President Obama, State of the Union (from White House)

Speaking in his first State of the Union address, President Obama tonight used Guinea as an example of how America’s fate and belief in liberty is inextricably linked to that of people around the world.

America takes these actions [of international engagement] because our destiny is connected to those beyond our shores.  But we also do it because it is right,” the president said. “That’s why, as we meet here tonight, over 10,000 Americans are working with many nations to help the people of Haiti recover and rebuild.  That’s why we stand with the girl who yearns to go to school in Afghanistan; why we support the human rights of the women marching through the streets of Iran; [and]

why we advocate for the young man denied a job by corruption in Guinea. For America must always stand on the side of freedom and human dignity.  Always.”

Haiti, Afghanistan, Iran, and Guinea – America must take a stand because it is right thing to do.

It is a powerful message, and the prominence that President Obama has given to the struggle for freedom and human dignity in Guinea in particular is an extraordinary recognition of the importance of our cause – and of the fact that this struggle is in fact everyone’s cause.

We thank the president for his commitment to American engagement in these crucial issues of our time and encourage him not to relent in undertaking and supporting concrete actions for real, positive impact.  Alliance Guinea supports ongoing US engagement in Guinea and rest assured that we will be continuing to advocate for that young man – as well as for the millions of his brothers and sisters who have been born and raised in dictatorship and poverty and are ready to build a new future of democracy and prosperity.

What did this part of President Obama’s speech meant to you?  Leave a comment and tell us what you think, and what we should include in a letter to the president that we are preparing in response to the speech.

And if you are in the US, NOW is the time to head to your Congressional representatives’ offices and tell them what the President meant by that line. To find people around you and set up a meeting, please contact the Alliance Congressional Action Team  at brian_d_b@yahoo.com.

Jennifer Swift-Morgan for Alliance Guinea

La situation politique évolue en Guinée. La junte militaire au pouvoir est prise dans ses propres contradictions.

Les massacres du 28 septembre 2009 ont révélé le vrai visage des militaires qui ont pris le contrôle du pouvoir en Guinée le 23 Décembre 2008. Le peuple de Guinée et la communauté internationale sont désormais convaincus de la nature criminelle de cette junte. Tous les auteurs des crimes contre l’humanité devront être arrêtés et traduits devant la Cour Pénale Internationale. C’est désormais une question de temps car la machine judiciaire est en marche. Le rapport de la commission d’enquête internationale est clair : Moussa Dadis Camara et plusieurs membres du CNDD sont rendus coupables des massacres et des viols au Stade du 28 Septembre.

Isolé et dénoncé par la Communauté Internationale, Dadis a voulu porter toute la responsabilité du massacre et des viols sur Toumba Diakhité et ses troupes. Les règlements de compte ont ainsi commencé au sein de l’armée. La réaction de Toumba n’a pas tardé car se sentant livré à la justice internationale, ce dernier a aussitôt réagi en tirant une balle à la nuque de Dadis pour l’éliminer. Toumba est toujours en fuite et fait l’objet d’une recherche sur tout le territoire.

Dadis Camara, quant à lui, est toujours au Maroc sous la surveillance des services  de sécurité de ce pays. Les Américains et les Français mettent actuellement la pression sur le royaume chérifien pour garder Dadis en lieu sûr en attendant la décision de la CPI de l’arrêter et de le traduire devant la justice internationale.

En Guinée, comme la politique a horreur du vide, le Général Konaté assure l’intérim du pouvoir en attendant d’avoir le total contrôle de l’armée guinéenne en pleine déconfiture. Jusqu’ici, Konaté n’a fait aucun discours affirmant la pleine prise du pouvoir. Il laisse seulement entendre sa volonté de restaurer la discipline et le respect de la hiérarchie au sein de l’armée. Il s’engagerait aussi à organiser « dès que possible » des élections libres et transparentes pour laisser le pouvoir aux civils. Mais tous les officiers restés fidèles à Dadis n’entendent pas céder le pouvoir et perdre les privilèges attachés à la confiscation du pouvoir par la junte. Les militaires ayant participé aux massacres et viols du 28 Septembre 2009 savent que leurs crimes ne resteront pas impunis. Ils sont sous la menace d’une dénonciation certaine dans les semaines et mois à venir. Ils mettront donc tout en œuvre pour empêcher le départ de la junte du pouvoir.

