During 1977 and the first half of 1978, relations between Guinea and other countries towards whom Guinea has been hostile for most of the 20 years since independence improved considerably. In particular, Guinea drew closer to France, with French firms playing an increasing part in the Guinean economy, and with a possible state visit by the President of France, Giscard d'Estaing, scheduled to take place in the latter part of 1978. In March 1978, a summit conference in Monrovia, the capital of Liberia, brought together six West African heads of state to mark Guinea's reconciliation with its neighbours, particularly Ivory Coast and Senegal.
In the past, President Sekou Toure of Guinea has directed insults against both President Houphouet-Boigny of Ivory Coast and President Senghor of Senegal, accusing them of plotting to invade Guinea and to overthrow him. The meeting between President Sekou Toure, so long an enemy of France, with Presidents Houphouet-Boigny and Senghor, both known to support France, has been the clearest sign so far of Guinea's rapprochement with France.
As well as making peace with former enemies abroad, the Guinean Government made several attempts to appease critics of the human rights situation in Guinea during 1977 and 1978. Severe criticism was directed at Guinea by, in particular, the International League for Human Rights which published a report about human rights violations in Guinea in June 1977. In late 1977, a United States aid agreement was delayed for three months until December, when Guinea agreed to accept a new human rights clause in the US Food for Peace program. This amendment was applied to Guinea and four other countries receiving US aid, all of which the United States considered to be responsible for consistent violations of human rights. These countries may receive United
States food aid only if they agree to its distribution to poor people who
would be seriously short of food without it. Guinea has become increasingly
dependent upon food imports to feed the population, and the United States
has been the main supplier of rice in recent years. In February 1978, Guinea
ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (a treaty
legally binding under international law) which it had originally signed
in 1967. By ratifying this Covenant, Guinea committed itself to guaranteeing
a number of basic human rights, many of which have been violated in recent
years.
Guinea's realignment with Western countries and their supporters in Africa
come at a time when, despite growing Western involvement in the country,
the plight of Guinea's economy, and particularly food shortages, were causing
increasing unrest within the country. During 1977, there were a number of
demonstrations against the Government's economic policies. The most serious
of them took place in four towns at the end of August 1977. In Conakry a
crowd of women marched on President Sekou Toure's palace, protesting at
market regulations and the activities of the "economic police"
who enforced them. Soldiers are reported to have been called in to restore
order and eventually ordered to open fire. An unknown number of women are
reported to have been killed, although President Sekou Toure later denied
that there had been any deaths. He denied also reports that a number of
soldiers had been executed for refusing to open fire on the unarmed women
demonstrators. After this incident, President Sekou Toure is reported to
have offered to resign his post as President of Guinea and Secretary General
of the country's only legal political party, the Guinea Democratic Party
(Parti Démocratique de Guinée - PDG), if the people
no longer wanted him as leader. He also accused "counter-revolutionary
elements" of being behind the demonstrations which occurred in Conakry
and the three other towns in August. However, shortly afterwards, in early
October, another series of protests were reported in six different towns,
and more people are said to have been killed.
As a result of the anti-Government demonstrations in August and October,
the Guinean authorities arrested a number of people who were alleged to
have been behind the protests. Just as after previous crises the President
had ordered the arrest of members of his own Government, so, in October
1977, at least two ministers were arrested
"Those who wish to think he is dead are free to do so, and those who want to think he is alive are free to do so."When the report on Guinea by the International League for Human Rights was published in June 1977, Guinea's Ambassador to the United Nations condemned it and suggested that it was part of a campaign to assist "stateless Guineans who have been paid to do some dirty jobs" to overthrow Guinea's revolutionary Government. When a member of the French Socialist Party (who also belongs to a Guinean opposition organization in exile) condemned the situation in Guinea at a party congress in Nantes in June 1977, President Sekou Toure responded by accusing the French Socialist Party of fascism and comparing its leader, Francois Mitterand, a former ally, to Hitler. The Guinean Government also continued to press for the extradition of Jean-Paul Alata, a former political prisoner in Guinea, who, after being released from prison and sent to France, wrote a book about his experiences in Camp Boiro entitled Prison d'Afrique. The book was seized by the French Government when it appeared in November 1976.
These issues were also at the centre of a campaign launched by Amnesty International to coincide with the publication of the Briefing Paper. In a letter to President Sekou Toure in June 1978 Amnesty International's Secretary General explained the aims of the organization's actions as regards Guinea and appealed to the President to grant an immediate amnesty to political prisoners and to release all long-term detainees. He suggested also that there should be an official public inquiry into reports of torture and the maltreatment of prisoners in Guinea.
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