Thirteen years after the massacre of September 28 in Guinea, the trial finally opens
A man walks towards the entrance to the 28-September stadium, on the eve of the opening of the trial of the 2009 massacres. AFP - CELLOU BINANI
Text by: Bineta Diagne
4 mins
On September 28, 2009, thousands of people gathered at the Conakry stadium to express their rejection of the presidential candidacy of Moussa Dadis Camara, then head of the junta.
The demonstration was violently repressed by the security forces.
The highly anticipated trial opens this Wednesday, September 28.
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From our special correspondent in Conakry
The presumed perpetrators of violence committed at the Conakry stadium on September 28, 2009 will be tried from Wednesday, September 28.
According to a UN investigation, at least 156 people were killed that day, 109 women raped, many people beaten and dozens of protesters are still missing.
After eight years of investigation, the trial against the alleged perpetrators of this violence has been postponed several times.
First trial for human rights violations
The authorities want to organize a fair and just trial.
For this, several challenges face them.
This trial is being held in a brand new courtroom, built for the occasion, located within the walls of the current Conakry Court of Appeal.
The project had experienced delays.
But several technical details have been resolved in recent days.
The magistrates were trained for three weeks to notably address the issue of mass rapes.
It was an important step in approaching a trial of such magnitude.
“
This is the first trial of human rights violations in Guinea.
We will be very attentive to the standards and the conduct of this trial.
This trial must lead to something educational to tell those who, tomorrow, will have the temptation to violate human rights, that they will go through the prison box
", explains Mamadou Aliou Barry, the director of the Center for Analysis and Strategic Studies.
Eleven high-ranking political and military figures have been charged and imprisoned.
Among these officials are the former head of the junta, Moussa Dadis Camara, his former right-hand man Toumba Diakité, Tiegboro Camara, in charge of the fight against drug trafficking, or even Claude Pivi, head of presidential security (see box below).
Former junta leader present
Sunday morning, Moussa Dadis Camara returned to Conakry after several years of exile, to participate in this trial.
For several observers, his presence is a guarantee of credibility for this trial.
For his lawyer, Me Pépé Antoine Lama, it is an opportunity to prove his innocence.
“
For thirteen years,
he explains,
President Moussa Dadis Camara has been the subject of a vast campaign of denigration.
He was presented to humanity as a person who would have given instructions to go and carry out crimes at the 28-September stadium.
He finally has the opportunity to prove that he is innocent and we hope that with the slight elements that we have found in this file, President Moussa Dadis Camara will come out of this trial with an acquittal
, ”hopes this lawyer.
Slowness
In January 2010, a few months after the repression of the demonstration at the Conakry stadium, a National Commission of Inquiry established that enforced disappearances, rapes and murders had been committed.
A month later, the authorities opened legal proceedings.
Things accelerated under the impetus of Cheikh Sako in 2014: the investigation was completed, it made it possible to charge fourteen people including Moussa Dadis Camara, who lives in exile.
This Keeper of the Seals created a steering committee that identified a site that could host the trial.
Funds are raised.
Despite these advances, the file is encountering new delays: “
several people singled out in this file remained in office until the departure of Alpha Condé
”, notes an observer, who regrets “
political blockages
”.
Finally, it is the project announced at the beginning of 2020 by Minister Mohamed Lamine Fofana before the UN in Geneva that is retained: a new courtroom is built to meet international standards.
The protection of victims in question
Since then, 450 people have joined as civil parties.
About thirty victims, presented as “direct” witnesses to the violence, are expected to testify.
What is at stake are the conditions of their participation: how to guarantee their anonymity and security?
On Friday, September 23, the Transitional Parliament adopted two bills to ensure their protection.
One question remains: the implementation of these texts.
"
To reassure the victims so that they participate in this trial, it is absolutely necessary that measures be taken through close protection
", indicates Mr. DS Bah, coordinator of the Legal Action Group in Conakry.
“
In any case, clear and precise measures are needed so that the victims feel confident.
Because we know that the defendants held high positions in the security apparatus,
continues this lawyer.
There is another aspect, it is the compensation
fund: this fund should allow victims to be relieved while waiting for the opening of the trial, because there are enormous difficulties for some, mobility problems and health.
»
The hearings will be filmed, in order to make this judicial sequence accessible to the greatest number of Guineans.
September 28, 2009, a black day in the history of Guinea
With our correspondent in Conakry,
Mouctar Bah
That day, elements of Captain Moussa Dadis Camara's presidential guard from the Alpha Yaya Diallo military camp burst into the Conakry stadium.
Tens of thousands of opponents of the junta gathered in this stadium - the largest in the capital - to say no to the announced candidacy of the officer in the presidential election scheduled for January 2010.
Heavily armed soldiers join elements of the gendarmerie and the CMIS, the mobile intervention and security company, deployed since the early hours of the morning.
It is 11 a.m. when the shots begin to crackle from the side of the town hall of Dixinn, east of the stadium.
Soldiers, gendarmes, police and other armed militia quickly invade the stadium from all sides, shooting unarmed demonstrators on sight.
The civilians try to flee as best they can.
After an hour, lifeless bodies, seriously injured people strewn the lawn, the stands and the inside of the stadium courtyard.
Women are raped by soldiers inside the sports hall and in the stadium's toilets and locker rooms.
Eleven men in the dock
Thirteen years later, after a slow investigation procedure and trial postponements, eleven are expected this morning in the dock.
Starting with Captain Moussa Dadis Camara who was leading the country at the time of the events.
He returned to Conakry last weekend from Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso where he had lived in forced exile for more than ten years.
At his side, Abdoulaye Chérif Diaby, then Minister of Health and Public Hygiene, charged in 2012. According to several victims, he would have prevented the injured from receiving treatment in public hospitals.
Moussa Thiègboro Camara, gendarme, at the time of the events, was minister in charge of the fight against drugs and organized crime.
Despite his indictment, he benefited from the confidence of President Alpha Condé who appointed him secretary general to the presidency in charge of special services.
He was implicated by the report of the UN commission of inquiry.
Claude Pivi, alias Coplan, was in charge of presidential security in 2009.
When President Alpha Condé came to power, he held a similar position with the rank of minister before falling out of favor.
Also accused, Aboubacar Sidiki Diakité "alias" Toumba, military doctor and former aide-de-camp to Captain Dadis Camara.
The other defendants are less known.
They are Lieutenant Blaise Guémou, Ibrahima Camara, alias Kalonzo, both gendarmes, but also Marcel Guilavogui, Cécé raphael Haba, Alpha Amadou Baldé and Paul Moussa Guilavogui.
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