Why Guinea’s Election Crisis Matters by Peter Pham

The Guinean opposition has always enjoyed the support of the overwhelming majority of Guineans, as evidenced in this 2013 video.

The following article appeared in the April 23, 2015 issue of the US News and World Report. You will not find a better assessment of the dire political situation in Guinea today.  The author, Peter Pham, is to be commended for his research and for parsing out the truth often masked by government disinformation campaigns.

Why Guinea’s Election Crisis Matters
The country is key to maintaining peace and stability in West Africa.

Guinea security forces and protesters on Monday, April 13, 2015.
By J. Peter Pham April 23, 2015 | 11:00 a.m. EDT + More

The international community breathed a collective sigh of relief following the recent presidential, parliamentary and gubernatorial elections in Nigeria. Although the competition was the fiercest Nigerians have ever seen and the polls were marred by some irregularities and a few regrettable episodes of violence, the graceful concession of the defeated incumbent president and the magnanimity of his challenger pave the way for next month’s historic peaceful, democratic handover of power in Africa’s most populous country. It is a significant milestone, not only for Nigeria, but for Africa as a whole.
But imagine what would have happened if President Goodluck Jonathan had rigged the election process or simply refused to accept President-elect Muhammadu Buhari’s win at the ballot box? That’s what President Alpha Conde is trying to do in nearby Guinea, a geopolitically sensitive nation in the same West African subregion, where the political upheaval and ethnic conflict being risked could easily spill over into neighboring countries, including Mali, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast, all of which are just themselves emerging from prolonged periods of civil strife. Consequently, there is an urgent need for the international community to engage more robustly in Guinea. The good news from Nigeria should not be an excuse for complacency about the prospects for democracy and stability elsewhere in the region.
Moreover, we should not view Guinea merely through the prism of Ebola, despite the efforts of the incumbent president to blame everything on the epidemic of which his country has been the unfortunate epicenter, as he shamelessly did this past week in Washington. Even before the outbreak of deadly disease wreaked havoc with the economy, both urban and rural poverty were increasing during the president’s tenure according to his own finance ministry’s report to the International Monetary Fund. Unable to run on his weak record, Conde, in office since a disputed election in 2010, is using every trick in the book to remain in power. Recently, the regime has been increasingly blatant in rigging the electoral process to ensure that it “wins” the elections scheduled for less than six months from now.
The political opposition realizes that it is being railroaded by the government, which controls the so-called Independent National Electoral Commission. That body has rejiggered the electoral calendar to give an insurmountable advantage to the incumbent president, who has refused to engage in a political dialogue with the opposition for almost a year.
Frustrated by both the government’s intransigence and the international community’s lack of attention, the coalition representing the major opposition parties has taken to the streets to demand free, fair and transparent elections. The peaceful demonstrations, including a massive one planned for this Thursday, have continued despite the regime’s attempts to violently repress them. On Monday, for example, several protesters, including a 15-year-old boy, were wounded when live rounds were fired at them by police.
As a result of these demonstrations, Conde’s government has finally offered to renew dialogue with the opposition. However, Cellou Dalein Diallo, a free-market economist and former prime minister, and other leaders of the opposition coalition have declined to participate in talks with the government until two conditions are met: the pro-government electoral commission must cease to function and be revamped; and the timetable for elections which the commission unilaterally announced must be dropped in favor of one which represents the consensus of all stakeholders. Speaking from Paris on Wednesday, Conde rejected any change to the election timetable.
The preconditions are necessary because opposition leaders do not trust Conde and think that the offer of negotiations is little more than a clever trap, just fruitless dialogue designed to waste time as the electoral clock continues to tick.
The opposition is confident that it has the support of the masses. Of course, it will have to prove that assertion at the polls. But for that to occur, the entire electoral process must be free, fair and transparent. And the process has to begin long before the Oct. 11 date chosen for the presidential vote. The opposition is demanding, quite reasonably, that local elections that Conde has postponed on one pretext or another for more than four years be held before the presidential poll, in accordance with Guinea’s laws as well as the repeated promises of the president himself.
Why is this so important? First, there is no basis in the Guinean constitution for the repeated postponements of these elections and, as a result of them, as both opposition politicians and civil society leaders have pointed out, none of those occupying local government offices – mayors, local council members, ward chiefs, etc. – has a legal mandate. Second, as many observers have noted, the criteria under which these officials have been retained without the consent of their constituents has been their allegiance to the president. Third, these same unelected local officials, dependent as they are upon the incumbent for their livelihood, will be the very people who, at the grassroots level, will not only be determining who can register to vote ahead of the polls and who casts ballots on election day, but will themselves be counting ballots and tabulating results.
Opposition candidates and pro-democracy advocates alike fear, justifiably, based on their experience in the controversial 2010 presidential election from which many reports emerged of fraud, that the process will be corrupted. Thus, these activists have called on the international community, especially the United Nations, the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States, the European Union, France and the United States, to engage more energetically in Guinea to ensure a level playing field for the upcoming local and presidential elections. Deploying foreign observers to monitor polling sites on election day would be too little too late.
Why does Guinea matter? Why should the international community, with so many crises demanding attention, even care? Guinea matters because it constitutes a case of arrested development, a country which has never realized its ambitions despite extraordinary human and natural resources – among other things, it holds two-thirds of the world’s largest reserve of bauxite, and prodigious amounts of gold, diamonds, iron ore, graphite, manganese and other mineral resources – that could make Guinea potentially one of the richest nations in Africa. Alas, since independence in 1958, the country has been run by a series of authoritarian leaders who have ruled from the top down for the benefit of the fortunate few, not for the entire nation. Moreover, without credible elections, Guinea risks plunging into a profound political crisis and, indeed, outright conflict. Ethnic tensions are already being stoked and, in a region whose borders were very recently shown by the rapid spread of the Ebola virus to be all-too-porous, such conflicts will be impossible to contain.
To head off this very real threat, the international community needs to engage now to ensure free, fair and transparent elections yielding credible results acceptable to all Guineans. It not only matters for the people of Guinea, but is critical to maintaining peace, stability, and democratic gains of the entire region.
J. Peter Pham is director of the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center.

