While no official declaration has been made by the government, Alliance Guinea has learned that the problems with SMS texting noted by Guineans since late last week are in fact due to orders from government officials, via the national Post and Telecommunications Regulation Authority (ARPT), to the telecommunications companies in the country, as reported to Alliance by a third party firm that provides essential server capacity for text messaging in the country.  The understanding is that this has been done on purported security grounds given the violence that has broken out in the wake of the elections, but no official explanation has been given.

As a consequence of this ban, citizens across Guinea are being deprived of their right to free expression and an essential means of communication. This is especially problematic during this time of great uncertainty in the country. While cell phone calling remains operational if sometimes inconsistent, text messaging is markedly less expensive for a population that on average makes less than $1 USD a day per person, making it a widely popular and efficient way of communicating quickly.

The military government previously banned mobile communications in Guinea directly following the September 28, 2009 massacre and mass rape of peaceful pro-democracy demonstrators, but quickly reversed its decision when faced with widespread public outrage. This new blockage of basic communications is particularly disturbing given the likely extended period of the ban coupled with the state of emergency that makes protest effectively impossible.  Together, the situation confounds the abilities of Guineans to move around and communicate freely in order to carry out daily business and verify whether friends and family are safe.

Furthermore, the ban on SMS texting has considerably jeopardized the Guinea Vote 2010 Witness system (GV10Witness – http://www.gv10witness.org) facilitated by Alliance Guinea as well as other post-electoral monitoring efforts that depend on text messaging from citizens and civil society organizations to track violence and human rights abuses. Since Friday, November 19, no new reports have arrived in GV10 Witness system, which had been receiving hundreds of SMS messages per day since the November 7 run-off presidential election. As a result, citizens and armed forces that have been and continue to be a party to the violence are able to act with increased impunity.

We understand that Guinea faces serious security concerns and that text messaging can be used to incite violence as well as prevent or quell it. However, limiting citizens’ rights is not the answer and has effectively crippled the ability of Guineans to report their observations to the world. The citizens of Guinea must be able to communicate during this critical moment while they wait for definitive results of the presidential run-off elections, and the government must take parallel measures to prevent all disproportionately violent and extrajudicial action by its armed forces while helping to maintain order.

Alliance Guinea deplores this repressive tactic. We urge the Government of Guinea and ARPT to immediately restore SMS services to citizens and provide an explanation for this violation of Guinean citizen’s right to expression.  This ban is inconsistent with the calls for a democratic and transparent transition process in Guinea. At the same time, we call on the citizens in Guinea to use  text messaging responsibly and for promoting transparency, peace, and justice during this critical time.

Despite the ban, GV10 Witness remains operational and able to receive reports via email to rapport@gv10temoin.org and directly online at www.gv10witness.org.  We will also continue to map media reports and encourage all interested parties to view the many hundreds of messages already sent in by citizens during this run-off period.

The Government of Guinea must immediately restore SMS services.

Alliance Guinea

Contact

AllianceGuinea@gmail.com

Guinea Blocks Citizens from Sending SMS Messages is a post from: Alliance Guinea

Dadis, December 2008 (from africa-terror.blogspot.com)

Moussa Dadis Camara declared on Sunday January 17, 2010 in Burkina Faso that he accepted to sign the declaration made on January 15, 2010 without any outside influences. He exhorted supporters to regain their houses calmly and bring the support necessary in a peaceful transition in Guinea under the auspice of Sekouba Konate.

This represents a major breakthrough in the crisis that continues to plague the innocent population of Guinea. The leader of the CNDD has finally faced the fact that only truth prevails and falsehood shines momentary before its doom. Dadis demeanor and speech sharply show that he can no longer lead and only time can tell if he will fully recover from his injuries.

Hopefully, those who are still reluctant to face this reality must know that the whole CNDD saga was just another tragic event with consequences of staggering proportion. Those who are responsible for the September 28th massacre shall account for their acts. It’s only the beginning of end for them.

Sekou Konde for Alliance Guinea

Falsehood has perished and Truth has triumphed is a post from: Alliance Guinea

Today around 5:30pm a delegation led by General Konaté, Colonel Korka and the minister of foreign affairs Alexandre Cécé Loua went to Ouagadougou to meet Captain Dadis. This meeting will undoubtedly set once again Guinea’s fate.