Le Général Konaté est donc sous la menace d’un putch préparé et conduit par le capitaine Pivi, ses troupes et autres acolytes. Il vient de prendre la décision de libérer des officiers emprisonnés aux îles de Loos par Moussa Dadis Camara au lendemain de la prise du pouvoir par la junte. Cette libération et la demande de fermeture d’un camps de miliciens près de Forécariah augurent d’une volonté de neutraliser les troupes de Pivi acquises à la cause de Dadis. Le futur scénario des règlements de compte au sein de l’armée se traduira par l’affrontement possible entre les troupes de Pivi et les militaires qui se placeront sous l’autorité du Général Konaté.

La tâche de Konaté sera rude car le contrôle de l’armée guinéenne ne sera pas facile et ne se fera pas du jour au lendemain. Il aura besoin de temps et de beaucoup de moyens pour réussir un retour de l’ordre et de la discipline au sein de l’armée. Il lui sera surtout difficile de convaincre tous les militaires de la nature de leur mission pour la nation guinéenne.

La tentation de garder le pouvoir n’est toujours pas à exclure car face aux militaires, nous déplorons tous la division des partis politiques et le manque d’un réel leadership en Guinée. Les ambitions personnelles et l’organisation des partis politiques sur des bases ethnocentristes ou régionalistes constituent les causes des réelles faiblesses de la classe politique guinéenne.

Les leaders politiques et syndicaux doivent faire preuve d’un sens élevé de responsabilité pour ne pas encourager l’installation durable d’un autre régime militaire en Guinée. Nous devons arrêter de cautionner de manière directe ou indirecte l’usage de la force dans le contrôle et l’exercice du pouvoir en Guinée. Ne soyons pas amnésiques car toute dictature ne conduira notre pays qu’au chaos. L’usage de la force ne servira qu’à sauvegarder les intérêts d’une minorité aux dépens des intérêts légitimes de notre peuple.

Sous la dictature, il n’y'aura jamais de développement en Guinée. Seul l’avènement d’un régime démocratique et la création d’un Etat de droit conduiront notre pays vers le développement. Notre intérêt à tous est de cultiver et de développer la Conscience nationale. Nous devons nous battre pour élever le débat politique et sortir des considérations personnelles, ethniques et régionalistes. J’avoue que les vieux leaders politiques ne facilitent ce travail aux jeunes arrivants. Pourtant, il est plus que temps d’ouvrir notre pays aux réalités du monde et de s’inscrire dans sa marche et sa dynamique. La Guinée ne peut pas continuer de vivre à la marge du monde et de ne pas suivre la voie du progrès économique et social.

Nous devons rejeter toute idée de fatalité ou de malédictions.

La pauvreté et la misère ne sont pas des fatalités.

Notre peuple dispose de réelles potentialités pour lutter et vaincre le sous-développement dans notre pays. Travaillons à la mobilisation des consciences et des énergies pour construire notre pays. Aimons notre peuple et nourrissons la grande ambition de construire une grande nation éprise de paix et de prospérité.

Nous allons nous déterminer dans les futures élections démocratiques non pas en fonction de critères ethniques ou régionalistes mais uniquement en fonction des projets de société présentés par les partis politiques représentatifs et responsables. Notre vote fera le choix non d’un homme, d’une ethnie ou d’une région mais le choix du meilleur projet de société pour construire un Etat de droit, l’unité et la prospérité en terre guinéenne et africaine.

La jeunesse guinéenne est le fer de lance des transformations indispensables pour engager notre pays sur la voie du développement.

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Tous unis, tous solidaires pour construire la Guinée de demain.

Bonne année à tous les militants pour une guinée plus démocratique

Mamadou Barry

In calling the atrocities committed in Conakry, Guinea “crimes against humanity,” the United Nations has taken one step toward bringing those responsible for that criminal behavior to justice.  Our world leaders must urge the International Criminal Court, which is legally independent of the U.N., to prosecute all perpetrators to the full extent of the law and to issue a status report of the I.C.C. investigation underway.

Although the U.N. has singled out specific military leaders as the individuals directly responsible for the massacre, the I.C.C. must fully investigate and hold accountable all individuals who were either directly or indirectly involved in the attacks.  Until that happens, justice will not be served.

