In Defense of Human Rights
Eyewitness reports from Guinea on September 28 and the days following provide compelling evidence of brutal attacks on protestors and continued violence against the unarmed civilian population in Guinea, perpetrated by the Guinean military. These reports suggest that human rights were violated and, possibly, crimes against humanity committed.
Alliance Guinea applauds and stands with organizations and international agencies such as the UN Commissioner for Human Rights and Amnesty International in their call for an independent investigation into the events of September 28. And to ensure that investigations move forward, we are ready to serve as a resource for human rights organizations and governmental units looking for credible witnesses and other facilitation of investigation in Guinea. Please contact allianceguinea@gmail.com for more information.
If anyone has specific information implicating significant individual human rights violators, please contact the US Dept of Homeland Security’s Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Unit at hrvwcu@dhs.gov. Reporting tips here can further this US government unit’s mission of ”preventing the admission of foreign war crimes suspects, persecutors and human rights abusers into the United States” and “identifying, prosecuting and ultimately removing such offenders who are already unlawfully in the United States.” See here for more information about the DHS HRVWC Unit.
In addition, we have received a number of inquiries regarding the International Criminal Court (ICC) and its jurisdiction regarding potential crimes against humanity. In response, one of our Alliance Guinea collaborators, a lawyer, provided us with this information sheet on the ICC. At present, Alliance Guinea does not have a position on whether the ICC should become involved in Guinea but we are providing this information as a starting point for anyone who is interested in exploring this further.
Finally, if you are a lawyer, law student, human rights clinic or other human rights association, committee or organization and would like to get involved in the Guinean case, please contact Rachel at allianceguinea@gmail.com for more information.
If you are already working on Guinea, tell us about it here!