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Guinea: Fatou Bensouda’s visit; National Commission’s findings; Toumba Diakité’s claims that he is willing to face the ICC; Interview; Other developments

10 Feb 2010

Dear all,

Please find below information about recent developments related to the situation in Guinea.

Please consult the CICC blog, In Situ, and feel free to comment on the article "Guinea: The ICC's New Target?": http://www.coalitionfortheicc.org/blog/?p=495&langswitch_lang=en

This message includes information on the upcoming visit of ICC Deputy Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda to Guinea (I); articles on the national commission of inquiry’s findings (II); a piece on Toumba Diakité’s claims that he is willing to face the ICC (III); and an interview with a representative of Interfaith International discussing the ICC and Guinea (IV); an opinion piece on women victims in Guinea (V); and report on the deal to end crisis (VI).

Please take note of the Coalition's policy on situations before the ICC (below), which explicitly states that the CICC will not take a position on potential and current situations before the Court or situations under analysis. The Coalition, however, will continue to provide the most up-to-date information about the ICC.

Best regards,

CICC Secretariat
www.coalitionfortheicc.org

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I. ICC DEPUTY PROSECUTOR TO VISIT GUINEA

i. “ICC to probe Guinea massacre,” Africa News, 6 January 2010, http://www.africanews.com/site/EXCLUSIVE_ICC_to_probe_Guinea_massacre/list_messages/29912

“The deputy chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Fatou Bensouda has revealed she will pay a visit to Guinea Conakry somewhere this month to investigate the recent civilian massacre allegedly perpetuated by the Junta.

Speaking to AfricaNews Bensouda said the ICC is keen to take action on the bloodbath but must be there in advance to gather enough evidence.

'There is an intrinsic link between justice and peace,” she said, “by putting an end to impunity for the perpetrators of most serious crimes, the court can and will contribute to the prevention of such crimes, thus having a deterrent effect.'

The resource-rich West African state hit world news headlines after security forces surrounded the main stadium of peaceful protesters and opened fire on them.

An in-depth investigation into the matter by Human Rights Watch uncovered evidences of widespread sexual violence committed by security personnel.

About 150-200 people were confirmed dead, according to the group’s report. That number far exceeds the official toll of 57 dead and over 1000 injured.

Bensouda pointed out that the ICC has built a global community with new technologies, where communities and people that are isolated before are today communicating at a 'tremendous speed'.

'Global crimes, that transcend borders; affects entire regions and continent, but with no global government to fight it, and with poor national institutional backing, hence ICC and the Rome Statute creates global governance without government but with global international law and courts,' she further stated.

Bensouda called for strong and consistent diplomatic and political action by all actors to ensure compliance with the court’s decision.

'When it comes to perpetrators of massive crimes, there should be only one answer: the full and transparent implementation of the law', she added. …”

ii. « Guinée: la procureure adjointe de la CPI en visite du 17 au 19 février » (“Guinea: the ICC deputy prosecutor will be visiting from 17 to 19 February”), AFP, 5 February 2010, http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5g1bY8XYDEGN2kpbdRzzlNhY4lB-A (French)

“ICC Deputy Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda will be visiting Guinea from 17 to 19 February, announced the ICC Office of the Prosecutor on Friday.

'This visit must also be the occasion to check whether Guinea has launched national proceedings', said to AFP the Special Advisor of the Prosecutor Béatrice Le Fraper.…”

[Unofficial translation from French provided by the CICC Secretariat]

II. FINDINGS OF NATIONAL COMMISSION OF INQUIRY IN GUINEA

i. “Guinea commission absolves junta chief of blame for massacre”, AFP, 2 February 2010, http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5g1dEZ8ugUp5PPjG9IbPBrd1opslQ

“The president of a commission set up by Guinea's junta to probe a massacre of opposition supporters in Conakry last year on Tuesday absolved junta chief Captain Moussa Dadis Camara of any blame.

Instead it recommended legal action against Lieutenant Aboubacar Cherif 'Toumba' Diakite, an aide to the junta leader who has been on the run since he shot and seriously injured Captain Camara in an alleged assassination attempt on December 3.

Asked about the role of the junta chief and the minister for special services, Major Moussa Tiegboro Camara, commission president Siriman Kouyate said they played no part in the massacre in which the UN says more than 150 people died.

... 'People should be pursued before Guinean courts because these are common law crimes,' the prosecutor said, contradicting the UN, which holds suspects should be brought before the ICC.

Unlike the UN panel, the junta's commission found that only 58 people were killed on September 28, while five others "died on the following days in hospital", making a total of 63.

The commission also recommended a 'general amnesty' for leaders of the opposition who called for the rally in the stadium, which was to protest any plan by Captain Camara to stand in elections. …”

ii. “Guinea junta blames Toumba Diakite for massacre,” BBC, 2 February 2010, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8493875.stm

“A renegade Guinean soldier was solely responsible for massacring protesters at a rally last September, an inquiry backed by the ruling junta has said.

The probe blamed Lt Aboubakar Toumba Diakite - a soldier who shot and wounded junta leader Capt Moussa Dadis Camara last December.

It cleared Capt Camara of involvement - contradicting the findings of an earlier UN inquiry.

Capt Camara is still recovering from the shooting in Burkina Faso.

The BBC's West Africa correspondent Caspar Leighton says with so many other inquiries arriving at conclusions contrary to this one, many people will not take it seriously.

Human rights groups say that at least 157 activists were killed and dozens of women raped during a prodemocracy rally at football stadium on 28 September last year.

Lt Diakite, in hiding since the shooting, previously told French radio that he shot Capt Camara because he feared the military leader was trying to blame him for the massacre.

