Thirteen years after the 28 September massacre in Guinea the

Thirteen years after the 28 September massacre in Guinea, the trial finally opens

Published on: 09/28/2022 – 08:03

On September 28, 2009, thousands of people gathered at Conakry Stadium to express their opposition to the presidential candidacy of Moussa Dadis Camara, then head of the junta. The demonstration was violently suppressed by the security forces. The much-anticipated trial begins this Wednesday, September 28th.

From our special correspondent in Conakry

The alleged perpetrators of the September 28, 2009 violence at Conakry Stadium will be brought to justice starting this Wednesday, September 28. According to a UN investigation, at least 156 people were killed that day, 109 women were raped, many people were beaten and dozens of protesters are still missing. After eight years of investigations, the trial against the alleged perpetrators of this violence has been postponed several times.

First trial for human rights violations

The authorities want to organize a fair and just trial. To do this, they face several challenges. This trial takes place in a brand new courtroom built for the occasion and located within the walls of the current Conakry Court of Appeals. The project had experienced delays. But some technical details have been clarified in the last few days. The judges were trained for three weeks to specifically address the issue of mass rape. It was an important step in a process of this magnitude.

“This is the first trial for human rights abuses in Guinea. We will follow the standards and conduct of this study very closely. This process must lead to something pedagogical, to tell those who will be tempted tomorrow to violate human rights that they will go through the prison cell,” explains Mamadou Aliou Barry, the director of the Center for Analysis and Strategic Studies.

Eleven high-ranking political and military figures were charged and imprisoned. Among these officials are former junta chief Moussa Dadis Camara, his former right-hand man Toumba Diakité, Tiegboro Camara, in charge of fighting drug trafficking, or even Claude Pivi, chief of presidential security (see box below). ).

Former junta leader present

On Sunday morning, after several years of exile, Moussa Dadis Camara returned to Conakry to take part in this trial. For some observers, his presence guarantees the credibility of this process.

For his lawyer, Me Pépé Antoine Lama, it is an opportunity to prove his innocence. “For thirteen years, he explains, President Moussa Dadis Camara has been the subject of a widespread smear campaign. He was presented to mankind as a person who would have given instructions to go to the September 28 Stadium and commit crimes. He finally has the opportunity to prove that he is innocent and we hope that with the minor elements that we have found in this file, President Moussa Dadis Camara will emerge from this trial with an acquittal, “this lawyer hopes.

slowness

In January 2010, a few months after the suppression of the Conakry Stadium demonstration, a national commission of inquiry found that disappearances, rapes and murders had been committed. A month later, the authorities launched a court case.

In 2014, with Cheikh Sako’s impetus, things accelerated: investigations were closed, allowing the indictment of fourteen people, including Moussa Dadis Camara, who lives in exile. This keeper of the seals created a steering committee that identified a place where the process could take place. Donations are collected. Despite this progress, the file encounters new delays: “Several people singled out in this file remained in office until the departure of Alpha Condé,” notes an observer who regrets “political deadlocks”.

Finally, the project announced by Minister Mohamed Lamine Fofana at the UN in Geneva at the beginning of 2020 remains in place: a new courtroom will be built according to international standards.

The protection of victims in question

Since then, 450 people have joined as citizens’ parties. About thirty victims, presented as “direct” witnesses to the violence, are expected to testify. What is at stake are the terms of their participation: how to ensure their anonymity and security. On Friday September 23, the interim parliament passed two bills to ensure their protection. One question remains: the implementation of these texts.

“In order to reassure victims to participate in this process, it is absolutely necessary that action be taken through close protection,” explains Mr. DS Bah, coordinator of the Legal Action Group in Conakry. “In any case, clear and precise measures are needed to make victims feel safe. Because we know that the defendants held high positions in the security apparatus, this lawyer continues. There is another aspect, it is the compensation fund: this fund is intended to allow victims to be relieved while waiting for the opening of the procedure, because for some there are enormous difficulties, problems of mobility and health. »

The hearings will be filmed to make this court sequence accessible to as many Guineans as possible.

September 28, 2009, a dark day in Guinean history

With our correspondent in Conakry, Mouctar Bah

That day, elements of Captain Moussa Dadis Camara’s Presidential Guard stormed into Conakry Stadium from the Alpha Yaya Diallo military camp. Tens of thousands of opponents of the junta gathered in this stadium – the largest in the capital – to say no to the announced candidacy of the incumbent in the presidential elections scheduled for January 2010.

Heavily armed soldiers join elements of the gendarmerie and CMIS, the mobile intervention and security company, who have been deployed since the early hours of the morning.

It’s 11am when gunshots begin to crackle from the side of Dixinn City Hall, east of the stadium. The military, gendarmes, police and other armed militias quickly entered the stadium from all sides and shot unarmed demonstrators as soon as they came in sight.

The civilians try to flee as best they can. After an hour, lifeless bodies and seriously injured people lay on the lawn, in the stands and inside the stadium courtyard. In the sports hall, in the toilets and changing rooms of the stadium, women are raped by soldiers.

Eleven men in the dock

Thirteen years later, after a tough investigation and trial delays, eleven are expected in the dock this morning. Starting with Captain Moussa Dadis Camara, who was leading the country at the time of the events. He returned to Conakry last weekend from Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, where he had lived in forced exile for more than ten years.

In 2012, Abdoulaye Chérif Diaby, then Minister of Health and Public Hygiene, complained at his side. According to several victims, he would have prevented the injured from being treated in public hospitals.

Moussa Thiègboro Camara, Gendarme, was Minister for Combating Drugs and Organized Crime at the time of the events. Despite his indictment, he benefited from the confidence of President Alpha Condé, who appointed him secretary-general of the bureau with responsibility for special services. He was implicated in the report of the UN Commission of Inquiry.

Claude Pivi, aka Coplan, was in charge of presidential security in 2009. When President Alpha Condé came to power, he held a similar position of ministerial rank before falling out of favor.

Also charged: Aboubacar Sidiki Diakité, “aka” Toumba, military doctor and former aide-de-camp to Captain Dadis Camara.

The other defendants are less well known. They are Lieutenant Blaise Guémou, Ibrahima Camara, aka Kalonzo, both gendarmes, but also Marcel Guilavogui, Cécé Raphael Haba, Alpha Amadou Baldé and Paul Moussa Guilavogui.