Anniversary of the death of Diallo Telli. Letter Pottal-Fii-Bhantal Fouta to the President of the African Union (EN-FR)

Anniversary of the death of Diallo Telli. Letter Pottal-Fii-Bhantal Fouta to the President of the African Union

March 1st, 2015

To His Excellency Dr. Nkosazana Clarice Dlamini Zuma,
Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Excellency,
On March 1st, 1977, the first General Secretary of the Organization of African Unity, Mr. Boubacar Diallo Telli, was assassinated by starvation by the regime of Sékou Touré. To date, his remains have not been located. After the arrest of Mr. Diallo on conspiracy fabrications, the Guinean regime of the time triggered a campaign against Mr. Telli’s Fulani ethnic group of Guinea. Civil war and pogroms were avoided, due to the restraint and wisdom the Guinean populations displayed. During those dark years of Guinea’s history, neither the Organization of African Unity nor any African leader made a public statement condemning the regime of Sékou Touré or at least appealing to the Guinean leader for restraint, in his campaign against one of the ethnic components of Guinean nation.
Mr. Diallo Telli was a fervent militant of the liberation of the continent; as a Permanent Representative of Guinea’s Mission at the United Nations to his position as head of the OAU. At the OAU, he was an advocate of the unity of Africa. He cemented the foundation of the organization by vigorous diplomacy that enabled the merger of the two blocks of independent Africa: the block of Monrovia and the block of Casablanca. Mr. Diallo Telli has marked the history of modern Africa through his work for total independence of the continent and the fight against apartheid, namely with the Liberation Committee based in Dar-Es- Salaam, which reported directly to the OAU and to his authority.
The disappearance of Mr. Telli Diallo in tragic and ignominious circumstances is an open wound of Guinea’s history. The silence surrounding his fate, thirty-eight years after his death, is a spot that tarnishes the image of the whole continent. The Republic of South Africa has certainly honored Mr. Diallo Telli posthumously for his contribution to the struggle against apartheid. In addition, Guinea has named one of the main boulevards in Conakry after him. The purpose of our letter is to ask you to pursue, across the continent, the recognition due to the great African that Mr. Diallo Telli will always be. Your promotion as the head of the African Union, symbolizes the promise of emancipation of Africa through its women. Added to your background as militant of the ANC, nobody has higher moral ground to pursue the rehabilitation of Mr. Diallo Telli. We propose that the African Union marks every 1st of March with a minute of silence in memory of the first Secretary General of the OAU. We urge you to take measures, through an ad-hoc committee of Africans, to locate the remains of Mr. Diallo Telli and hold proper funeral for him. Such action would be an act of historical significant importance. It would be an acknowledgement from the African Union to present and future generations that Africa is no longer willing to carry the image of a continent of violations of human rights with an entrenched culture of impunity that have ruined the chances of economic and social development on the continent.
Pottal-Fii-Bhantal Fouta Djallon is a non-profit organization from Guinea, dedicated to regional development and self-reliance, with as foundation, justice for all. Mr. Diallo is a citizen of our region in Guinea. It is our first and foremost duty to preserve his memory as the embodiment of the noblest African values. However, it is the people of Guinea as a whole that bitterly resents the silence that has surrounded the tragedy that has led to the killing of Mr. Diallo and of so many of distinguished citizens of our country. This silence, under the guise of national sovereignty, continues to maintain an unhealthy climate of impunity in our country.
We are convinced that any actions on your part would be an opportunity for renewal of government practices in Africa. As such, Pottal-Fii-Bhantal Fouta Djallon has appealed to many human rights organizations, to all citizens of Guinea and Africa dedicated to justice, to join in the call we are making to you.
Excellence, we remain available for any further information that would help clarify the object of our demand. Please accept here the expression of our highest consideration and our best wishes for your success in the service of Africa.
COMMISSION CENTRAL POTTAL-FII-BHANTAL Fouta-Djallon
Copies:
Mr. Désiré Ouedraogo Kadré, President of the ECOWAS Commission
President John Dramani Mahama, President of the ECOWAS
Security Council and the African Union Peace
President of Côte d’Ivoire, Mr. Alhassane Ouattara
President of Senegal, Mr. Macky Sall
Commission of the UN Human Rights
UN Commission against Violence on Women
Mr. Léon Tanoh, ECOWAS, the UN representative
Representative of the European Union in Guinea
US Department of State – Global Justice System
Law Commission of the National Assembly of Guinea
Minister of Justice of Guinea

Anniversaire de la mort de Diallo Telli. Lettre de Pottal-Fii-Bhantal Fouta-Djalon à la présidente de l’Union Africaine.

                           

Le 1^er Mars 2015

À son Excellence Dr. Nkosazana Clarice Dlamini Zuma,

Présidente de la commission de l’Union Africaine, Addis-Abeba, Éthiopie.