Norman Siegel, New York

The writer is a civil rights lawyer and the Treasurer of the Amadou Diallo Foundation, Inc.

Since the September 28 massacre in Guinea by members of the Government security apparatus; human rights organizations and United Nations investigation teams have concluded their inquiries. Human Rights Watch (HRW) published its report on Thursday 17  December, which clearly demonstrates that the crimes (sexual, physical violence etc…) committed that day where premeditated and the evidence strongly suggests that they amount to crimes against humanity.

An interview of some 240 individuals, including victims wounded during the attack, witnesses present in the stadium, relatives of missing people, soldiers who participated in the violent crackdown and the government cover-up… led to their conclusion. This suggests that Presidential Guards acted according to specific orders and they intended to inflict serious harm on innocent people.

We also await the release of the UN Commission of Inquiry’s report, apparently delivered to Secretary General Ban Ki-moon the same day as the HRW report release, but it is not yet in the public domain.  Given the interview that Dadis’s erstwhile right-hand man Toumba gave to RFI this week pointing the finger back at the incapacitated junta leader, it is more critical than ever that the investigation be transparent and the findings shared publicly.

Those who committed these murderous and heinous acts must not go unpunished. The perpetrators must be brought to justice or justice brought to them. Those who also assisted in the planned massacre must be held accountable for their behavior. An assistant to a crime has a responsibility in the crime committed.

Sekou Konde for Alliance Guinea

Wednesday night in New York, we gathered with Guinean music masters Famoro Dioubate, Missia Saran Dioubate, and Bailo Bah and their talented friends for an evening just to celebrate all that’s beautiful about Guinea and to pray for peace. Bailo Bah and then Famoro and his band Kakande played up a storm and made us all nostalgic, and hopeful for better times ahead.

Demonstrators marching to the UN on Dec 8

From Mayor David Dinkins to opposition party leader Francois Fall, Radio Nostalgie journalist and September 28 eye witness Nassirou Diallo to students from Herricks High School on Long Island, Mme Kadiatou Diallo to New York activist and writer Kevin Powell, hundreds of people marched from the  Guinean consulate to the United Nations in New York today to say that we will not stand idly by as the latest military despots in Guinea act with impunity.  Instead, the crowd demanded that the perpetrators of the September 28 atrocities be brought to justice and that the international community take concrete action to protect the civilian population in Guinea, remove the military from power and help the organization of the first free and fair presidential elections in the country’s history.

The organizers of the march, the September 28 Coalition for Justice and Democracy in Guinea – led by the Commission of the Guinea Forces Vives in the US, Alliance Guinea and the Amadou Diallo Foundation – delivered this memo to the Secretary General demanding that the international Commission of Inquiry investigate and prosecute the crimes to the fullest extent of the law, that the UN assist ECOWAS and the African Union in finding another mediator to replace or work with Blaise to *get the CNDD out of power,* and that the international community provide the technical, financial and political assistance necessary to provide an intervention force to shepherd Guinea through a transition to a democratically elected civil government. With the chaos in the military and uncertainties of Guinea’s rule worsening by the day – we need this assistance more now than ever.

"The ICC is watching." From the September 28 march in NYC

As demonstrated by the highly disappointing transition deal proposed by Blaise Campaore and recent arrest of the activist Mouctar Diallo in Conakry, the fight for justice and democratically-elected civilian rule in Guinea is far from over. The UN’s International Commission of Inquiry landed in Conakry last week and is currently conducting an initial 10-day investigation into the atrocities committed on September 28, trying “to establish the facts, classify the crimes and determine who was responsible.”

In order to express the need for the Commission of Inquiry to pursue its investigation to the end and make it possible for justice to be served – and to express the additional, urgent need for the UN to do everything in its powers to support the African Union and ECOWAS in designing and implementing a plan for a transition to democratic elections without delay – we must keep the UN, the US and the world aware of what is happening in Guinea.  We cannot stand idly by as crimes against humanity go unpunished, a nation is kept hostage by its own military, and an entire sub-region is endangered by the very real threat of ethnic-based civil war. Not this time.

