English
FrançaisPremeditated Attacks and Widespread Rape: Initial Report from Human Rights Watch
The initial communiqué released today and available here from Human Rights Watch following their 10-day investigation into the events of September 28 in Conakry reveals that the atrocities were more brutal and widespread than many of us realized. Through several first-hand accounts, survivors and other eyewitnesses describe in detail the measures taken by the CNDD Presidential Guard to trap the unarmed protestors in the stadium and use horrific rape as a weapon of terror. The conclusion of HRW: “There is no way the government can continue to imply the deaths were somehow accidental,” said Georgette Gagnon, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “This was clearly a premeditated attempt to silence opposition voices.”
The level of brutality, of the utter disregard for one’s fellow humanity, makes the report very hard to read. And yet it must be – by as many people as possible, for the truth must be known. And only in this knowing can we have any hope for justice.