 

Excellence,

 

 

Le 1^er Mars 1977, le premier secrétaire général de l’Organisation de l’Unité Africaine, Mr. Boubacar Telli Diallo, fut assassiné par inanition par le régime de Sékou Touré. À ce jour, sa dépouille mortelle n’a pas été localisée. Après l’arrestation de Mr. Diallo sur des fabulations de complot, le  régime guinéen de l’époque déclencha une campagne contre l’ethnie peule de Guinée dont Mr. Telli est issu. La guerre civile et les pogroms furent évités de justesse, grâce à la retenue dont les populations guinéennes firent preuve.  Durant ces années noires de l’histoire de la Guinée, ni l’Organisation de l’Unité Africaine ni aucun leader africain ne fit une déclaration publique condamnant  le régime de Sékou Touré ou tout au moins en appeler  au leader guinéen à la retenue dans sa campagne contre l’une des composantes ethnique de la nation guinéenne.

Mr. Diallo Telli fut un fervent militant de la libération du continent ; depuis sa mission de représentant permanent de la Guinée aux Nations-Unies, jusque dans ses fonctions à la tête de l’OUA. À l’OUA, il fut l’avocat de la cause de l’union dans l’Afrique indépendante. Il cimenta les fondations de l’organisation par une diplomatie vigoureuse  qui permit notamment, la fusion des deux Blocs de l’Afrique indépendante: le bloc  de Monrovia et celui de Casablanca.  Mr. Diallo Telli aura marqué  l’histoire de l’Afrique moderne par son œuvre dans la lutte  contre l’Apartheid, à travers le Comité de libération installé à Dar-es-Salam qui  relevait directement de l’OUA et de son autorité. 

La disparition de M. Diallo dans des circonstances tragiques et ignominieuses est une plaie béante de l’histoire de la Guinée. Le silence qui entoure son sort, 38 années après sa mort, est une tâche qui ternit l’image de tout le continent. La République d’Afrique du Sud a certainement honoré M. Diallo Telli à titre posthume pour sa contribution à la lutte contre l’apartheid. En outre, la Guinée a donné son nom à  l’un des principaux boulevards de Conakry. Le but de notre lettre est de vous demander de poursuivre, à l’échelle du continent, la reconnaissance due au grand Africain  que M. Diallo Telli fut et  restera. Votre promotion à la tête de l’Union africaine symbolise la promesse d’émancipation de l’Afrique à travers ses femmes. Ajouté à votre passé de militante de l’ANC, personne n’a une position morale supérieure que vous pour poursuivre la réhabilitation de M. Diallo Telli. Nous proposons que l’Union africaine marque chaque 1^er Mars avec une minute de silence à la mémoire du premier Secrétaire général de l’OUA. Nous vous invitons à prendre des mesures, à travers  un comité ad hoc d’africains, pour localiser les restes de M. Diallo Telli et lui organiser des funérailles convenables. Une telle action serait un acte d’une importance historique. Ce serait un message de l’Union africaine aux générations présentes et du futures que l’Afrique n’est plus prêt à porter l’image d’un continent des violations des droits de l’homme avec une culture bien ancrée de l’impunité qui ont ruiné les chances de développement économique et social sur la continent.

Pottal-Fii-Bhantal Fouta-Djallon est une organisation guinéenne à but non lucratif qui travaille en faveur du développement régional et autocentré avec comme fondation, la justice pour tous. Mr. Diallo est ressortissant de notre région en Guinée. Il nous incombe certes, au premier chef, de préserver sa mémoire en tant qu’incarnation des plus nobles valeurs africaines.  Mais, c’est le peuple guinéen dans son ensemble qui ressent avec amertume, le silence qui aura entouré la tragédie qui a permis l’assassinat de Mr. Diallo ainsi que tant de ses distingués fils. Ce silence, sous le couvert de la souveraineté nationale, continue  à maintenir un climat malsain d’impunité dans notre pays.

Nous sommes convaincus que toute action de votre part représenterait une chance de renouveau des pratiques gouvernementales en Afrique. À ce titre, Pottal-Fii-Bhantal Fouta-Djallon en a appelé à maintes organisations des droits de l’homme, à tous les citoyens guinéens et africains épris de justice, à se joindre à  l’appel  que nous vous lançons.

Excellence, en restant à votre disposition pour toute information complémentaire qui contribuerait à éclairer l’objet de notre démarche, veuillez trouver ici l’expression de notre haute considération et nos vœux les meilleurs pour votre succès au service de l’Afrique.

 

La Commission Centrale de Pottal-Fii-Bhantal Fouta-Djallon

3396 Third Avenue 1st Floor BRONX, NY 11456-Tel: 301-310-1566

 

Ampliations:

·          Mr. Kadré Désiré OUEDRAOGO,  Président de la Commission de la  CEDEAO

·          Président John Dramani Mahama, président en exercice de la CEDEAO

·          Conseil de Sécurité et de la Paix de l’Union Africaine

·          Président de la Côte d’Ivoire, Mr. Alhassane Ouattara

·          Président du Sénégal, Mr. Macky Sall

·          Commissionner des Droits de l’homme de l’ONU

·          Commission de l’ONU contre la violence sur les femmes

·          Mr. Léon Tanoh, représentant de la CEDEAO à l’ONU

·          Représentant de l’Union Européenne en Guinée

·          Département d’état Américain – Global Justice System

·          Commission des lois de l’Assemblée Nationale de la Guinée

·          Ministre de la justice de la Guinée

·          Ministre des droits de l’homme de la Guinée

·          Ambassades de la Guinée à l’ONU et aux États-Unis

·          FIDH

·          OGDH

·          Associations Guinéenne des victimes : AVIPA, AFADIS, AGORA, Camp Boiro

·          Human Right Watch

·          Human Right First

 

 

 

Opposition Statement Provides More Details on Letter to Ban ki-moon, Monitoring Mission, Upcoming Elections,”Dead City” Day, and Whether to Seat Delegates at the National Assembly

Aboubacar Sylla, spokesperson of the opposition, read a statement this afternoon which provides more information on topics announced earlier in the day.  This is an excerpt.  If you wish to read this in French, please click on the link below.  Further below is the English version via Google and a bit of editing by Guinea Oye.

