Amnesty International today warned that Guinea risks a new era of human rights violations if urgent reforms of the security forces do not take place and the perpetrators of last year's massacre continue to escape justice.
In a new report examining the "Bloody Monday" massacre on 28 September 2009 and its aftermath, Amnesty International outlines a series of reforms for Guinea's security forces to ensure human rights are upheld in the West African country.
Guinea security forces killed more than 150 people and raped over 40 women during and following the protests. More than 1,500 people were wounded and many people went missing or were detained.
At least two senior military officers named by the United Nations as potentially having individual criminal responsibility for events constituting crimes against humanity, remain in positions of influence in the Guinean Presidential Cabinet, despite the formation of a new transitional government.
The report documents extrajudicial executions, torture and other ill-treatment, rape, sexual slavery and arbitrary detention carried out by particular units of Guinea's armed forces - the gendarmerie - and police. It reveals how weapons and security equipment supplied from South Africa, France and elsewhere provided the tools for the crimes perpetrated on 28 September 2009.
"Instead of facing justice for these crimes, the perpetrators of the Bloody Monday massacre remain in positions of authority, protected from prosecution," said Gaëtan Mootoo of Amnesty International.
"Reform of the security forces based on international human rights standards is urgently needed to avoid a repeat of the horrific events of last September. This has to be accompanied by justice for those responsible for the Bloody Monday massacre." said Gaëtan Mootoo.
Recent military assistance and training provided by China, France and other countries to Guinean military and security units responsible for 'Bloody Monday' is disclosed in the report. This assistance was provided without adequate human rights safeguards, and despite these units' decade-long history of human rights violations.
Any future reforms of the Guinea security forces must establish respect for international human rights and humanitarian law, and must not permit impunity for security force members responsible for serious human rights violations. The international community should only assist in reforms if they are consistent with international law and standards.