Civil society organizations, political parties and diplomats on Sunday July 31 denounced the use of force by the junta in Guinea and called urgently for a national dialogue following banned demonstrations that left several dead. The “Live Forces of the Nation”a coalition of parties, trade unions and civil society organizations, demanded “the immediate opening of an inclusive dialogue framework” and threatened new protests from August 15 across the country.
They denounced in particular “acts of repression”, “the loss of human life and all forms of violence recorded during the latest demonstrations”, “ban on demonstrations”as well as “the instrumentalization of justice and extrajudicial arrests”.
This coalition, like the Guinean Organization for the Defense of Human and Citizens’ Rights (OGDH) in another press release, also demanded “an independent investigation to determine the circumstances that led to the various deaths” et “the immediate and unconditional release of all prisoners of conscience”. Thursday 28 and Friday 29 July, Violent protests in Conakry left at least five dead, organizers sayonly one according to the authorities, three according to the OGDH.
The junta chaired by Colonel Mamady Doumbouya, who overthrew President Alpha Condé on September 5, 2021 in power for almost eleven years, requisitioned the army “for the maintenance of order”, and carried out dozens of arrests on Friday and Saturday. Among them, those of Oumar Sylla alias Foniké Mangué and Ibrahima Diallo, two leaders of the National Front for the Defense of the Constitution (FNDC), a coalition of parties, unions and civil society organizations behind the demonstration. .
Mediation
This collective, which had called for another protest movement on August 4 to denounce the “unilateral transition management” by the junta, on Saturday suspended demonstrations for a week “at the express request” the Bissau-Guinean head of state Umaro Sissoco Embalo, current president of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
“This truce has the sole objective of giving ECOWAS mediation a chance to find a favorable outcome to the crisis in Guinea”the FNDC said in a statement on Saturday.
The G5 Guinea, a group of diplomats which brings together the United Nations, ECOWAS, the European Union, the United States and France, says it has followed “with deep concern the events of recent days, the violent turn of which has caused the loss of human lives, numerous injuries and significant material damage”. Il “deplores the excessive use of force and the alleged use of lethal weapons in the maintenance of order”in a statement released on Sunday.
The G5 Guinea also underlines “the urgency of establishing an inclusive dialogue with a view to a participatory, peaceful transition that guarantees social peace” and renews its support for the ECOWAS mediator in Guinea, former Beninese President Thomas Boni Yayi “with a view to a return to stability in the country”.
Speaking in Bissau on Thursday, Embalo said he convinced the junta to speed up the return to democracy by three to two years, information that has not been confirmed by the Guinean authorities.
