- Title: Nine people killed in Guinea protests, opposition members arrested
- Date: 22nd October 2019
- Summary: CONAKRY, GUINEA (OCTOBER 15, 2019) (REUTERS) ***WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** CELLOU DIALLO, LEADER OF THE GUINEA UNION OF DEMOCRATIC FORCES (UNION DES FORCES DEMOCRATIQUES DE GUINEE (UFDG)) (SOUNDBITE) (French) CELLOU DIALLO, LEADER OF THE GUINEA UNION OF DEMOCRATIC FORCES (UNION DES FORCES DEMOCRATIQUES DE GUINEE (UFDG)), SAYING: "We deplore the use of firearms by the security forces. They killed point blank. These are youths, most of the time young school children less than 20-years-old and who are often on site and died on the spot of their injuries. Today there are 7 who lost their lives because of those who are recruited, trained, equipped to ensure our security and who are now becoming a serious source of insecurity in our society." CONAKRY, GUINEA (OCTOBER 16, 2019) (REUTERS) FNDC MEMBERS WALKING OUT OF POLICE VAN AND INTO COURT WITH FIST IN THE AIR AND SUPPORTERS SHOUTING 'AMOULANFE' (It will not go through, referring to the 3rd mandate) SEKOU KOUNDOUNO (BALAI CITOYEN, A PROTEST GROUP), BILL DE SAM (UNION OF REPUBLICAN FORCES) AND ABDOURAHMANE SANOH (FROM RIGHT TO LEFT) ALL MEMBERS OF THE OPPOSITION ALLIANCE FNDC KOUNDOUNO AND BILL DE SAM WHO SAYS 'Political Alternative' (French) (SOUNDBITE) (French) ABDOURAHMANE SANOH, FNDC (NATIONAL FRONT FOR THE DEFENCE OF THE CONSTITUTION), SAYING 'Amoulanfe (it will not pass) Let us be very clear, it will not go through (no passaran), whatever the means that you (the government) will use. It will not go through and that is the people's will and we shall carry that voice." KOUNDOUNO (LEFT) AND BAILO DESTIN A MAIN (THAT IS HIS NAME), FNDC, SAYING: "The FNDC represents everybody. It's you, it's us, it is them, for democracy." (SOUNDBITE) (French) HALIMATOU CAMARA, LAWYER FOR THE DEFENCE, SAYING: "We do not recognise this legal order (charge), this legal order has no basis, no legal basis. In the 21st century, in 2019, it is unthinkable that in the Republic of Guinea, masked men descend at the home of an honest citizen under the pretence that public security or public order is under threat. It is astounding. I think that when we plead we shall repeat this fact and show that all of the FNDC's actions are based on respect of the 2010 constitution." CONAKRY, GUINEA (OCTOBER 15, 2019) (REUTERS) POLICE DISMANTLING BARRICADES MADE OF BURNING TIRES
- Embargoed: 5th November 2019 08:21
- Keywords: FNDC Third Mandate Presidential Election Protest constitution
- Location: CONAKRY, GUINEA
- City: CONAKRY, GUINEA
- Country: Guinea
- Topics: Government/Politics,Elections/Voting
- Reuters ID: LVA003B2GIT7B
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Guinea's government revised the death toll in country-wide protests this week to nine people on Wednesday (October 16) from two on Tuesday and said they were investigating the circumstances.
Police opened fire on demonstrators on Monday (October 14) as they ransacked military posts and blocked roads with burning tyres in the capital Conakry, while protests in the northern opposition stronghold of Mamou also turned violent, witnesses said.
Protests have continued since then with decreasing intensity but they point to the kind of upheaval Conde faces if he tries to extend his rule beyond his legally-allotted two terms.
A coalition of opposition groups, the FNDC (National Front for the Defence of the Constitution), said on Wednesday that the police had killed 10 people since Monday. It provided a list of the dead, all males under the age of 30 and including a 14-year-old schoolboy called Boubacar Diallo.
Opposition leader of the Union of Democratic Forces of Guinea (UFDG) Cellou Diallo said on Tuesday he had received reports of 7 deaths.
The FNDC said in a statement that 70 others had been wounded by bullets and that 200 people had been arrested.
