Amnesty International (AI) has called on the authorities in Guinea to immediately end restrictions on the rights to freedom of expression and freedom of association.
The rights organisation made the call on the back of the recent dissolution of the National Front for the Defence of the Constitution (FNDC) by the military government in Guinea.
According to the government, the FNDC’s operational mode was based on violent attacks (carried out) during banned demonstrations, attacks against individuals who do not share their ideology, and targeted attacks against the security forces.
‘The de-facto group called the National Front for the Defence of the Constitution is dissolved… with effect from the date of signature’, a decree signed by the Territorial Administration Minister, Mory Conde, read.
In its reaction to the dissolution of the FNDC, Amnesty said it was a serious infringement of the freedoms of association and peaceful assembly recognised by the Guinean Constitution.
‘The FNDC has played a key role in promoting and advancing human rights in Guinea. Amnesty International calls on the authorities to reinstate the FNDC and to guarantee freedom of expression and association, which are rights enshrined in international human rights treaties and conventions that Guinea has ratified, as well as in the Transitional Charter’, the organisation’s Deputy Director for West and Central Africa, Habibatou Gologo, said in a statement.
‘Amnesty International calls on the Guinean authorities to immediately end disproportionate restrictions on the rights to freedom of expression and freedom of association and to respect the right of the Guinean people and civil society to freely express their views, including through the media’, Gologo added.
The FNDC, in a statement issued on 10 August, said the government’s decision was ‘illegal, unfounded and arbitrary, and called for nationwide protests next week.
Protests broke out in Guinea on 28 and 29 July over concerns the junta was dragging its feet on restoring civilian rule. Five people, it was gathered, died as a result of the protests.
Soldiers ousted Guinea’s long-serving President, Alpha Condé, on 05 September, 2021, telling the West African nation they had dissolved its government and constitution and closed the country’s land and air borders.
The coup leader and head of the country’s special forces, Col Mamadi Doumbouya, said ‘poverty and endemic corruption’ had driven his forces to remove Condé from office.
On 05 September, 2021, Guinean army officers of the ‘National Committee for Reconciliation and Development’ overthrew the government of Alpha Condé.
Doumbouya had pledged to hand over power to civilians within three years. However, the FNDC coalition and other national actors as well as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) rejected the timeline as too long.
Photo source: Saliou Samb/Reuters
