Guinea

Recent Violence
Violence erupted in Conakry, the capital of Guinea, in September 2009. In December 2008, Captain Moussa Dadis Camara seized power of the Guinean government in a bloodless coup after the death of the previous president. Dadis promised to fight corruption and hold a fair election in 60 days- one in which he vowed to not participate. The election is set for January; however, Dadis recently decided to run for president in the election. On September 28, 2009 thousands gathered to protest his decision in Conakry, and the result was devastating. Security forces responded to the protest by opening fire on the unarmed civilians. According to a New York Times article, as many as 157 were killed in this recent spurt of violence. Civilians were stabbed, shot, and women were sexually assaulted. Hospitals were flooded with the wounded, and many injured people could not receive treatment. In the chaos, some of the armed forces looted cars and other possessions. A witness told Human Rights Watch:

"At around noon, our [opposition] political leaders came to address the rally. Shortly after they arrived, the military started shooting. Our leaders didn't even have a chance to speak. I saw the armed men shooting directly into the crowds and shooting in the air - there was tear gas and gunshots and total panic; we ran for our lives."

History of Human Rights Violations
Guinea is a nation that is rich in resources such as bauxite, aluminum, gold, diamonds, coffee, and fish. However, as is a general trend, these natural resources have led to corruption and authoritarian governments. The regime previous to the coup in 2008, led by President Lansana Conte since 1984 was notorious for human rights abuses. His regime was characterized by restrictions on the right of citizens to change the government, unlawful killings by security forces, beatings and abuses of civilians and detainees by security forces, life-threatening prison conditions, impunity, arbitrary arrest, prolonged pretrial detention, executive influence in the judiciary, infringement on citizens right to privacy, infringements on freedom of speech, violence and discrimination against women, prostitution of young girls, female genital mutilation, human trafficking, ethnic discrimination, antiunion discrimination, and child labor.

When Dadis came to power, citizens had hoped for better human rights conditions and that he would pursue his promise to fight corruption. He did pursue a relatively successful campaign to rid Guinea of drug-traffickers and arrested previously untouchable people, like the previous President's son. But, as his short regime continue, the scale of human rights abuses grew. According to a Human Rights Watch article,
"As the weeks passed, the military house-cleaning was increasingly characterised by trampling of basic human rights. Public interrogations amid threats that common criminals "will be shot without trial" undermined the presumption of innocence. The powerful minister tasked with fighting serious crimes urged youths to form vigilante patrols and burn criminals caught ‘red-handed'."
As opposition to Dadis grew, he began authorizing bans on text messaging and political activity, and rallies were stopped by security forces. Opposition party headquarters were raided, and he banned all political content on the radio.

What occurs in Guinea toward the end of 2009 is very important. The people of Guinea, who have been denied elections for years, have been promised a fair election by Dadis, but that may change now that he has decided to run. The development of Guinea has been neglected, mainly because of its corrupt leaders and education and health care services are minimal. For Guinea's neighbors, Liberia and Sierra Leone, the situation in Guinea is also very important. These are two countries that have already had enough trouble of their own, and any cross-border violence or supply of arms that could occur with factional fighting in the Guinean army could be detrimental to any progress Sierra Leone or Liberia has made. Furthermore, this is important to the wider African community, who are seeing violent coups and authoritarian governments as a rising trend.