Pressure Builds on Guinea Junta for Democracy as Security Wanes

(Bloomberg) -- Pressure is building on Guinea’s military leadership, which seized power almost three years ago to hold elections after the disappearance of two pro-democracy activists.

Civil society groups in the West African nation are mobilizing citizens for a three-day protest starting July 30 to demand the whereabouts of two members of the National Front for the Defense of the Constitution, a movement already dissolved by the junta, said Lancinet Keita, head of mobilization for an alliance of civil society organizations in Guinea.

The two men have been missing since July 9, and activists believe they were arrested and detained by security forces, Keita said in an interview on Saturday. The men mobilized people through social media to back their call for elections and to protest of high living costs as well as the junta’s intimidation of the media.

“We are going to protest against security conditions following the arrest by the security forces of Oumar Sylla and Mamadou Billo Bah in Conakry on July 9,” Keita said. “If our colleagues were kidnapped in the middle of the capital, it’s because no one is safe.”

The demonstrations will also denounce electricity cuts and the military government’s closure of radio and TV stations, he said.

The developments come as the timeline agreed between the junta and regional bloc Economic Community of West African States to return the country to democracy comes to an end this year. 

Mamadi Doumbouya, an army colonel, seized power in a military coup in September 2021, citing rampant corruption, disregard for human rights and economic mismanagement under former president Alpha Conde. In late 2022 Doumbouya and Ecowas reached a pact on a two-year transition period for the country to hold elections and return to civilian rule.

The government has no definite timetable for the polls, Ousmane Gaoual Diallo, a spokesman for the government said July 25.

“We have objectives broken down into three sections, namely social, economic and political,” he said. “If they are reached the transition will end.”

Complaint Filed

The wives of the missing activists are filing a complaint at a Paris court against Doumbouya over the disappearance of their husbands.

They are asking the prosecutor of the court to open preliminary investigations and for an express request to be made to the Guinean authorities to reveal where they detained the two men, a lawyer for the two women, Vincent Brengarth, said in an interview.

Even though the government has denied arresting the two activists, Brengarth insists that they were “kidnapped” by security forces.

Diallo didn’t respond to telephone calls or a text message seeking comment on Saturday. Earlier this week he told the press that steps were underway by security forces and the justice system to find the men, adding that the complaint against Doumbouya is a “serious accusation.”

Guinea is the world’s top exporter of bauxite. The country also has the world’s largest untapped deposit of iron ore, which companies including Rio Tinto Plc say will begin shipping by 2026.

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