprise an area of , and in ...

(ECOWAS) dispatched President

Blaise Compaoré Blaise Compaoré (born 3 February 1951)''Profiles of People in Power: The World's Government Leaders'' (2003), page 76–77.

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso (, ; , ff, 𞤄𞤵𞤪𞤳𞤭𞤲𞤢 𞤊𞤢𞤧𞤮, italic=no) is a landlocked country in West Africa with an area of , bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to ...

to act as a mediator. The proposal for national unity government was rejected by the opposition, calling it a tactic to divert attention from the

massacre A massacre is the killing of a large number of people or animals, especially those who are not involved in any fighting or have no way of defending themselves. A massacre is generally considered to be morally unacceptable, especially when per ...

. On 7 October, Camara announced a 31-member commission, including 7 judges from the Justice Ministry, to investigate the details behind the incident. Camara claimed that it would be an independent inquiry. The long-awaited trial for the killings in the stadium is scheduled to begin on September 28, 2022.

Death toll controversy

Three days after the incident, the junta stuck to asserting a death toll of 56, while they were accused of secretly burying several bodies in the Alpha Yaya Diallo military camp. Both, Guinean Organisation for the Defence of Human Rights (OGDH) and African Assembly for the Defense of Human Rights (RADDHO) confirmed that it had received requests from families to look into the alleged clandestine burials performed by the military. The cold rooms at a hospital were opened for journalists on 1 October. Dr. Hassan Bah, the forensic expert who allowed the media into the morgues denied the occurrence of any secret burials by soldiers.

International reactions

The firing by security forces received international criticism. – The Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Chile issued a statement, that "facing a wholesale slaughter of people for political reasons, atrocities and extreme violence, Chile demands from the authorities of Guinea immediate action leading to prosecution of perpetrators, the release of opposition leaders, the restoration of order and respect for civil and political rights so as to ensure a peaceful transition to democracy soon". – France, in its statement initially condemned the violent nature of the protests by the opposition demonstrators, but later suspended its military ties with Guinea and called for a

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

(EU) meeting. – The United States urged the junta government to "stand by its promise to hold free, fair, timely and transparent elections in which no member of the ruling junta will participate". The African Union was concerned about the "deteriorating situation" in the country, and indicated their intent to impose sanctions against Guinea if Camara ran in the next presidential elections. –

Javier Solana Francisco Javier Solana de Madariaga (; born 14 July 1942) is a Spanish physicist and PSOE politician. After serving in the Spanish government as Foreign Affairs Minister under Felipe González (1992–1995) and as the Secretary General of NA ...

, the foreign policy chief of EU, called for the immediate release of arrested pro-democracy leaders and urged the government to "exercise maximum restraint and ensure a peaceful and democratic transition". On 21 October, the EU Council announced an arms embargo and sanctions against individuals in the junta. - The president of Liberia,

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (born Ellen Eugenia Johnson, 29 October 1938) is a Liberian politician who served as the 24th president of Liberia from 2006 to 2018. Sirleaf was the first elected female head of state in Africa. Sirleaf was born in Monro ...

, has called for an ECOWAS summit on this matter. On account of aggravation of political tension in Guinea due to this incident, FIFA decided to change the venue of the 2010 World Cup qualifier between Guinea and

, citing safety concerns. The game was played in Accra,

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

instead of Conakry.

International inquiries

(HRW) issued a report in December 2009 implicating several CNDD leaders in the massacre, and indicating that the events may constitute crimes against humanity. The United Nations released a 60-page report in 2009, describing the violence carried against protestors especially women. According to the U.N panel, 109 women and girls had been raped or sexually mutilated. The U.N Commission reached the same conclusion of the HRW by stating that it is " reasonable to conclude" that violence observed during the attack constitutes crimes against humanity. The report was also sent to the security council, The African Union, Guinea's government and

ECOWAS The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS; also known as in French and Portuguese) is a regional political and economic union of fifteen countries located in West Africa. Collectively, these countries comprise an area of , and in ...

References

External links

webGuinée - CNDD. Massacre du 28 septembre 2009 à ConakryA detailed account (with pictures) of the events of 28 September 2009 (in French)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guinean protests, 2009

Protests A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration or remonstrance) is a public expression of objection, disapproval or dissent towards an idea or action, typically a political one. Protests can be thought of as acts of coopera ...

2009 protests 2009 mass shootings in Africa Conakry 2009 protests 2009 protests 2009 protests Military history of Africa 2009 September 2009 events in Africa de:Stade du 28-Septembre#Massaker vom 28. September 2009 fr:Stade du 28-septembre#Massacre du 28 septembre 2009