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Guinea (Conakry): More than an Inquiry?
AfricaFocus Bulletin
Oct 23, 2009 (091023)
(Reposted from sources cited below)
Editor's Note
"Three weeks after over 150 people were killed in a military
crackdown on demonstrators in the capital Conakry, with women and
girls raped, Guineans are coping with the aftermath, some still
searching for disappeared relatives' bodies. Uncertainty and
tension reign." - UN IRIN News, Oct. 21, 2009
With ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in
the lead, the African Union and the United Nations have joined to
condemn the military junta in Guinea (Conakry), supporting a
commission of inquiry into the latest violence and calling for an
arms embargo. But few observers credit the pledge to cooperate with
the inquiry by Guinea's military ruler Captain Moussa Dadis Camara
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8280880.stm). Nor should one
anticipate quick implementation of the ECOWAS demand to establish
"a new transitional authority to ensure a short and peaceful
transition to constitutional order through credible, free and fair
elections."
This AfricaFocus Bulletin contains a brief update on the
humanitarian situation, from IRIN; reports of actions by the United
Nations and ECOWAS, and an interview by AllAfrica.com with Dr.
Herschelle Challenor, former dean of the Graduate School of
International Affairs at Clark University, who served as the team
leader for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in
Guinea from 2004 to 2006.
For previous AfricaFocus Bulletin's on Guinea (Conakry), see
http://www.africafocus.org/country/guinea.php
For a summary background article, see "Guinea's depressingly
familiar strongman," by Corinne Dufka, in The Guardian
http://tinyurl.com/yjcemlv
The Chinese government is trying to distance itself from a reported
$7 billion business deal with Guinea, noting that the Hong-Kongbased
company involved, China International Fund, is a private
company. But analysts note that Chinese government agencies do have
a stake in the company. For more see
"Africa: Deal With Guinea Raises Questions About Chinese Role,"
Matthew Berger, Inter Press Service 16 October 2009
http://allafrica.com/stories/200910161163.html
"Guinea: Blood and Money in the Streets: China's Business Ties to
the Loathed Camara Junta Could Quickly Backfire," Africa-Asia
Confidential, 20 October 2009
http://allafrica.com/stories/200910201249.html
"What is China doing in Guinea?"
Guardian, 19 October, 2009
http://tinyurl.com/yzpmd9w
For a selection of books on Guinea, see
http://www.africafocus.org/books/west.php#gc1
or http://www.africafocus.org/books/west_uk.php#gc1
++++++++++++++++++++++end editor's note+++++++++++++++++++++++
Guinea: Aid Groups Mobilize to Help Wounded
21 October 2009
UN Integrated Regional Information Networks
http://www.irinnews.org
[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United
Nations ]
Dakar - Aid agencies are mobilizing funds and relief supplies to
help more than 1,000 Guineans injured in 28 September violence, as
well as to brace for further unrest as the country remains "very
volatile", according to the UN.
UN agencies, donors and NGOs in the capital Conakry are providing
meals for hospital patients, giving medical supplies to health
centres and ordering in new supplies to ensure adequate emergency
stocks, aid workers in Guinea told IRIN.
Three weeks after over 150 people were killed in a military
crackdown on demonstrators in the capital Conakry, with women and
girls raped, Guineans are coping with the aftermath, some still
searching for disappeared relatives' bodies. Uncertainty and
tension reign.
"The situation is very volatile and it is feared that protests may
continue with even more casualties in the next days or weeks," said
a World Health Organization (WHO) document on the situation in
Guinea.
The number of wounded seeking treatment is rising as more people
injured on 28 September visit health centres; aid workers and human
rights activists say many people needing medical care have stayed
home for fear of repression.
Immediately following the violence the Guinean Red Cross deployed
scores of volunteers to assist the wounded, and other aid agencies
including M�decins Sans Fronti�res provided emergency assistance to
the health sector.
The UN on 14 October allocated US$417,205 from its Central
Emergency Response Fund, CERF, for a WHO project to support health
facilities in Conakry.
The funds will go toward medicines, trauma kits, rape treatment
kits and blood transfusion supplies, as well as preparing health
personnel to deal with trauma patients, according to the document.
More than 200 people are known to be in "a very serious" condition
and need lengthy treatment, the document says.
Current emergency stocks of relief supplies are insufficient to
deal with repeated shocks, according to the UN in Guinea.
"The main issue now is to determine the gaps in medical and relief
supplies," said Philippe Verstraeten, head of the Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Guinea. "We are working on
defining those needs so we can mobilize for further funding."
The NGO Terre des hommes (Tdh) is providing meals to patients in
Donka Hospital, one of Conakry's main public hospitals, according
to Tdh's Marie-Jeanne Hautbois. The Health Ministry's crisis
committee requested this assistance, as the ministry has said
victims would receive free treatment including food, she said. The
food is provided by the ministry, private donations and Tdh.