Fifteen members and supporters of the FNDC who were arrested over the weekend for inciting violence and threatening the public order appeared in court on Wednesday with supporters shouting 'Amoulanfe' which means 'It will not pass' and is the slogan the opposition have used to campaign against the president seeking a third mandate.
One of the members on trial, Abdourahmane Sanoh, said on his first day in court that the movement will continue to fight against Conde.
Conde's second and final five-year term expires in 2020 but the 81-year-old leader has refused to rule out running again. He asked his government last month to look into drafting a new constitution, raising concerns that he might use it as a reset button on his presidency and run again.
Extending his mandate would mark a turnaround for Conde who as an opposition leader railed against militarised, autocratic regimes.
His first election win in 2010 raised hopes for democratic progress in Guinea after two years of military rule and nearly a quarter a century under authoritarian President Lansana Conte, who died in 2008.
However, tinkering with term limits or eliminating them altogether has been part of the playbook of African rulers even during a recent push towards democracy in parts of the region.
Rwanda's Paul Kagame and Congo Republic's Denis Sassou Nguesso easily pushed through new constitutions in 2015 that allowed them to stay in power.
Even measures ostensibly passed to introduce term limits have been used to extend mandates.
In Chad, a new constitution passed last year reimposed a two-term limit scrapped in a 2005 referendum. But it will not be applied retroactively, meaning President Idriss Deby could serve two six-year terms after the next election in 2021.
A change in Togo's law voted through in May capped mandates to two five-year terms. But like Chad it was not retroactive and could allow longstanding President Faure Gnassingbe to stay in power until 2030, extending his family's rule to 63 years.
STORY: Guinea's government revised the death toll in country-wide protests this week to nine people on Wednesday (October 16) from two on Tuesday and said they were investigating the circumstances.
Police opened fire on demonstrators on Monday (October 14) as they ransacked military posts and blocked roads with burning tyres in the capital Conakry, while protests in the northern opposition stronghold of Mamou also turned violent, witnesses said.
Protests have continued since then with decreasing intensity but they point to the kind of upheaval Conde faces if he tries to extend his rule beyond his legally-alloted two terms.
A coalition of opposition groups, the FNDC (National Front for the Defence of the Constitution), said on Wednesday that the police had killed 10 people since Monday. It provided a list of the dead, all males under the age of 30 and including a 14-year-old schoolboy called Boubacar Diallo.
Opposition leader of the Union of Democratic Forces of Guinea (UFDG) Cellou Diallo said on Tuesday he had received reports of 7 deaths.
The FNDC said in a statement that 70 others had been wounded by bullets and that 200 people had been arrested.
Fifteen members and supporters of the FNDC who were arrested over the weekend for inciting violence and threatening the public order appeared in court on Wednesday with supporters shouting 'Amoulanfe' which means 'It will not pass' and is the slogan the opposition have used to campaign against the president seeking a third mandate.
One of the members on trial, Abdourahmane Sanoh, said on his first day in court that the movement will continue to fight against Conde.
Conde's second and final five-year term expires in 2020 but the 81-year-old leader has refused to rule out running again. He asked his government last month to look into drafting a new constitution, raising concerns that he might use it as a reset button on his presidency and run again.
Extending his mandate would mark a turnaround for Conde who as an opposition leader railed against militarised, autocratic regimes.
His first election win in 2010 raised hopes for democratic progress in Guinea after two years of military rule and nearly a quarter a century under authoritarian President Lansana Conte, who died in 2008.
However, tinkering with term limits or eliminating them altogether has been part of the playbook of African rulers even during a recent push towards democracy in parts of the region.
Rwanda's Paul Kagame and Congo Republic's Denis Sassou Nguesso easily pushed through new constitutions in 2015 that allowed them to stay in power.
Even measures ostensibly passed to introduce term limits have been used to extend mandates.
In Chad, a new constitution passed last year reimposed a two-term limit scrapped in a 2005 referendum. But it will not be applied retroactively, meaning President Idriss Deby could serve two six-year terms after the next election in 2021.
A change in Togo's law voted through in May capped mandates to two five-year terms. But like Chad it was not retroactive and could allow longstanding President Faure Gnassingbe to stay in power until 2030, extending his family's rule to 63 years. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2019. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