Prosecutor Siriman Kouyate, head of the Guinean commission of inquiry, laid the blame squarely on the renegade soldier.

'Lt Toumba Diakite and a group of red berets from the presidential guard were responsible for the rapes, murders, injuries and mysterious disappearance of bodies,' he said.

Mr Kouyate said Lt Diakite should face justice because he had disobeyed orders that the army should stay in the barracks.

He added that Capt Camara was 'responsible for nothing'. 'It has been established that the president did not go to the stadium.' …”

III. ‘TOUMBA’ DIAKITE CLAIMS HE IS READY TO FACE THE ICC

i. “Guinea junta chief's aide ready to face justice”, AFP, 5 February, http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hoyHupGCCKEmjDHNGlGJ_nqUzudg

“… Diakite denounced the conclusions of a junta commission report which on Tuesday absolved Camara of any blame for the massacre and recommended legal action against Diakite.

The former aide said he had only been following orders and asked the country's interim president, General Sekouba Konate, to pardon him.

'I am ready to go before the international commission of inquiry and even the International Criminal Court,' Diakite said, but he ruled out handing himself over to Guinean justice, which he said was completely controlled by the regime and had no credibility. …

'I don't blame myself, because the army, we were under orders. There is no way I could have taken a group of soldiers like that and done that. The army is hierarchy, it is orders," he told RFI. …

'I ask General Sekouba Konate to pardon me for over the events of September 28, because though we did go to the stadium that day, it was on the orders of the president and they (the Guinean leaders) know that,' Diakite said. (…)”

IV. INTERVIEW ON THE SITUATION IN GUINEA

i. « Biro Diawara, représentant d'Interfaith International: ‘Nous soutenons la Cour pénale internationale pour punir les crimes en Guinée...’ » (“Biro Diawara, representative from Interfaith International: ‘We support the International Criminal Court for it to punish the perpetrators of crimes in Guinea), Africa Guinée - 25 January 2010, http://www.africaguinee.com/index.php?monAction=detailNews&id=505 8 (French)

“Africaguinee.com: The international community, including France and the United States, put pressure on Captain Dadis Camara to be sent to the International Criminal Court in The Hague. Do you share this idea?

Biro Diawara: When identified, those who are responsible have to be extradited. In the sub-region, this is not something new. We saw Charles Taylor’s case in Liberia

…. The military forces are not the sole responsible. The civilians who are accomplice of those crimes must be extradited and prosecuted by international justice. Guinea is a State Party to the Rome Statute, there will thus be amnesty for nobody. …

Today, the ICC is doing a great job even though it sometimes has difficulties, in Sudan for example. We support the ICC to eradicate crimes in Guinea. Families left Guinea, saw their torturers, etc. Today, nobody can escape the jurisdiction of the ICC, the proceedings are going on, even if it’s slow.

So we firmly support the work of the ICC on the crimes that were committed in Guinea. This is what will enable us to start with a new society. Guinea needs the assistance of the international community, to bring light on these exactions'. …”

[Unofficial translation from French provided by the CICC Secretariat]

V. OPINION PIECE ON WOMEN VICTIMS IN GUINEA

i. « La malédiction des femmes en Guinée » ("The curse of the women in Guinea"), by Ibrahima Baldé et Nathalie Zajde (Le Monde), 27 January 2010 http://www.lemonde.fr/opinions/article/2010/01/27/la-malediction-des-femmes-de-guinee-par-ibrahima-balde-et-nathalie-zajde_1297283_3232_1.html (French)

"The women began to come out of their hiding places to get medical help once the United Nations decided to set up an international commission of inquiry. They visited the Center for Mothers and Children, even though the Guinean authorities denied the commission of any aggression and rape. Each repeated denial seen on national television or heard on the radio reactivated the psychological trauma. (...) They found new confidence because they knew the international community supported them. (...)"

[Unofficial translation from French provided by the CICC Secretariat]

VI. GUINEAN RIVALS SIGN DEAL TO END CRISIS

i. "Guinea rivals sign deal to end crisis," AFP, 16 January 2010 http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/guinea-rivals-sign-deal-to-end-crisis-20100116-md28.html

"Guinea's political rivals on Friday agreed to set up an interim government and hold elections in six months in a deal to end a political crisis exacerbated by the ruling junta's brutal crackdown on opponents.
The pact said ailing junta chief Captain Moussa Dadis Camara should effectively remain in exile, following a December 3 assassination attempt that led to him being hospitalised in Morocco. Camara is now in Burkina Faso.
The accord was signed by Camara, interim junta chief General Sekouba Konate, and Burkina Faso President Blaise Compaore who is mediating between the ruling junta and the opposition.
The pact provides for a national transition council and a unity government before polls are held "in six months." (...) A recent UN report on the massacre in Guinea's capital Conakry named Camara as a suspect and accused the army of "crimes against humanity."
The International Criminal Court said Friday a visit by its deputy prosecutor Fatou Bensouda to investigate the stadium incident, planned for next week, would be postponed for "logistical reasons.""


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CICC's policy on the referral and prosecution of situations before the ICC:

The Coalition for the ICC is not an organ of the court. The CICC is an independent NGO movement dedicated to the establishment of the International Criminal Court as a fair, effective, and independent international organization. The Coalition will continue to provide the most up-to-date information about the ICC and to help coordinate global action to effectively implement the Rome Statute of the ICC. The Coalition will also endeavor to respond to basic queries and to raise awareness about the ICC's trigger mechanisms and procedures, as they develop. The Coalition as a whole, and its secretariat, do not endorse or promote specific investigations or prosecutions or take a position on situations before the ICC. However, individual CICC members may endorse referrals, provide legal and other support on investigations, or develop partnerships with local and other organizations in the course of their efforts.

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