Amnesty International's main concerns were the continuing refusal of the authorities
to provide information about the fate of some 2,900 "disappeared"
prisoners, the detention without trial of suspected political opponents of the government
and poor prison conditions. In February 1982 Guinea ratified the African Charter
on Human and Peoples' Rights.
The authorities continued throughout 1982 to withhold information on the fate of
some 2,900 political detainees who had "disappeared"
in prison after being arrested between 1969 and 1976. According to Amnesty International's
information, the last of an estimated 4,000 detainees arrested following
the real or alleged plots of 1969, 1970 and 1976 were released in late 1980, and
grave fears existed for some 2,900 detainees who were reported to have "disappeared" in
prison. Many were believed to have died as a result of malnutrition and disease,
but large numbers were probably killed, often by means of the "black diet" -
total deprivation of food and water until death. In December 1981, at the time of
an Amnesty International mission to Guinea, the authorities agreed to provide information
on the fate of 78 named individuals, known not to have been sentenced to
death and not reported to have been released. All had been arrested between 1969
and 1976 for alleged "counter-revolutionary"
activities. Unofficial reports to Amnesty International had suggested that these
detainees had been secretly and extrajudicially executed in prison. Among the 78
prisoners listed were former government ministers, civil servants, army officers,
teachers, lawyers and medical personnel. They included Conde Ousmane, an
army major, Toure Kerfalla, an administrative
clerk, and Diallo Telli, a former Ambassador,
Minister and first Secretary General of the Organization of African Unity (OAU).
In January 1982 the authorities first made public details of the fate of certain
named "disappeared" prisoners. In response to appeals from a Member of
the European Parliament, it was announced that seven Guineans married to European
women and arrested after the Portuguese-led invasion of Conakry of November 1970
had been executed on 25 January 1971. According to the authorities, another prisoner
had escaped by that date and had not been caught. Amnesty International informed
the authorities that it found these disclosures unsatisfactory. Amnesty Intemational's
information indicated that of the seven prisoners allegedly executed in January
1971, three were not in fact arrested until mid-1971. Official documents dating
from 1971 indicate that only three of the seven were sentenced to death. According
to unofficial sources, the eighth prisoner was arrested and extrajudicially executed
in 1972.
In early October 1982 Amnesty International made public the list of 78 "disappeared" prisoners
which it had earlier submitted to the government and appealed publicly to the authorities
to account for all 2,900 "disappeared" prisoners, including those
named on the list. The following day a broadcast on Guinea's state-operated radio
attacked the objectivity and motivation of Amnesty International. The broadcast
did not, however, deny the substance of Amnesty International's public statement
or provide any information on the fate of the "disappeared" prisoners.
In renewed appeals Amnesty International called on the authorities to rescind their
stated policy of secrecy on political detention, and again urged them to supply
information on the fate of the 78 "disappeared" prisoners. No replies
had been received by the end of 1982.
Two prisoners of conscience - Camara Senni, nicknamed "La Presse",
and Senkoumba Diaby, nicknamed "Garagiste" - were released in May
1982, as were two others also detained without trial since August 1977 whose cases
were being investigated by Amnesty International. They had been arrested after demonstrations
by market women against state restrictions on private trading. Amnesty International
also learned of the release in early 1982 of four detainees, including two whose
cases were being investigated, who had been held without trial since August 1979,
when the authorities claimed to have discovered a plot to destroy public buildings
with explosives. At the end of the year, Amnesty International was still investigating
the case of Bah Mahmoud,
also arrested in August 1979 but not believed to have been released. At least 10
other people arrested at the same time were believed to have died in Camp
Boiro, the main centre of political detention in the capital, Conakry, after
being subjected to the "black diet" (total deprivation of food and water).
Amnesty International's investigations also continued throughout 1982 regarding
individuals detained following a grenade explosion at the Palais du peuple (People's
Palace) in May 1980 and attempted sabotage at Conakry airport in February 1981.
Some 200 people were initially arrested; most were reportedly released after
interrogation, but Amnesty International maintained its inquiries into the cases
of eight detainees. Of these, only Barry Mouctar, a Guinean exile repatriated
forcibly and extrajudicially from the Ivory Coast in April 1981, was still believed
to be detained at the end of 1982. Amnesty International also inquired about Cheik
Mohamed Kone and at least two other Guineans forcibly and extrajudicially repatriated
in November 1981 from Liberia, where they had reportedly been linked to a political
group which had called in 1981 for an end to the one-party system in Guinea. They
were believed to be detained without trial in Camp Boiro.
At the time of the Amnesty International mission to Guinea in December 1981, the
authorities agreed to provide detailed information on the judicial status of 22 detainees
on whose behalf the organization was working. By the end of 1982, however, no information
had been provided by the authorities. At a news conference in France on 20 September
1982, President Sekou Toure reportedly stated that there were no prisoners of conscience
held in Guinea and that his government was prepared to receive an "international
tribunal"
in Guinea to investigate alleged human rights violations in his country. There were
no further reports regarding such an investigation by the end of the year.
According to reports received by Amnesty International, officials of the administration
and of the Parti Démocratique de Guinée (PDG), Guinean Democratic
Party, the country's sole political party' continued to make widespread use of detention
to suppress opposition to the government or the PDG. Such cases of political detention,
often for several years, appeared to be imposed for minor offences, such as criticizing
the PDG or failing to carry out a PDG directive, and were not subject to any form
of judicial intervention or remedy for the detainee. Given the apparently widespread
use, both in the urban and the rural areas, of detention for political ends and
the official policy of secrecy with regard to political detention, it was not possible
for Amnesty International to assess the numbers of such detainees.
Amnesty International was concerned about reports that conditions in several prisons,
particularly Camp Boiro in Conakry and Camp
Keme Boureima in Kindia, were unacceptably harsh. Standards of sanitation,
nutrition and medical care reportedly remained poor. Detainees appeared to be held
in small, poorly lit and poorly ventilated cells, and to be deprived of exercise.
In an interview broadcast on French television on 14 September 1982, President President Toure stated that the International Committee of the Red Cross was free to inspect
Guinea's prisons at a time of its choosing. However, no such visit was known to
have taken place by the end of 1982.
[ Home | Perpétrateurs | Victimes | Dépositions | Bibliographie | Recherche ]
Contact :info@campboiro.org
Copyright © 1997-2009 Afriq*Access, Inc.