Saran Cisse is a survivor of the 2009 Conakry massacre. To this day, she still has nightmares about the day at the stadium when the security forces started shooting at the crowd. A young man tried to help her jump over a wall to escape the violence. “I was standing right on top of the wall,” the 38-year-old told DW. “When I turned my head to ask him to help me down, I saw him fall to the ground. He was gunned down. It still makes me cry.”
On that day – it was September 28 – tens of thousands of people had gathered at the stadium in Conakry to demonstrate the strength of the opposition and to stop the ruler Moussa “Dadis” Camara from running for the presidency in January 2010.
Despair and anger after the massacre
He had come to power in Guinea just nine months earlier in a military coup. Soldiers, police and militiamen then opened fire on peaceful demonstrators. Within two hours they killed at least 157 people. According to a report by an international commission of inquiry, thousands more were injured and at least 109 women were raped. However, the actual numbers are likely to be higher.
The return of Moussa Camara
Exactly 13 years later, on the anniversary of the massacre, the trial against a total of 11 suspects has begun in a Guinean court – just a few kilometers from the stadium where the violent crimes took place. Karim Khan, the Chief Prosecutor of the International Court of Justice in The Hague, also made the trip to address the audience at the start. September 28 was a day of mourning, Khan said in Conakry: “You created the space to turn it into a day of hope.” His office will “closely monitor” the process.
The alleged masterminds of the massacre include former junta leader Camara and three of his once-powerful military men, Moussa Tiegboro Camara, Claude Pivi and Cherif Diaby. Now, after years of waiting for justice for the people, they must answer in court.
Former junta chief Moussa Dadis Camara is now on trial in Conakry
Her lawyers have described the trial as an attempt to arrest her clients. Dadis Camara, who lived in exile in Burkina Faso, recently returned to Guinea to face the judge. Tiegboro, Pivi and Diaby have held key positions in the Army in the 13 years since the massacre. They were all arrested shortly before the trial began.
A culture of impunity
According to the UN report, the lengthy delay is the direct result of a culture of impunity that has kept Guinea’s security forces virtually “untouchable”.
Guineans across the country expressed their hope for a fair trial that would bring those responsible to justice. “If this process runs normally, people will be satisfied. It has to end now,” Mohamed Samake, a resident of Sogbe district in the Kankan region, told DW before the trial began.
A surprise fueling rumours
Guinea has been ruled by authoritarian regimes for decades. The current junta is headed by Mamady Doumbouya, who came to power in a coup in 2021 after 11 years of civilian rule. Doumbouya surprised Guineans in July by demanding that the trial be held later this year. Rumors quickly circulated that there was collusion between Doumbouya and Dadis Camara and that the trial was actually to be postponed indefinitely after the first hearing.
The relatives of the victims had to wait 13 years for the trial to begin
Lawyer Iseny Sall from the Guinean Organization for the Defense of Human and Civil Rights (OGDH) knows the skepticism with which some in Guinea face the trial. But he wanted to wait and see how events develop before he cast doubt on the country’s judicial system. “It’s not a win,” Sall told DW in advance. “It’s a step in the process.” And added: “The process must be completed. The process must take place in the presence of all the accused, and the principle of the presumption of innocence must be observed.” Victims would also have to have their say so that the judges “can explain the law with all impartiality”.
“The process is a good thing”
Guinea’s current military junta is under increasing pressure after failing to set a fast timetable for a return to democracy. Coming to a head last week, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) froze the junta’s financial assets and banned its members from traveling to the region. The bloc’s development bank said it would also suspend funding for projects in Guinea.
Mohamed Camara, a civil society activist in Sogbe, believes the trial could improve Guinea’s tarnished image after multiple coups and human rights abuses. The West African country is rich in mineral resources such as bauxite and gold. Yet Guinea remains among the world’s poorest countries, which analysts attribute to its history of political instability.
“We have been waiting for this process since 2010 and finally the Guinean authorities and judicial system have decided to shed light on the case,” Camara said. “That’s really a good thing.”
Collaboration: Eric Topona, Karim Kamara and Bangaly Conde
