Authorities Should Locate, Release Activists and Investigate Allegations of Torture
- By: Ilaria Allegrozzi | Senior Sahel Researcher
- Photo: A poster created by the opposition coalition, National Front for the Defense of the Constitution (Front National pour la Défense de la Constitution, FNDC) showing Mamadou Billo Bah (L) and Oumar Sylla, known as Foniké Mengué (R). © 2024 National Front for the Defense of the Constitution
Oumar Sylla, known as Foniké Mengué, and Mamadou Billo Bah, two members of the Guinean opposition coalition National Front for the Defense of the Constitution (Front National pour la Défense de la Constitution, FNDC), knew they were at risk for their political activism.
“If arrest is the price to pay, I am ready for that,” Sylla had told another FNDC member who spoke to Human Rights Watch.
Today marks 100 days since security forces arbitrarily detained Sylla, Bah, and Mohamed Cissé, another FNDC member, and transferred them to an unknown location. Cissé was released July 10, while Sylla and Bah remain missing. Authorities have yet to acknowledge their detention or disclose their whereabouts, despite being asked by lawyers representing the men. This amounts to an enforced disappearance under international law.
On July 17, the prosecutor’s office of the Conakry Court of Appeal said that Sylla and Bah had not been arrested by authorities and that they were not being held in any of the country’s prisons, claiming they had been abducted. Authorities told Human Rights Watch they don’t know where the two political activists are and are searching for them.
The FNDC, which has been calling for the restoration of civilian rule since the military coup in 2021, said that security forces tortured Sylla and Bah, allegations also documented by Human Rights Watch and reported by the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
On July 22, the wives of the two men filed a complaint with a Paris court against Guinea’s junta leader Mamady Doumbouya over their husbands’ enforced disappearance. A week before, the lawyers of both activists asked the International Criminal Court to open an investigation into the case.
The disappearance of the two FNDC members comes amid the junta’s increasing crackdown on opposition, dissent, and independent media.
On October 10, UN and AU rights experts urged the Guinean authorities to release Sylla and Bah, and also expressed concern about other cases of enforced disappearances and deaths in custody.
Enforced disappearances are international crimes and cause profound suffering to families who can never really mourn. Forcibly disappeared people are held without any legal protections and are frequently subjected to torture and in constant fear for their lives. Guinea’s authorities should immediately locate and release Sylla and Bah if found in their custody, and credibly investigate the disappearance, including allegations of torture.