 

From: guineenews.org 

 

Le porte parole de l’opposition : « Notre position commune va attendre encore, certains partis ne sont pas prêts »

 

 

The Spokesperson of the Opposition: “ Our common position is to wait, some parties are not ready”

 

 

With respect to elections of September 28 we decided to enter the United Nations, inform the Secretary General of the United Nations in a letter which we reaffirm our refusal to accept the rigged elections, we reaffirm all fraud, all the imperfections, we remember everything that these elections have provided for us a real sham election and we attach to this letter provided sufficient documentation to attest to the truth of our accusations. This letter will also be sent to the African Union, ECOWAS and the European Union.

We also decided to send a letter to the authorities to take note of the end of the mission of the Monitoring Committee of the Agreement of 3 July 2013. We noted in effect that the cessation of its activities comes at a time when many provisions under the Agreement of 3 July have not been executed.

We want a permanent framework for dialogue to be established under the auspices of the international community to continue to place the provisions of the Agreement of July 3, including issues related to municipal and community elections to be held in principle before the end of the first quarter of 2014 and the presidential election in 2015 through change of technical operator, the recruitment of a new operator on the basis of international competition.

There are also many as you know obligations were subject to the authorities but not yet implemented, it is the neutrality of public administration, access to state media public service all currents of thought and opinion, compensation of those who were victims of the events that we have experienced in recent months in Guinea.

We also decided to organize a day ghost town next Monday, November 25. We therefore call on all people of Conakry to observe this day a day ghost town to protest against the resignation of the Supreme Court and the fact that this institution declares itself incompetent to judge electoral disputes, making our country the only country in the world where no recourse to electoral disputes can  be examined. 

 

We proposed to define our position with respect to our participation or not in the national assembly. As you know we had asked to see our respective bases for all political parties on the basis of consensus to consult with their different structures and arrive at a consensus decision. It is at the present day the work is not yet complete, it is a process of bringing ideas that sometimes takes time and some political parties have said they are not yet ready and cannot state their position on this important issue. So we postponed to the next day the decision on the participation or not of the Republican opposition to the next National Assembly. 

 

Vincent Foucher, Int’l. Crisis Group, Punts His Way Through RFI Interview about Guinea Election

These people, and many more, had their votes stolen in 2010, and now again, in 2013

Relief that the election is over seems to have surpassed both truth and an honest assessment of what is going on in Guinea.  Short and sweet, Conde, the CENI and the RPG collaborated with a few international representatives to steal Guinea’s second election in three years.  The international folks in Conakry are staring at the floor praying that no one will ask how the election, dripping in fraud, went.  It’s as though Don Corleone paid each a visit in the middle of the night to remind them about the “code of silence.”  Well, the election was a mess, everyone knows it and the silence is deafening.  

 

Word is coming from many corners of the country, that Conde received no more than 8-9% of the vote on September 28.  You do the math.  That’s a mountain of fraud and a sea full of people who sooner or later will be in the streets.  This will de-stabilize Guinea, as it should.

 

Foucher is a smart cookie and has remained engaged in Guinea for a long time.  Unfortunately, in the RFI interview, he played dumb, hemmed and hawed, ultimately succeeding in his determination not to say anything definitive. 

 

But Guinea Oye has a treat for everyone.  Rather than posting his interview today with RFI, we are posting the executive summary of a report entitled, “Guinea:  A Way Out of the Election Quagmire,” which Foucher wrote and the ICG issued in February 2013.  At the end of the summary you will find recommendations for just about every actor in the “election quagmire” except the opposition.  This may not be the most comprehensive list of recommendations, but it raises issues guaranteed to scare the beejeebers out of the international community and to make Conde snarl.  Now, this Foucher piece is worth a read.

Alpha Conde and His Judges

Guinea: A Way Out of the Election Quagmire

Africa Report N°199 18 Feb 2013

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Two years after President Alpha Condé’s victory in the first really competitive election in the history of postcolonial Guinea, the country still does not have a national assembly. Forthcoming legislative elections look set to be complicated: ethnic tensions, compounded by the 2010 polls, remain high and the electoral system is deeply controversial. The establishment of a new Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in September 2012 was an important step, but progress stalled again in December on the issue of the voter register. President Condé must engage in a genuine dialogue with the opposition and the INEC must reach a consensual solution on the register. With international support, the government and opposition must consolidate the electoral system. Peaceful and credible legislative elections are essential to establish a parliament that reflects the country’s diversity, give the opposition a real voice, restore checks and balances, and prevent the hope raised by the replacement of illegitimate military leaders with an elected civilian president turning into disillusionment.