Guinea's health system has long been in a dismal condition, with
frequent ruptures in medicines and medical supplies. Since the
junta took power in December 2008 government ministries, including
the Health Ministry, have had no budget, according to a ministry
official. In July the Health Ministry chaired an emergency meeting
about a shortage of equipment for blood transfusions.
Guinea: UN Plan for Probe Into Bloody Crackdown Gets Green Light
21 October 2009
http://www.un.org/News
A proposed international probe into last month's deadly crackdown
on unarmed demonstrators in Guinea has received the green light
from local and regional stakeholders, with the army captain who
seized power in a coup d'�tat pledging full cooperation, a senior
United Nations official reported today.
"All fully support the establishment by the Secretary-General [Ban
Ki-moon] of an international and independent commission of
inquiry," Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Haile
Menkerios told reporters after briefing the Security Council on his
return from the region, where he held wide-ranging talks on the
crackdown in which at least 150 people were killed and many others
raped.
He said Mr. Ban, who announced last week that he would set up the
commission to investigate the crackdown by security forces on 28
September in Conakry, the capital, "with a view to determining the
accountability of those involved," intended to deploy the it as
soon as possible, adding that it should be able to complete its
work within a month once it is in the field.
While in the region, Mr. Menkerios conferred with Captain Moussa
Dadis Camara, head of the National Council for Democracy and
Development (NCDD), which seized power in December after the death
of then president Lansana Cont�; African Union (AU) Chairman Jean
Ping; Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission
President Mohamed ibn Chambas; ECOWAS mediator President Blaise
Compaor� of Burkina Faso; and Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua.
"Both President Dadis Camara and his Government welcomed the
establishment of the commission of enquiry and promised that they
were going to cooperate with it fully, including facilitating its
work," he said. "They expressed this in writing in a letter that
they shall do so."
Mr. Compaor� believes "the very fact that it is deployed and the
work that this commission will do will positively contribute to
peace and longer-term reconciliation inside the country," he added,
stressing the "tremendous expectation" by the victims, the
opposition and the public in Guinea.
Asked about guarantees for the commission's safety, Mr. Menkerios
said the "importance of security, not just for the commission, but
most importantly for the population, for the victims, for witness
that may come and present their testimonies" is highly appreciated
by ECOWAS, the AU and the parties themselves.
Mr. Compaor� will make the question of minimum security guarantees
for the population the first agenda item in the mediation effort,
he added, noting that human rights organizations say they have
information that they will share it with the commission.
He also noted that the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights is
going to deploy as many humanitarian rights observers as possible.
If that doesn't work, "then the question of the deployment of
military observers, security observers might be the next step," he
said. "If this doesn't work, of course, the last might be the
question of a form of intervention [which] then may be required.
This remains to be decided in due process."
Mr. Ban has said he remains deeply concerned by the tense situation
in Guinea and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay has
called the crackdown a "blood bath."
ECOWAS Leaders Call for Suspension of Legislative Elections in
Niger, Want New Transition Authority in Guinea
N : 111/2009 17 October 2009 [Abuja]
http://news.ecowas.int/presseshow.php?nb=111&lang=en&annee=2009
ECOWAS Heads of State have expressed strong support to President
Blaise Compaore of Burkina Faso for his mediation efforts in the
Guinean crisis and have urged him to speed up the dialogue among
the Guinean political actors with the aim of:
- establishing a new transitional authority to ensure a short
and peaceful transition to constitutional order through credible,
free and fair elections;
- ensuring that the Chairman and members of the CNDD, the Prime
Minister and those who hold high offices in the new transitional
authority will not be candidates in the forthcoming presidential
elections; as well as - setting up benchmarks in the transition
chronogram already agreed and ensuring a timely achievement of the
set benchmarks.
In a communiqu issued at their day-long extraordinary summit on
17th October 2009 in Abuja, the Heads of State, welcomed the
decision of the Secretary General of the United Nations to
establish the Commission of Enquiry to investigate the 28th
September 2009 violence in Guinea, the Heads of State called on
all concerned Guinean parties and other stakeholders to fully
cooperate with the Commission.
They directed the President of the ECOWAS Commission to work with
the UN Secretary General, the Chairperson of the AU to create a
conducive and enabling environment, including the provision of a
security cover, to allow the Commission of Enquiry to undertake
its mission.
The President of the ECOWAS will also work with the AU on a regime
of targeted sanctions against individuals who would pose a threat
to the implementation of the transitional agenda.
According to the summit, he will also work with the new
transitional authority and subsequently the new government at the
end of the transition, in designing a programme for security
sector reform, with the support of the AU, the UN and other
partners.
