Background

Sanctions imposed by ECOWAS since the September 2021 coup were lifted in February. A draft of a new constitution was presented in July. The transitional regime put in place since the 2021 coup did not end in 2024 as previously agreed between the authorities and ECOWAS.

The country suffered further repeated power cuts because of an explosion in a fuel depot in December 2023, leading to an increase in the costs of food and fuel for households and affecting businesses.

Freedom of peaceful assembly

The May 2022 ban on all protests was still in force, but demonstrations supporting the president were allowed. On 17 January, the minister of territorial administration threatened political parties and civil society organizations that defied the ban on protests with the suspension or withdrawal of their licences. Despite the ban, protests were organized but violently repressed, resulting in deaths and serious injuries of protesters.

On 26 February the trade union movement began a strike for a reduction in the cost of basic necessities, an end to media censorship and the release of a journalist trade unionist. In the Tamouya district in Boffa prefecture, a 17-year-old protester was shot dead, allegedly by security forces.

On 12 March, a power cut in the city of Kindia sparked protests, in which two boys aged 8 and 14 were shot dead, allegedly by security forces. The prosecutor of the Court of First Instance of Kindia announced an investigation into the killings.

Between September 2021 and 15 March 2024, at least 47 protesters were killed.¹

Freedom of expression and association

The transitional authorities continued to restrict civic space.

On 21 May the minister of information and communication ordered the revocation of licences authorizing the installation and operation of the radio stations FIM FM, Espace FM, Sweet FM and Djoma FM, as well as TV stations Djoma TV and Espace TV, “for non-compliance with the content of the specifications”.

Internet restrictions imposed in November 2023 were lifted in February.

On 2 September, the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Decentralization suspended the renewal of NGOs’ operating licences for four months pending an assessment of their activities in line with their status.

Arbitrary detention

On 18 January, at least nine journalists were arrested during a protest at the Guinean press house for the “release of jammed media airwaves and the restoration of access to social networks in Guinea”. They were released the following day, when another journalist, Sekou Jamal Pendessa was arrested. On 28 February, the Conakry Court of Appeal sentenced him to three months in prison, including two suspended, but released him immediately, as he had already spent a month in detention.²

Enforced disappearances

On 9 July, Omar Sylla, Mamadou Billo Bah and Mohammed Cissé, all members of the National Front for the Defence of the Constitution, were arrested at Omar Sylla’s house. According to Mohammed Cissé, who was released the next day, they were arrested by gendarmes and detained by members of the special forces on the island of Kassa. Mohammed Cissé was violently assaulted and said that all three were tortured during interrogation.³ In a statement issued on 17 July, the General Prosecutor’s Office of the Court of Appeal in Conakry (the capital), said the activists had not been arrested by the authorities and that no prison in the country was holding them. At the end of the year Mamadou Billo Bah and Omar Sylla remained forcibly disappeared.

On 3 December, journalist Habib Marouane Camara was arrested by gendarmes, according to witnesses, and his whereabouts remained unknown at the end of the year. The authorities claimed they were not informed of his arrest.

Inhumane detention conditions

On 5 May, three people died in disciplinary premises of the gendarmerie and police “due to the intense heatwave that the country has been experiencing over the past 72 hours”, according to the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights.

On 25 June the military prosecutor of Conakry announced the death of former army chief of staff Sadiba Koulibaly on 22 June. He had been arrested on 4 June and sentenced to five years in prison for “desertion and illegal possession of weapons”.⁴ The Military Court Prosecutor’s Office attributed his death to cardiac arrest; his lawyer said that his client was in good health before his incarceration.

OHCHR warned of detention conditions of children in Guinea. According to its August report, children – often imprisoned without trial – live in overcrowded prisons in terrible conditions.

Right to truth, justice and reparation

On 31 July, the Dixinn Criminal Court convicted eight people for crimes against humanity in a trial about the massacre of 28 September 2009, during which more than 150 protesters were killed and over 100 women were subjected to rape and other sexual violence by members of the defence and security forces.

Women’s and girls’ rights

According to a 2024 UNICEF report, 95% of girls and women in Guinea aged 15 to 49 had undergone female genital mutilation.

Survivors of sexual violence continued to face difficulties accessing adequate medical and psychological care.

1. Wounded Youth: Care and Justice Urgently Needed for the Victims of Unlawful Use of Force in Guinea, 15 May ↩︎
2. “Guinea: Trade Unionist Sékou Jamal Pendessa must be released”, 23 January (French only) ↩︎
3. “Guinea: Urgent investigation needed into enforced disappearance of two FNDC activists missing since 9 July”, 30 August ↩︎
4. Guinea: Ongoing Human Rights Violations: Submission to the 49th Session of the UPR Working Group, April-May 2025, 10 December ↩︎