The opposition collective in Guinea reported the deaths of four young people during clashes with the security forces on Monday and Tuesday, September 05, 2023, the anniversary of the military takeover in 2021.
No comments were received from the authorities.
In a statement published early Wednesday on the Facebook page of one of their main members, the Forces vives, a collective of opposition parties and organizations, report the deaths of four young men aged 15 to 18.
Their deaths bring to 30 the number of people killed by security forces since June 2022, they say. This date corresponds to a hardening of the opposition towards the junta after the restraint initially observed following the seizure of power by the military on September 5, 2021.
Since then, 108 people have been shot and hundreds more have been arbitrarily arrested and detained, say the Forces vives.
The junta led by Colonel Mamady Doumbouya, invested president, banned demonstrations in May 2022. The Forces vives nevertheless called for a march on Tuesday, the anniversary of the putsch, to demand a rapid return of civilians at the head of the country. They accuse the authorities of “confiscation” of power, repression of freedoms and, recently, enrichment.
A large deployment of security forces prevented the march on Tuesday in Conakry. As with every call to protest, clashes have pitted youth groups and security forces in the suburbs of the capital.
The military that overthrew President Alpha Condé in 2021 agreed under international pressure to make way for elected civilians by the end of 2024, time to carry out deep reforms, they say.
The Forces vives accuse the authorities of having done nothing to transfer power. The Minister of the Administration of the Territory Mory Condé on Tuesday assured that the government was “ahead” of the schedule agreed with the regional organization ECOWAS for a return of civilians to the leadership of this poor country with a troubled political history.
The junta defends itself from repressing freedoms.
