Guinea’s ruling junta threatened to ban major political parties on Friday, February 17, after a call for protests and unrest that left two dead on Thursday in the suburbs of Conakry, according to the opposition. “Political and social organizations whose criminal responsibilities will be established as a result of legal proceedings by the competent authorities will be subject to sanctions ranging from suspension to withdrawal of their approvals,” said the Minister of Territorial Administration, Mory Condé, in a message broadcast on national television.
A ban on these parties, already almost reduced to inaction, would be added to the ban on demonstrations decreed by the junta in 2022 and the dissolution of a collective for the defense of rights, the National Front for the Defense of the Constitution. (FNDC). Three leaders of the FNDC are imprisoned and a number of political figures are detained, targeted by judicial inquiries, or gone into exile.
The suburbs of Conakry were the scene, Wednesday evening and Thursday, of repeated confrontations between mobile groups, throwing stones and erecting barricades on the road, and gendarmes and police. Two young people aged 16 and 19 were shot and killed, relatives and the FNDC told AFP. Their death was confirmed by Cellou Kansala Diallo, vice-mayor of Ratoma, a commune in the suburbs of Conakry. Abdoul Karim Bah told AFP that his 19-year-old nephew, a motorbike taxi driver, died despite not taking part in the unrest – a case often reported in this country accustomed to political violence. The FNDC spoke of two dead and 58 injured, some of whom were shot.
The FNDC had called for a march to demand the release of its three leaders and all the other prisoners detained for reasons it believed to be political, as well as a rapid return of civilians to power. The main parties had joined the call for mobilization. The junta deployed significant resources and prevented the march. Minister Mory Condé confirmed that the authorities had requisitioned the army and affirmed “the government’s determination to put these individuals [responsible for the clashes] out of harm’s way and to prosecute the perpetrators and sponsors of this violence”. Mr. Condé reported 28 injuries, including 20 police and gendarmes – including seven, seriously affected, were placed in intensive care – but did not mention death.
Guinea has been ruled since September 2021 by a junta that took power in a putsch. The major parties refuse dialogue with the junta on the modalities and the process of a return of civilians to power under the conditions set by the authorities.