They strongly condemned the brutal acts, rapes and the massacre
perpetrated by armed troops under the authority of the against
women and unarmed civilians during a gathering of members of the
Forces Vives on 28th September 2009.
In view of the atrocities committed on 28th September 2009 and the
steps taken by the National Council for Democracy and Development
(CNDD) authorities to acquire new weapons, the Heads of State
imposed an arms embargo on Guinea under the ECOWAS Convention on
Small Arms and Light Weapons, their Ammunitions and Related
Materials, and directs the President of the ECOWAS Commission to
take all necessary measures to obtain the support of the African
Union, the European Union and the United Nations in the
implementation and enforcement of the embargo.
They also directed the ECOWAS Commission to implement the relevant
provisions of the Convention on Small Arms and Light Weapons, and
recommended to the international community to impose total embargo
on arms shipment for Guinea.
[statement continued on Niger - see original at
http://news.ecowas.int/presseshow.php?nb=111&lang=en&annee=2009]
Guinea: 'Another Strategy' Required to Deal with the Deteriorating
Situation - Challenor
13 October 2009
Interview with Herschelle Challenor
http://allafrica.com/stories/200910131062.html
An international observer group on Guinea has recommended setting
up an international commission of inquiry into last month's
crackdown that news reports say claimed more than 150 lives.
Leaders of the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas)
are expected to meet on Saturday to discuss the Guinea crisis. They
have called on Guinea's ruler, Captain Moussa Dadis Camara, to step
aside and hold elections. He seized power last December.
Dr. Herschelle Challenor, former dean of the Graduate School of
International Affairs at Clark University, served as the team
leader for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in
Guinea from 2004 to 2006. She is also a former staff director of
the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Africa. She spoke
with AllAfrica's Cindy Shiner about recent developments and
prospects for peace in the country.
Do you think African leaders, West African leaders in particular,
have done enough to try to stem the crisis in Guinea?
The African Union and Ecowas were the first to condemn the military
coup of December 23, 2008. They have been persistent. These two
organizations co-chair what is called the International Contact
Group on Guinea, which has met virtually every month since March.
Right after [the crackdown last month] the peace and security
council of the African Union approved additional sanctions on the
president and the military government. That was to impose travel
restrictions and to freeze bank accounts, but with the caveat that
these would not go into effect for a month, hoping that would be an
incentive for President Camara to say that neither he nor any
members of the ruling [National Council for Democracy and
Development] would be candidates in the forthcoming elections in
2010.
So they have done as much as they can except deploy a peacekeeping
force, which Guinea's civil society has asked for. Ecowas has
talked about that. I gather there has been some talk at the United
Nations about a peacekeeping force. I don't think anything else
will make a difference.
What do you think of the Ecowas appointment of Blaise Compaor� he
leader of Burkina Faso, as mediator on Guinea?
Blaise Compaor�in my mind is not the best candidate. He led a
military coup in his own country in 1987. He has remained in power.
He has been the negotiator in Togo and Cote d'Ivoire. I don't think
that his record for mediation has led to a democratic path either
in Togo or in Cote d'Ivoire and I don't think he himself is in a
neutral position. Other people might have been better. The Forces
Vives [opposition coalition] have said they would prefer the former
president of Mali and the first president of the African Union,
Alpha Oumar Konare, who is an extraordinary human being and a
democrat. I have thought about Nicephore Soglo, the former
president of Benin, who in 1990 led the whole national conference
movement that led to democracy in many French-speaking African
countries.
Who are these groups who are opposed to Guinea's military rulers?
There are four main traditional opposition parties and there are a
couple of new ones. The people Camara is most concerned about are
Sidya Toure, who is a former prime minister under [former president
Lansana] Conte; Cellou Dalein Diallo, a former prime minister;
Alpha Conde, who ran against Conte and was imprisoned at least
once; and a young man called Mouctar Diallo.
The Forces Vives is a coalition of opposition political parties and
some of the rather independent political parties, the two labor
unions that have led the four main strikes in Guinea, religious
leaders, business leaders, non-governmental organizations, women,
youths and human rights organizations. The anchor of the umbrella
group is the National Council of Civil Society Organizations in
Guinea. They have structures in the eight administrative regions of
Guinea. It's probably the best-organized group, even better
organized than most political parties.
And what about Camara and the rest of the country's military
leaders?
When he came to power Moussa Dadis Camara said he would not stay in
power forever, that he would respect human rights, that he wanted
a civilian government. He broke all of those commitments and it
just goes on: violence and stealing, multiple arrests, mainly by
the presidential guard, the red berets and other military men. When
you're arrested or detained they steal your money and your cell
phone. People have to buy the release of any relative or friend
that is under arrest.