Direct dialogue between the government and opposition on the legislative elections started more than a year after Alpha Condé came to power, with the Inclusive Framework for Political Dialogue (Cadre de dialogue politique inclusif, CDPI). It ended two months later with limited results. Between March 2012 and February 2013, there were no further direct talks, but instead a series of interventions, facilitations, consultations and announcements. Some questions have been settled and others brushed aside, but the opposition still strongly disagrees on two key issues: the INEC and the voter register. Soon after a banned opposition protest on 27 August 2012, which led to widespread disorder in the capital Conakry, the government pledged to reconstitute the INEC, and the commission’s controversial president asked that his mandate not be renewed. His successor, Bakary Fofana, presented in December a timetable setting the elections for 12 May 2013. Does this signal a way forward? Did this peculiar form of dialogue, with accusations, manoeuvres and anger, eventually yield progress?

Although there has been some headway, the level of polarisation remains high. The appointment of the new INEC members created fresh friction, with its new president rapidly coming under fire, and it is this contentious institution that must resolve the key problem of the electoral register. Tension on that issue boiled over on 10 December, when the opposition accused Fofana of violating the procedures of INEC by refusing to release a report on the register prepared by the International Organisation of Francophonie (Organisation internationale de la francophonie, OIF), and considered calling for his resignation. Fofana’s announcement, the following day, that elections would be held in May 2013 raised the temperature further: the opposition rejected that date, arguing that the INEC plenary had not been consulted.

The opposition also protested against the technical weaknesses and lack of transparency in the process of revising the electoral register, as well as the lack of preparation for the Guinean diaspora’s vote. On 29 January, the opposition, allied with a number of “centrist” parties, called for new demonstrations and dismissed the direct dialogue called for by the authorities as a ploy to have them cancel the protest. During a new INEC meeting to discuss the electoral register on 11 February, the majority supporting President Condé voted to endorse the controversial revision while opposition commissioners walked out. They might decide to suspend permanently their participation.

In sum, the situation remains worrisome. Holding elections while the government and opposition disagree on fundamental issues is dangerous. The government shows contempt for the opposition and took almost a year to engage in dialogue. The opposition maintains that President Condé was elected through fraud and prefers to avoid elections (or, at least, does not want transparent and consensual polls). It accuses the regime of ethnic favouritism. Civil society, which played a key role at the end of the 2000s, is now divided along political and ethnic lines. Controversial elections against the backdrop of ethnic disputes raise many risks at both local and national levels.

Electoral turmoil could degenerate into significant violence. Security sector reform has made limited progress and tension remains very high between the security forces, accustomed to impunity and also affected by ethnic disputes, and the population, exasperated by police and army brutality. Electoral troubles could offer opportunities to those in the armed forces who have not fully accepted their new submission to civilian authority.

The Condé regime cannot simply talk about its good governance and development ambitions: it must also iron out political tensions. Moreover, it is more important that the vote is credible than that it takes place in May – although with so much time already lost it should take place as soon as possible and certainly before December 2013. For this to happen, dialogue is vital. The road to the elections will be rocky, but it is crucial to keep friction to a minimum, maintain serious dialogue between the parties and rebuild trust in the electoral apparatus. It is also necessary to strengthen the capacity of the political system – the judiciary, territorial administration, security forces, INEC, political parties – and for civil society to manage in a proper and credible manner the conflicts that will inevitably emerge during the long electoral journey ahead.

RECOMMENDATIONS

To break the election logjam and guarantee a credible vote

To the president of the republic:

1.  Set up regular meetings with the leaders of the main parties and the boards of the National Transition Council (Conseil national de transition, CNT) and INEC to discuss the political situation and establish shared understanding of the electoral system issue.

To the president of INEC:

2.  Provide all INEC commissioners with all the documents relating to the organisation of the elections and clarify the procedures for the revision of the electoral register.

3.  Reopen discussions on the electoral register in the INEC plenary without excluding any solution; on this issue and on others, the electoral commission must make credible decisions, which require operating on the basis of consensus rather than on a majority vote.

4.  Take the necessary steps to allow Guineans living in the diaspora to exercise their right to vote.

To the government of Guinea:

5.  Increase and publicise the repression of crimes and offences committed by members of the defence and security forces, whether in the execution of their duties or not.

6.  Consider, in consultation with human rights organisations, the creation of an observatory of impunity.

7.  Clarify publicly its position on, and its relations with, the different organisations of “donzo” traditional hunters, whose presence in urban areas is creating mistrust.

To the Guinean Social Movement:

8.  Prepare for the deployment of a national electoral observation mechanism inspired from the one implemented during the 2012 presidential election in Senegal.

To the international partners of Guinea:

9.  Mobilise and support international and non-governmental organisations involved in the electoral process to reinforce the credibility of the polls, including by:

a) supporting the Guinean Social Movement in the establishment of an electoral observation mechanism.

b) preparing local representatives of the different parties within INEC and its sub-structures, as well as magistrates, to the management of disputes that will no doubt emerge in the course of the electoral process.

Dakar/Brussels, 18 February 2013

Guinea Update: Opposition to Take Election Case to ECOWAS Justice Court and The Right to Resist a Repressive Regime

Donzos Celebrate after Attacking Opposition Supporters in a Permitted March  (Seriously, No Kidding)

Next Steps for Opposition

 

As expected, the Guinean opposition is checking closely with its base before deciding on the course to follow after announcement of the “results” by the Supreme Court on Friday evening, Nov. 17.  It looks like they will announce their future plans sometime on Tuesday.

 

The opposition points out firmly that the manner in which the Court didn’t deal election complaints filed concerning fraud or irregularities is unprecedented.  The Court essentially said that it was not “competent” to rule on the complaints because they do not consider such complaints to be under their purview!  With the Supreme Court punting on this issue, the people have no legal recourse in Guinea for dealing with serious election disputes.

