ECOWAS announces "progressive sanctions" against the junta in Guinea

The empty seat of the representative of Guinea at ECOWAS, September 16, 2021. © NIPAH DENNIS/AFP

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In an extraordinary ECOWAS summit held Thursday evening September 22 in New York, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, the leaders of West African states decided to take " 

progressive sanctions

 " against the military junta in Guinea faced with the inflexibility of the military for a date for the return of civilians to power.

At the initiative of the Bissau-Guinean presidency, they also decided to send a mission to Bamako to meet the Malian authorities.

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Three hours

behind the heavy closed doors of a New York conference center

and at the end a brief declaration: it was the president of the ECOWAS Commission, the Gambian Omar Alieu Touray, who made it to the journalists, while heads of state and ministers left the building without a word,

reports our special correspondent in New York,

Léonard Vincent

.

The conclusion of the extraordinary summit, according to him, lies in two points.

First, “ 

we have decided to take sanctions against Guinea

 ,” announced the chairman of the ECOWAS commission.

According to a document summarizing this meeting of Heads of State, “ 

the taking of progressive sanctions on individuals and against the Guinean junta was stopped

 ”.

“ 

Very quickly, the current president of ECOWAS and the president of the ECOWAS commission will draw up a list of people to be sanctioned and, gradually, apply these sanctions

 ”, according to this text.

Second point, the reaffirmation of a principle: " 

Coups are unacceptable in the ECOWAS space ", said Omar Alieu Touray, adding that the heads of state always demanded an "

acceptable

 "

 transition period  .

which

is not the case today

.

High-level mission

 " about Bamako and detained Ivorian soldiers

As for Mali, a diplomatic approach which has been agreed: a " 

high-level mission

 ", composed of the Togolese, Senegalese and Ghanaian presidents will go to Bamako " 

very soon

 ", according to the President of the Commission.

There again, no precision: a diplomatic source says that it could be Tuesday, September 27.

All the Heads of State of the sub-region, specified Omar Alie Touray, agree to demand the “

immediate and unconditional

 ” release

of the 46 Ivorian soldiers detained in the country

since July 10.

► To read also: Guinea: the junta describes as "shame" and "lie" the words of the president of ECOWAS

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