Reparations paid as Conakry massacre remembered

Sixteen years after the Conakry stadium massacre, Guineans are reminded of one of the darkest chapters in their recent history, reports RFI. On 28 September 2009, security forces stormed a peaceful opposition rally at the capital’s main stadium. By the time the violence subsided, at least 156 people had been killed and more than a hundred women had been subjected to brutal sexual violence, according to a UN investigation. For the survivors, the long road to justice has finally begun to show some results. This year’s anniversary comes just months after the Guinean Government opened the first phase of reparations for victims. At a ceremony in May inside the Court of Appeal in Conakry – where the long-awaited trial unfolded – survivors wept as they were handed cheques in compensation from the state. For Asmaou Diallo, president of the Avipa victims association, the moment marked a rare glimpse of closure after years of waiting. Since the ruling, more than 300 victims are to receive reparations, with funds drawn directly from the national budget after the convicted perpetrators were deemed unable to cover the damages themselves. Former junta leader Moussa Dadis Camara – who ruled the country between 2008 and 2009 – was sentenced in July 2024 to 20 years in prison for crimes against humanity. Judges found him guilty on the basis of command responsibility and for his intention to repress the rally. But in March this year, Colonel Mamadi Doumbouya – the current head of Guinea’s transitional military government – announced Camara’s release, citing ‘health reasons’. On Thursday, UN human rights chief Volker Türk explicitly warned that international law forbids pardons for crimes as grave as those committed on 28 September. He also called on Conakry’s rulers to free political detainees, end arbitrary arrests and lift restrictions on opposition parties and the press.