 

This is quite a different outcome than in the 2010 presidential election when the Court disqualified votes from five constituencies.  If the Court was competent in 2010, why is it not competent to address disputes in 2013.  Of course there is practical reason for this — it’s Pandora’s box.  If you open the box to deal with even one dispute you are opening yourself to dealing with many more. 

 

 As a result, the opposition intends to seek redress from the Economic Community of West African States’ (ECOWAS) Court of Justice to request a total or partial elimination of the legislative election results. 

 

 

The Right to Resist a Repressive Regime

 

Various Guinean websites are reporting that opposition youth are gathered at the axis of Hamdallaye-Bambeto-Cosa, in Conakry.  Both yesterday and today they put up barricades and burned tires along the entrances into their neighborhoods. Today, word spread through the area that an independent journalist was kidnapped by security forces which brought even more people to the streets.

 

What is not being said is that the opposition protesters are not out on the streets by themselves.  As Conde has done all along, he sends into the opposition neighborhoods a full array of police, gendarmes, Malinke militias, FOSSPEL, and Donzos as provocateurs against opposition youth.  Conde also uses foreign mercenaries from Sierra Leone and Liberia (where those who committed much of the 2009 massacre originated), whom you can expect to be on the scene soon, if not already. 

 

An important clarification is required here.  Opposition protests are often described as “violent protests,” or protests which have “turned violent.”  What this leaves out is that these protests have been consistently peaceful.  If violence does occur, it is at the hands of state-sponsored forces and it is not used to curb crime, but to provoke.  After three years of state attacks on peaceful marchers and repeated encroachments into their neighborhoods without cause, in which people were killed, women were raped and homes and businesses were burned, it is only in the last six months that opposition supporters have begun to defend themselves, which is their right. 

A right, no doubt, they will have to exercise as Conde’s next wave of repression sweeps the country to silence the overwhelming majority of Guinean voters who did not vote for him.  

 

 

Declaration: The Republican Opposition Launches a Call to the International Community to Ensure that Fraud Identified Will Be Factored into Election Results (FR-EN)

Déclaration : l’Opposition Républicaine lance un appel à la communauté internationale pour que les fraudes constatées soient reconnues et les élections reprises

Créé le mardi 8 octobre 2013 18:57

Des Leaders de l’Opposition en Guinée. Cellou Dalein Diallo en focus, en haut, á droite.L’Opposition Républicaine dans sa déclaration du 04 octobre 2013, dénonçait la fraude massive organisée avant, pendant et après le vote par le pouvoir et la CENI, afin d’attribuer à la mouvance présidentielle, une majorité parlementaire factice.

Cette fraude massive s’est traduite par :

• des bourrages massifs d’urnes ;
• des falsifications, disparitions et substitutions de Procès Verbaux de dépouillement (principalement en Haute Guinée et en Guinée Forestière) ;
• des omissions importantes d’électeurs (surtout à Fria, Télimélé et Moyenne Guinée) ;
• des rétentions de cartes électorales et leur réutilisation illégale ;
• des distributions sélectives de cartes d’électeur ;
• l’expulsion des délégués de l’UFDG, du RDIG, de l’UFR et du PEDN des bureaux de vote à GUECKEDOU et à KISSIDOUGOU par les responsables des CEPI et CESPI ;
• un manque de kits et d’urnes dans de nombreux bureaux de vote empêchant ainsi plus de 12.000 électeurs de voter ;
• des immixtions de membres du Gouvernement dans le processus (surtout en Basse guinée, Haute guinée et Guinée Forestière) ;
• la dissimulation de fiches de dépouillement  empêchant ainsi les CACV de comparer les chiffres portés sur les procès-verbaux falsifiés ;
• des créations de bureaux de vote fictifs ;
• des votes par récépissés, uniquement en Haute Guinée et Guinée forestière ;
• etc.

Ces nombreux manquements tendent à attribuer une majorité indue au RPG Arc-en-ciel, en contradiction flagrante avec les résultats des suffrages exprimés en faveur de l’opposition guinéenne. L’essentiel des anomalies dénoncées par l’Opposition a été relevé par des observateurs présents sur l’ensemble du territoire, notamment ceux de l’Union Européenne.

Cependant, l’Opposition regrette que les garanties données par la communauté internationale, pour le déroulement transparent des élections législatives, ne se soient pas traduites dans les faits. L’affichage entre autres, des listes définitives, corrigeant toutes les anomalies, et normalement prévue par le chronogramme de la CENI, n’a pas été assuré.

Au vu des résultats publiés par la CENI à ce jour, malgré les fraudes, Le RPG Arc-en-Ciel n’obtient pas la majorité absolue à Conakry, en Basse Guinée et en Moyenne Guinée. Ainsi la majorité qu’il veut s’attribuer à l’Assemblée Nationale, se construit surtout par des fraudes systématiques organisées en Haute Guinée et en Guinée Forestière.

C’est pourquoi, l’Opposition Républicaine réaffirme son exigence d’annulation pure et simple de ces élections pour leur caractère éminemment frauduleux. D’ores et déjà, l’opposition suspend sa participation aux Comités de suivi et de veille des accords du 3 juillet ainsi qu’à la Commission de centralisation des résultats à la CENI.

Les Partis de l’Opposition Républicaine lancent un appel à la communauté internationale, garante de l’application de l’accord politique inter guinéen, afin qu’elle use de toute son influence pour que les fraudes constatées soient reconnues et les élections reprises en conséquence.

