English
FrançaisThe International Criminal Court to Investigate the September 28th Massacre in Conakry
Luis Moreno-Ocampo, ICC Prosecutor (Fuente: AP)
It looks like Captain Moussa Dadis Camara is done consuming his good days as head of the ailing State of Guinea. The good times when he publicly humiliated his aids, and was the daily hero of the “Dadis Show” seem to belong to a distant past, never to be relived again. In the space of three days the series of resignations from his ministers and other aids have made his government look like a burning house from which all roaches and other harmful bugs run away to safety. Footage of him shown on TV presents a beaten man, a sleepless drunkard desperately looking for something –a good reason- to hang onto power, to be vindicated.
Yet it appears that the International Criminal Court is looking at things from a completely different angle. According to the office of the ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo, “A preliminary examination of the situation has been […] initiated in order to determine whether crimes falling under the Court’s jurisdiction have been perpetrated.” The investigation will practically address issues of public rape allegations and mass killings of unarmed protesters, all facts that have been clearly documented by pictures already distributed through the internet and other media outlets.
It becomes therefore clear that the CNDD is not but a sinking boat as the Deputy prosecutor of the ICC, Fatou Bensouda herself, made the irrefutable statement that: “From the information we have received, from the pictures I have seen, women were abused or otherwise brutalized on the pitch of Conakry’s stadium, apparently by men in uniform.” She terms these committed crimes as “Appalling, unacceptable” before adding that “It should never happen again. Those responsible must be held accountable.” Facts being what they are, Camara has tried to distance himself from these crimes by alleging that he does not control the army. But last Wednesday in Addis Ababa the European Union’s aid chief, Karel De Gucht, was categorical on the issue: “The principal leader of the coup must be held accountable for his acts before a court for a crime against humanity. The 28 September repression has been the most brutal in the country and we have before us a serious case of a crime against humanity.”
Of course, the arrogance that characterizes the junta, the degrees of hate and disdain that its soldiers are showing toward the population and its predisposition to order or commit crimes at any occasion must have played a big role in the unshakable positions of the international community that has found no solution to the Guinean plight but to make sure that the junta serves as an example. “International justice must be universal, if not it loses its credibility,” said the European Commissioner Karel De Gutch.
As for Hillary Clinton, the American Secretary of State: “Guinea’s military rulers must quit;” a statement that has been welcomed by the Guinean “Forces Vives”. Until then, the Obama administration, beside an unyielding position of its representation in Conakry, had not been openly vocal against the junta; a relative silence that Dadis Camara himself had praised saying: “I thank President Obama for not criticizing me,” in an attempt to denigrate the US Embassy in Conakry. But now, that time seems also to belong to the past. Another blow that also contributed to shaking the CNDD was of course the decision by France to “cut military cooperation with Guinea,” and to abandon Dadis to himself. The International Contact Group on Guinea, whose members come from various international organizations, has also recommended the complete “withdrawal of the CNDD” and has called for “a new transitional authority in Guinea.” The African Union has given Dadis only until October 17th to openly make the statement that he will organize free and fair elections this coming January, and that he and other members of his government won’t be on the race.
The least one can say is: things look bad for Dadis Camara and the CNDD. Yet time is not to complacency. Still voices of denial are rising from Conakry. Andre Cece Loua, the Guinean Minister of foreign affairs lately argued that international forces can’t be sent into Guinea because it’s a sovereign country; an argument that does not hold as “Guinea has been a State Party to the Rome Statute since 14 July 2003,” meaning that crimes against humanity perpetrated in the country can well be prosecuted at the Hague by the ICC.
While waiting for what the ICC investigations will result to, Guineans have their eyes turned toward China who’s 7 Billion Blood Dollars contract with the junta raises eyebrows about the kind of relationship this rising China is ready to have with Guinea.