This is a man who doesn't like opposition. He has been a
professional soldier all his life and when he sees a threat to his
perceived interests his response is to fight it. He always wears a
red beret and he said the red beret is to signify blood. This is a
man who has only known authoritarianism. He takes unilateral
decisions and I don't think he knows anything else. You cannot get
him to step down through dialogue.
You've got division in the army. He apparently cannot control the
army. He is, after all, just a captain. One of the first things he
did was to retire all of the generals. Then he arrested 11 or 12 of
them. At least 10 of the cabinet ministers are military men and
they hold the most strategic portfolios: defense, security,
economy, finance, communications, commerce, mines and several
others. In July he started hiring more of [former] president
Conte's former henchmen to work closely with him. So I think all of
these things are a factor of deep concern for a certain group of
the military.
Why should the United States and other members of the international
community be particularly concerned about the crisis in Guinea?
Since about 2006 there have been a plethora of military coups in
francophone Africa. First you had Togo, then Mauritania, Guinea,
Niger. And these leaders have stayed in power. [The United States]
is concerned with the resumption of the military coup d'etat - a
renewed trend toward military leadership.
The Americans used to always say Guinea was the island of stability
during the civil wars in the region [in the 1990s]. What the United
States and other countries do not want is for Guinea to become
unstable because it could again destabilize that particular
sub-region of West Africa. That is Liberia , Sierra Leone and
Guinea Bissau.
The second reason is out of basic humanitarian concerns. There's
been a constant predatory relationship between each
post-independence government in Guinea and its people. The
predation is done not only by the government but by the military,
security forces and police.
The third reason is that if there is a civil war in Guinea they
recognize that they would have to mop it up and pay for
humanitarian assistance. At the high point of the civil wars in
Liberia and Sierra Leone, Guinea had over a million refugees. The
United States and other donor countries have put a lot of money
mainly through the United Nations - to support refugee camps. It's
very costly.
So how best can the international community help?
First of all they should pay attention to the Forces Vives. They
have said they will not participate in a coalition government that
Camara called for after September 28. Their precondition to accept
any negotiated settlement is that he has to step down. That is the
first thing.
I think it is really time for the United Nations to look at the
continuation of similar predatory acts of the government, the
military and security forces against the Guinean people. Then
decide on building a peacekeeping force to put the military back in
their camps and hold them there while the civil society negotiates
to set up a transitional government to prepare a new constitution
and to hold presidential and legislative elections.
The second thing is there ought to be a U.N. civil administration.
They had one in Namibia before independence but I think Guinea
needs this. Changing the president is not going change the way in
which Guinea functions. Most of your civil servants really don't
know how to work because, first of all, they've had poor managers.
But secondly they've been socialized - because of the tyrannical
governments they've had - not to take any initiative.
I have gone into ministries and seen a minister with a clear desk
with a television watching a soccer game. They really don't know
how to work. You need to train an entirely new army - set a code of
conduct, set standards. There are many in the existing military who
would keep those. So take the [soldiers] who are willing to perform
according to modern democratic standards. But you have to train
them and it just can't be one-off training.
That's why I talk about a civil administration that has to last a
minimum of two years. Work with Guineans. I'm not saying a lot of
Americans, Canadians or French or Japanese need to run Guinea. But
they need to have sign-off authority on decisions while you have
Guinean leaders running it. And even though Guineans have always
said - and it's a carryover from post-independence leader Sekou
Toure - 'we don't need help, we have nothing to learn from
anybody', I think there are many Guineans who recognize the need
for this kind of training and would be very willing to work under
a cooperative relationship.
There are people in Senegal or Benin who are well-trained civil
servants who could assist with such training. They need not all be
westerners. I think the African Union would want to participate and
I think it's important that they do. Ecowas, since they are the
closest neighbors, have a direct interest in stability and growth
and development in Guinea.
The final thing is there needs to be a truth and reconciliation
commission. Guineans have been traumatized [under years of
authoritarian rule]. You need to have this to clear the air.
The Guineans have no recourse. There is no rule of law. There is
nothing to protect them. I tried to get a rule of law program by
USAID in Guinea in 2006. I was present at the continuation of a
longstanding effort by USAID to help mobilize Guinean civil
society. I feel that since we have encouraged civil society
advocacy, I think it's unconscionable to get people to demonstrate
and not do anything to protect them when they are brutally
assaulted by their government. That's what I think is the U.S.'s
special responsibility.
What do you think is next?
I think this meeting of the International Contact Group on Guinea
in Abuja is critical. There have been condemnations and calls for
dialogue and even threats for sanctions now for eight months and
Camara has only become more bold. Maybe it's time to try another
strategy. They say if you keep doing things the way you've been
doing them you're going to get the same results.
AfricaFocus Bulletin is an independent electronic publication
providing reposted commentary and analysis on African issues, with
a particular focus on U.S. and international policies. AfricaFocus
Bulletin is edited by William Minter.
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