Les partis politiques de l’Opposition Républicaine invitent leurs militants et sympathisants à rester mobilisés et à l’écoute des prochaines décisions.

Conakry le 08 octobre 2013.

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L’Opposition Républicaine.

 

 

The article was translated into English via Google.  No editing, so a bit rough.

Created Tuesday, October 8, 2013 6:57 p.m.

Republican opposition in his statement of 4 October 2013, denounced the massive fraud organized before, during and after the voting power and INEC, to assign to the movement presidential, parliamentary majority dummy.

This massive fraud has resulted in:

• massive ballot box stuffing;
• falsifications, disappearances and substitutions of the Minutes of counting (mainly in Upper Guinea and Forest Guinea);
• significant omissions of voters (especially Fria Télimélé and Middle Guinea);
• retentions voting cards and illegal reuse;
• selective distribution of voter cards;
• the expulsion of delegates UFDG of RDIG, the UFR and SARP polls in Guéckédou and KISSIDOUGOU by the heads of CEPI and CESPI;
• a lack of kits and urns in many polling stations and preventing more than 12,000 people to vote;
• the interference of government officials in the process (especially in Lower Guinea, Upper Guinea and Forest Guinea);
• concealment of counting cards and preventing CACV compare the figures reported in the minutes falsified;
• creations offices fictitious vote;
• voting receipts, only in Upper Guinea and Forest Guinea;
• etc..

These many failures tend to attribute undue majority RPG Arc-en-ciel, in flagrant contradiction with the results of the votes cast in favor of the Guinean opposition. Most of the anomalies reported by the Opposition was noted by observers across the country, including those of the European Union.

However, the Opposition regrets that the guarantees given by the international community for the transparent parliamentary elections, did not be translated into action. The display among others, the final lists, correcting any anomalies, and normally provided by the timing of the INEC, was not insured.

Given published by the CENI results to date, despite the fraud, the RPG Arc-en-Ciel does not get an absolute majority in Conakry, Guinea and Lower Middle Guinea. Thus the majority he wants to assign to the National Assembly, is built mainly by systematic fraud organized in Upper Guinea and Forest Guinea.

That is why the opposition Republican reaffirms its outright cancellation of the election requirement for their highly fraudulent. Already, opposition suspends participation in monitoring committees and standby agreements of July 3 and the Commission of centralization results in the INEC.

The parties of the opposition Republican launched a call to the international community, guaranteeing the implementation of the political agreement inter Guinea, so it uses its influence to ensure that frauds are recognized and included in the election result .

The political parties of the opposition Republican invite their members and supporters to remain mobilized and listening to future decisions.

Conakry on 08 October 2013.

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The Republican Opposition.

International Community Reps Pressure Guinea Opposition Leaders and Get, Pretty Much, Nowhere

Said Djinit arrived in Conarky from Dakar on Friday night and spent much of the day on Saturday visiting with the primary opposition leaders at their homes:  Lansana Kouyate, Sidya Toure, and Cellou Dalein Diallo.  Djinnit was supposed to visit with representatives of Conde’s party, the government and the CENI, yet there is no news about whether this happened, or, if it did, what came out of it.  Djinnit spoke with Africaguinee to indicate what he thought the next steps should be.  He stressed the need for the opposition to stick with the CENI vote counting process to its conclusion. After this, he suggests that if the opposition has outstanding “irregularities” or issues of fraud, it should take its case to the Supreme Court, adding that the Court should review the case fairly!

Late last night, the opposition signaled its reaction to the visit of the international community representatives. Diallo met late yesterday with his party supporters at their UFDG headquarters in Hamdallaye.  He told them to be ready to hit the streets for a demonstration if the CENI proceeds to validate the election results, which the opposition claims are massively fraudulent.

 

Said Djinnit was accompanied in these visits by US ambassador, Alex Laskaris, French ambassador, Bertrand Cochery, and EU representative Philippe Van Damme. Ambassador Laskaris offered to examine the irregularities and fraud identified by the opposition and  determine whether or not they “affect” the overall election.  Given that the opposition says the fraud is massive and widespread, such a comment from Laskaris suggests that, at the outset, he is trying to discount opposition concerns.

The other two primary opposition leaders, Sidya Toure (UFR) and Lansana Kouyate (PEDN), also maintain their call for the CENI to annul the election and request their followers to be at the ready. 

Like a Fox in a Chicken Coop: US Amb. Laskaris Wants to Verify Opposition Claims of Irregularities and Fraud in 9-28 Legislative Elections to See “If It Affects the Election”

Africaguinee is reporting that US Ambassador Laskaris is offering  to “verify irregularities and fraud claims” made by the opposition concerning the September 28 Guinean legislative election and determine “if claims affect the election.”

 

Amb. Laskaris has not been in Conakry long, but he made his mark quickly as he metamorphosed  from an American “every man” to a duplicitous, slippery operator. Laskaris decided to take a hard line on opposition demonstrations by playing dumb about the origin of violence which occurred during those demonstrations.  He knows well that the violence originates from two, collaborative forces: state security and RPG militias-provocateurs (sometimes supplemented with Donzos and foreign mercenaries). The RPG militias infiltrate the protests and attack opposition supporters, who have every right to defend themselves.  When they respond to the RPG aggression, state security rushes in to mete out violence against the opposition, including summary executions in the streets.  

