The situation of soldiers involved in the mutiny of 2 February 1996, whether they have been charged, amnestied or allowed to return to their units, whether any soldiers were killed during or shortly after the mutiny, and their names and ranks [GIN29141.E]

On February 1996, a revolt of approximately 2,000 soldiers asking for "higher pay and better working conditions" was reported in Conakry (Africa News Feb. 1996). Fifteen officers were formally "arrested and charged with attacking state security, murder and destruction of public buildings" (Africa Research Bulletin June 1996, 12281). This report further states that Commander Gbago Zoumanigui, former Minister of Youth and Sport, and one of the presumed main instigators of the aborted coup d'état took refuge in Libya after fleeing to Burkina Faso, but that Lieutenant Lamine Diarra, the other leader of the mutiny, who had taken refuge in the Malian embassy in Conakry, was handed over to the authorities with assurances that he " will enjoy all the guarantees of a transparent and fair judiciary (ibid.).

Another report by Africa Research Bulletin states that on 9 August 1996, forty of the prisoners held in connection with the mutiny were released on account of insufficient evidence (Sept. 1996, 12379). In mid-January 1998 a lawyer for several of the accused soldiers held in the Conakry central prison since the mutiny, claimed that they had been secretly transferred to various other prisons in the country without their lawyers' knowledge ( ibid. Jan. 1998, 12984). The report further states that fifty-seven soldiers and officers were still in detention (ibid., 12984).

Fifty-three detainees held in connection with the mutiny had reportedly written a letter to Parliament complaining that their superiors were still at large while soldiers who had remained on duty "to contain the damage" had been arrested for "undermining state security, murder and destruction" (West Africa 22 Dec. 1997 - 11 Jan.1998, 1999). The source does not indicate in which prison the 53 are held.

The detainees further alleged that former commander of the Alpha Yaya Barracks, Seny Bangoura, executed three days after the mutiny, had taken part in the mutiny. The officers who are reportedly still at large include Colonel Ibrahima Sory Diallo, head of the Army General Staff now Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces; Colonel Abdouramane Kaba, Chief of the Gendarmerie General Staff; Sama Panival Bangoura, commander of the Alpha Yaya Diallo Barracks; Mohamed Lamine Traoré, cabinet Director for Defence of the Presidency; and Oumah Soumah, former Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces (ibid.).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

References


Africa Research Bulletin: Political, Social and Cultural Series [Oxford]. January 1998. Vol. 35. No. 1. "Guinea."

_____. September 1996. Vol. 33. No. 8. "Guinea."

_____. June 1996. Vol. 33. No. 5. "Guinea."

Africa News. February 1996. "Guinea Army Rebellion Leaves 50 Dead." (NEXIS)

West Africa [London]. 22 December 1997 - 11 January 1998. "Guinea: Senior Officers Accused."

Information on the treatment of the Peul by the present government could not be found among the sources currently available to the Research Directorate.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

Sources Consulted


Africa Confidential [London]. Weekly

Africa Research Bulletin: Political, Social and Cultural Series [London]. Monthly.

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1997.1998.

Keesing's Record of World Events [Cambridge]. 1997-1998.

New African [London]. Monthly.

Political Handbook of the World: 1997. Edited by Arthur S. Banks. Binghamton, NY: CAS Publications.

West Africa [London]. Weekly.

Electronic sources: IRB Databases, LEXIS/NEXIS, Internet, REFWORLD, World News Connection (WNC).

Three oral sources contacted did not provide information on the requested subject