On the other side the Forces Vives met at the house of Jean Marie Doré – for whom the post of Prime Minister is very likely – and decided to work quicker to take the hand extended by General Sékouba Konaté. This hand risks interception by Captain Dadis Camara, which will return Guinea to its original cage, which would be truly a shame. In any case we will see more clearly whether Captain Camara or General Konaté actually leads Guinea.

Regardless, Dadis’ approach is not fortuitous for the same reasons as the hand held out by Sékouba Konaté. Undoubtedly the two men are good friends but don’t share the same vision and maybe no longer even fight for the same cause. Dadis’ short absence illustrated this difference in all its glory. The differences between the two men are enormous, even if in Guinea diverse groups are brought together by demagoguery and bad luck. The Guinean people hope that the good faith of the General, if it actually is good, will dominate over the unspoken intentions of Captain Dadis, who became drunk on power. Life is full of choices, thus Konaté must justify his choice and above all to meet it, and the Forces Vives must continue to apply pressure.

Nasser Diallo

Between Dadis and Konate, who will be in charge now? is a post from: Alliance Guinea

We knew that China – with the investments it had already made in Guinea, as it is doing across Africa – could be a stumbling block in unified international action against the junta, especially if a peace keeping or arms embargo resolution comes down to the UN Security Council. But today’s deal is simply an outrage – as rude an affront to human rights, justice, and human decency as one could imagine. Aside from the troubling symbolic nature of China recognizing the junta as a legitimate business partner, a great deal more troubling is how these funds will be used – and one can pretty much guarantee that very little of it will ever reach the Guinean people. Instead, they are much more likely to be destined for villas and brand new SUVs in the best case, arms and mercenaries in the worst case.

While we recognize that it will be very difficult for governments in America and France to pressure the Chinese out of this deal – especially if by a mostly private company – we urge the international community to condemn it and call for no further dealings in Guinea until there is a legitimate, civil government in Guinea with which to do business.

An outrage: China’s $7b deal with the junta is a post from: Alliance Guinea

The International Group on Guinea met in Abuja October 12. Following talks with Foreign Minister of Guinea and the Forum of the Forces vives of Guinea, the Group has taken a very strong inventory of measures to enable Guinea to take again its process of detransition.

We appreciate the involvement that the Group has shown and call now our partners in the implementation of decisions taken.

The Group demands that the de facto authorities in Guinea:

- Free all those who have been detained since September 28, give back the bodies of the victims to their families, allow all wounded persons in hospitals and outside, in particular raped women,  to freely receive medical care

-The Group urgently requests the United Nations Secretary General, in collaboration with ECOWAS and the African Union, and with the support of the High Commission for Human Rights, to facilitate the establishment of an international Commission of Inquiry to investigate the 28 September 2009 gross human rights violations , identify the culprits and prosecute them in the competent courts in Guinea or at the International Criminal Court.

- The adoption of individual sanctions that are targeted

- The sent by ECOWAS, in conjunction with its partners, of a civilian-military mission of observation and security

- The Group calls on the President of the CNDD to formalize not later than the deadline of 17 October 2009, fixed by the 204th meeting of the African Union Peace and Security Council, his commitment that neither himself nor members of the CNDD nor the Prime Minister would contest the Presidential election, failing which the Group calls on the African Union and relevant regional and international organizations to take appropriate measures

- To that end, the Group expresses its full support for a political solution aimed at creating a new transitional authority, through dialogue if possible, and based on the withdrawal of the CNDD, and ensuring a short and peaceful transition marked by the conduct of credible, free and fair elections in which those holding key executive positions demonstrate total neutrality throughout the electoral process.

********

A summit of Heads of State of the West African ECOWAS trade group on October 17^th in Abuja, Nigeria and a meeting of Heads of State of the African Union Peace and Security Council on October 29, 2009 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia are expected to produce significant progress towards a solution for the political crisis in Guinea. We are hoping for the continued support of the international community, in particular of our African friends, to reach a swift, peaceful and lasting solution to the crisis in Guinea

Following demands by the French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on October 10th, and similar demands by the International Contact Group for Guinea on October 12^th, 2009, France and the United States called on the United Nations’ Secretary General to establish an international commission tasked with identifying those responsible for the massacre and prosecuting them in the competent courts.

France, specifically, called on its European partners to prepare to impose targeted individual sanctions (travel bans, freeze of financial assets) against members of the military junta.

To be continued…..

Promising resolutions out of Abuja – now let’s see what happens is a post from: Alliance Guinea