 

It wasn’t long before Laskaris, in public presentations, interviews, statements, and probably at dinner parties, built his case that the opposition and its stone-throwing tactics are the real culprits in Guinea.  He repeated it like a mantra. He knows that the RPG and state security are not there to operate within the law, and he uses their violence as the basis to criminalize the opposition.  But, the real reason that Laskaris and other diplomats want the opposition off the streets is because the massive numbers reveal the original dirty sin.  Alpha Conde stole the 2010 presidential election, with the international community’s assistance, which brought him to office, but without a mandate to govern.  In order to control the majority of the population who did not vote for him and to shield him from being removed from office, he built up his existing arsenal of repression with “irregular forces,” the better to hide a direct link to the government.  And, yes, once you steal one election you must steal all the others.  This is how Conde and the international community have held onto the myth that he is Guinea’s “first democratically-elected” president.  Every time the opposition hits the streets, the massive numbers pulverize the myth like a wrecking ball.  There is no doubt that the opposition did very well in the recent elections and that will become evident, that is, until the CENI works its diabolical magic.  Laskaris and many members of the international community shamelessly propped up Alpha Conde over the last three years by criminalizing the opposition and ignoring the state-sponsored violence.

 

So, look at Laskaris’ next moves as if you were playing poker with him. You know from past games, he comes with several aces up his sleeve and a true “poker face” to cover his strategy.  The most prudent thing to do would be to shut the game down and devote every effort to preventing Laskaris from getting within 500 feet of a Guinean ballot.

Législative de CONAKRY : Tentative de légitimation rétrospective d’une présidentielle achetée en 2010 (Mamadou Billo Sy SAVANE)

 Législative de CONAKRY : Tentative de légitimation rétrospective d’une présidentielle achetée en 2010 (Mamadou Billo Sy SAVANE)

Jeudi, 03 Octobre 2013 23:06

De refus en ruses multiples, le « président »CONDE, contraint et forcé, a fini par accepter le principe d’une élection législative. Il s’est abstenu d’en garantir l’honnêteté, et encore moins sa transparence.

Sur ce point, il a été précédé ou imité par Son principal soutien électoral, l’ambassadeur des U.S.A. àCONAKRY, qu’une partie de la jeunesse guinéenne surnomme déjà LASKARIS Condé. Contre toute pratique diplomatique en usage dans sa fonction, il mène ici une campagne électorale directe, ouverte, visible et souterraine pour le président coopté.

 La mesure, la discrétion, la retenue,la courtoisie  normalement attendues d’un diplomate accrédité auprès d’un Etat étranger ne sont apparemment pas de mises en Guinée. En dépit de quelques dollars US qu’il distribue ici et là, d’un point de vue strictement diplomatique, il y a un mystère diplomatique LASKARIS, pas forcément heureux pour nous Guinéens dans un futur proche. Les gesticulations hasardeuses de Monsieur l’ambassadeur US à CONAKRY  présagent de lourds nuages sur notre pays dans pas longtemps, selon moi. En tout cas, il s’y emploie, avec une persévérance indéniable. Peut-être de sa formation, a-t-il acquis la certitude que les Guinéens sont de grands enfants sur lesquels il doit exercer une sorte de tutorat paternaliste ? Suis-je dans l’erreur ?- L’avenir nous départagera.

Mais là n’est pas mon propos de maintenant. Il est ailleurs. Le temps de m’expliquer sur cette étrange diplomatie pratiquée contre les Guinéens et seulement contre eux en Afrique Noire, viendra dans pas longtemps. Je mettrais alors à la disposition de mes compatriotes quelques éléments du débat auquel je suis prêt à prendre ma part face à qui le souhaitera, sous quelle que forme que ce sera. Car de mon point de vue, il y a une autre « Françafrique » en gestation avancée, sans la France et peut-être même contre elle. Notre pays parait être son premier test grandeur nature. Les gesticulations effrénées de l’ambassadeur US à CONAKRY, semblent indiquer que cette néo-françafrique est en voie de réussir son O.P.A. sur notre pays. Et ce n’est pas une bonne nouvelle pour l’immense majorité de nos compatriotes, contrairement à ce qu’ont l’air de penser les notabilités guinéennes, millionnaires en dollars et euros.

Guinea: One UFDG Official Detained and Another On the Run

It looks like this is the beginning of the “we didn’t cover up the fraud very well, so let’s get to the part where we repress the opposition.” This is truly a dangerous time for those in the opposition. The frustration of the RPG will grow stronger as the opposition reveals more and more fraud.  And, the fraud is so extensive, the government cannot talk its way out of it.  The RPG arc-en-ciel has been revealed as a minority coalition.  The only thing left for them to do is to do what it does best — violently repress the opposition.

(Following article from guinee58.com was translated into English via Google with editing by Guinea Oye)

 

Sorel Bangoura, federal secretary of the UFDG Matam detention

 

The Federal Secretary UFDG Matam, M. Sorel BANGOURA was stopped and detained on Sunday, September 29, 2013. According to our information, he was incarcerated at the squadron mobile No.1 Kaloum.  

Youssouf Camara, head of youth UFDG Matam and former member of the CNT is also sought and is on the run. From his hiding place he  confided what happened to Bangoura: “A senior mobile police squadron PM3 pulled up beside Sorel’s car and they told him they were ordered to pick him up, but did not say to where. We learned later that he was taken to Kaloum. ” To the question, why this arrest? “Sorel and I have unmasked over time the system of fraud that involved local chiefs of the town. This was not to the liking of RPG arc-en-ciel officials who engineered this plot against us.”  This arrest proves the manipulation of police and judicial authorities by the political apparatus of the RPG.