On September 28th, there was a demonstration in Guinea to protest the political events that have been unfolding in Guinea since December 2008, after the death of the president Lasana Conte (who had been president for 24 years). A group of military officers, calling themselves the National Council for Democracy and Development, had seized power after the president's death; and during their nine months in government, Human Rights Watch states that their government has been "characterized by arbitrary arrests and detentions, restrictions on peaceful political activity, unpunished criminal acts by the military, and calls for vigilante justice." For the rest of this article, click here.
A group of activists had decided that they were going to go ahead with demonstrations despite being warned, and people (about 50,000) had gathered at a stadium to join in protest and hear the activists speak. But before they even got a chance to speak, the police fired into the crowd and committed violent acts against the civilians, especially women. A New York Times article details the brutality of acts towards women that are absolutely horrific. Women are being raped and beaten by the soldiers, targeted for violent attacks. These acts are truly heinous, a crime against Guinean women and the citizenry as a whole. Where is the humanity in all of this? Do these soldiers not have mothers, sisters, girlfriends, daughters? Perhaps this is the savagery that comes to light when someone is so desperate to hold on to power, but for what purpose? At the cost of brutality against their own citizens, so much so that it is decried as inhumane? It is just terrible. Human rights organizations say that 157 people have been killed, but I'm sure there are many wounded and even more who have been raped and abused. What will the international community do? France has already acted, being the former colonial power in Guinea. What else needs to be done to bring justice to these women and the rest of the civilians in Guinea?
Here's another New York Times article about the recent events in Guinea.