Mamadou Maladho Diallo
Correspondent of Le Lynx – La Lance in New York
Member of Alliance Guinea
This looks like the best information that any Guinean wants to heard. I have always wanted to ask if Guineans are losers or just bad “luckers”. Many things happened to the guinnean population that deserve an international justice intervention, but nothing happened to condemn and punish the authors of these atrocities. Sekou Toure declared a war against Fulani(Peulhs), emprison and killed all the intellectuals including Organization of African Unity secretary general Boubacar Teli Diallo. None of this was punish or drew the international justice. When Lansana Conte came to power, the things he promised were what Guineans wanted: Liberty, Justice and equality for all ethnicities that compose the population. Did that happened, I don’t think so. He ended up killing his own emplyees during the events of February 2nd and 3rd, 1996, which led to charges from the penal International Court against the Conte government for crimes against humanity
. During the trikes in December, January and February, 2007, nobody knows exactly how many people were killed by soldiers over the country. They raped, women and teenagers, stole furniture, cell phones, cars and properties from civilians. Soldiers beat older people and held the population starving to control the crowd. The government ended up being charged for crime against humanity by the Guinean people. The United nations ignored it completely and no further actions were taken by any entitled international institutions. Everyone found themselves clapping for this unexperience captain the way people clapped for Conte 25 years agoor probably way over due to some specific promises Dadis declared when he confiscated the power. In only 10 months, he has hundreds of innocent victims killed by his guards on his hands. The same way charges were gathered against the past rgevernments, the same way Guineans are filing and asking for help to tradict
(Sorry, I did not finish)
The same way charges were gathered against the past governments, the same way Guineans are filing and asking for help to tradict those professional criminals to court. Today, the guinean population is very eager to at last smell a cent of justice and international support. GUINEANS WANT TO REMIND EVERYONE THAT WE ARE PEOPLE TOO AND DESERVE THE SAME RIGHTS THAT OTHER PEOPLE ARE ENJOYING. For once, let justice and punishment remind those soldiers that they are not “untouchable ” as they think. For once, let the guinean people feel protection, support and bellonging to the universal protection of weaks against the strongs.
To sum up, these are few feeling that were burning inside my mind. I have always been disappointed by the international reactions on authors of killings, raping and frightening on people in guinea because they have weapons and they think that they are above the law, I do not want to convince myself that the Guinean people is a people of LOSERS. We cannot always have bad luck to on the past issues. I would love to be supprised by seen those assassins in court.
Ceci représente les meilleures nouvelles qu’un Guinéen voudrait entendre. Je me suis toujours demande si les Guinéens étaient d’eternels perdants ou seulement malchanceux. Beaucoup de choses, méritant une intervention de la Justice Internationale, sont arrivées à la population guinéenne sans que rien ne soit fait pour condamner ou punir les auteurs de ces atrocités. Sekou Touré a déclaré une Guerre aux Peulhs (Foulani), emprisonné et tué tous les intellectuels comme le secrétaire général de l’Organisation pour l’Unité Africaine (OUA) Boubacar Teli Diallo. Aucun de ces actes n’a été puni et aucun n’a attiré la justice internationale.
Quand Lansana Conte a pris le pouvoir, ses promesses reflétaient la volonté populaire : Liberté, Justice et Egalite pour toutes les ethnies du pays. Est-ce arrivé? Je ne le crois pas. Il a fini par tuer ses propres employés, entrainant une plainte auprès du Tribunal Pénal International contre le Gouvernement de Conte pour crimes contre l’Humanité. Pendant les grèves de Décembre, Janvier et Février 2007, personne ne sait exactement combien de personnes ont été tuées par les soldats à travers le pays. Ils ont violé des femmes et jeunes filles, volé des téléphones cellulaires, mobiliers, véhicules et biens des civils. Les soldats ont tabassé les personnes âgées et affamé la population pour contrôler la foule. Le gouvernement a fini par être inculpé pour crimes contre l’humanité par la population guinéenne. Les Nations Unies ont ignoré la situation complètement et aucunes organisations internationales compétentes n’a réagi.
Tout le monde s’est mis à applaudir pour ce capitaine inexpérimenté de la même manière qu’on a applaudi pour Conte il y a 25 ans ou peut être à cause des promesses spécifiques de Dadis quand il a confisqué le pouvoir. En seulement 10 mois, il a des centaines de victimes innocentes tuées par ses gardes.
De la même manière que les plaintes déposées contre les gouvernements passés, les guinéens ont porté plainte et demandent de l’aide pour traduire ces criminels professionnels au tribunal. Maintenant, la population guinéenne est soulagée de voir une lueur de justice a l’horizon et d’avoir le soutien de la communauté internationale.
LES GUINEENS VEULENT RAPPELER AU MONDE ENTIER QUE NOUS SOMMES DES HUMAINS ET QUE NOUS VOULONS LES MEMES DROITS QUE LES AUTRES PEUPLES.
Pour une fois, laissons la justice et le droit dirent à ces soldats qu’ils ne sont pas aussi « intouchables » qu’ils le pensent. Pour une fois, laissons la population guinéenne jouir de la protection, du soutien universel dont bénéficient les faibles contre les forts.
Pour résumer, ce sont des sentiments qui me brulent dans la tète. J’ai toujours été déçu par les réactions de la communauté internationale face aux auteurs de meurtres, viols et intimidation contre la population guinéenne parce que ceux-ci ont des armes et ils se croient au dessus de la loi, je ne veux pas me convaincre que les guinéens sont des ETERNELS PERDANTS. Nous ne pouvons pas continuer à être malchanceux. J’aimerai être agréablement surpris de voir ces assassins devant un tribunal.