Join the newly-formed September 28 Coalition for Justice and Democracy in Guinea for a march and rally at the United Nations to add your voice to the thousands of Guineans and friends of Guinea, justice and democracy who will be marching to say “not this time.”  Two months after the atrocities were committed and we first marched to the UN calling for an end to military rule, we must keep up the pressure and do so now with a diverse, united voice.

When: Tuesday, December 8, 2009, 11am – 3pm

Details:

11am: Protest at the Guinean Consulate, E. 39^th & Lexington

12noon: March down 3^rd Ave. to Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza

12:30pm – 3pm: Rally at the UN – E. 47^th & UN Plaza

Speakers to include: Kadiatou Diallo, Mayor David Dinkins, Kevin Powell, Norman Siegel, award-winning Guinean activists such as Mme Doussou Conde, eye-witnesses to the 28 atrocities and Mme Magassouba direct from Conakry, representative of rape survivors.

Organized by the September 28 Coalition for Justice and Democracy in Guinea: The Guinean Forces Vives in the United States ♦ Alliance Guinea ♦ The Amadou Diallo Foundation

Blaise Campaore

Cona-cry relied on Blaise’s so-called wisdom to resolve the Guinean crisis. For a while we deliberately closed our eyes to his former agenda: the assassination of Thomas Sankara and the silence surrounding the death of journalist Norbert Zongo, conflicts created and substantiated across West Africa from the time of Ivorian president Houphouët Boigny until the time of Charles Taylor to the Hague today…In the Liberia-Sierra Leone conflict alone, undeniably supported by Burkina’s “Mr. Wisdom”, we have witnessed the systematic elimination of “over 300 000 casualties”. As for neighboring Ivory Coast, the ephemeral tranquility that it savors this very moment only came about when Blaise was called to the rescue as mediator. Not surprising, the fire that ravaged Ivory Coast was extinguished by Burkina-Faso, who served as the home base for rebels.

Guinea, on the other hand, is an entirely different story. The people rose against the ruling junta, not to overthrow the power, but rather to establish the foundation for a stable lasting democracy. This in today’s Africa is undoubtedly a threat to the status quo in the eyes of self-proclaimed heads of state, former conspirators, terrorists reborn into Messiahs who now lead the pack. A popular upheaval that leads us towards a stable and durable democracy, regardless of where in Africa this takes place, remains a serious threat to those in power. The Burkinabe president couldn’t have been offered a better opportunity than to serve as mediator in Guinea, where his policies will seemingly be limited to the systematic suffocation of the democratic process that otherwise would inspire the Burkinabe people, who have up until now been deprived of democracy.

One must recognize however, that the Guinean opposition was apparently too optimistic regarding the promises and support from the international community, and had all but given up hope of help on that front, and instead their hope rode solely on the anticipated help from Blaise. One would think that with the unanimous condemnation from the international community, Blaise would have sought to be seen in a “wise” light instead of an opportunistic one.  However, up until now reality has revealed the opposite. It seems that the strong man from the land known for the integrity of its inhabitants much prefers the petty gold of naïve kinglets than the wisdom of the other Africa that seeks to renew itself. The other day, was there not just mention of the 50 kg of gold that Dadis sent him? In any case the verdict on his synthesis is clear: no foreseeable transparent and fair election in Guinea.  Meanwhile the allegations against the South African mercenaries who have been training rebels in the confines of Forecariah are continuing to gather steam, the international community, all talk and not enough action, is the perfect spectator anticipating the ultimate carnage. After all, just as in Rwanda, they will have solid arguments: “We were not aware…”

Mamadou Maladho Diallo

After reading the wire from Agence France Presse (AFP), I spent the whole night wondering how Blaise got to this proposal.
I note that he proposes “ … A National Transition Council will be established for 10 months. It will be presided by a member of the junta, the CNDD, who will nominate a Prime Minister from the Forces Vives…”. This was the CNDD’s proposal. It’s a remake of the timeline that was elaborated by the junta and the Forces Vives without “help” from the mediation. This proposal means that:

1.      Dadis Camara has the possibility to remain in place.

2.      Dadis can be a candidate for the next presidential election and that’s contrary to ECOWAS’ roadmap.

Mr. Compaore seems to have been oblivious to the protest of Guineans across the globe. He seems to ignore that opposition to the probable candidacy of Dadis is what brought about the bloody crackdown of September 28: this mediation amounts to treating the effects while ignoring the root causes.
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Mamadou