CONAKRY, GUINEA — Twenty African civil society organisations have called for an independent and official investigation into the discovery of six male bodies found bound and blindfolded in a mass grave in southwestern Guinea, amid growing concerns over alleged enforced disappearances and possible extrajudicial killings.
The bodies were discovered last Monday in the village of Allassoyah, located in the Forecariah administrative prefecture of Lower Guinea. According to local sources cited by AFP, young people who had gone into the area to gather firewood came across the remains and alerted others to the disturbing discovery.
The discovery has since prompted demands from civil society groups for authorities to establish the identities of the victims and determine how they died. The organisations said the circumstances surrounding the recovery of the bodies were serious enough to require an investigation conducted independently, transparently and without assumptions about the cause of death.
The 20 groups, which include several branches of Tournons La Page (TLP), an organisation bringing together citizen movements across about a dozen African countries, issued their demand on Sunday.
Their call came on the same day Guinea’s armed forces publicly acknowledged the discovery, marking the first official response from the authorities since the bodies were found.
In its statement, the military confirmed that six bodies had been discovered and said they were transported to the hospital in Forecariah for identification and, where possible, determination of the circumstances surrounding their deaths.
The armed forces said measures were being taken to establish what happened and promised that the results of the investigation would be made public.
The civil society organisations, however, called for a broader investigation capable of examining every possible explanation surrounding the deaths. They urged authorities to ensure that the process was independent, impartial and transparent rather than relying solely on preliminary findings.
The organisations also called for national and international forensic specialists to participate in the investigation so that the victims could be formally identified and evidence surrounding their deaths properly established.
The demand for forensic involvement reflects the difficulty authorities may face in identifying the victims and determining the circumstances of their deaths, particularly given that the bodies were reportedly found bound and blindfolded.
The groups said the discovery should also be examined within the wider context of disappearances that they say have occurred in Guinea in recent years.
According to the civil society organisations, TLP-Guinea has documented at least 35 cases of enforced disappearances since September 5, 2021. They argued that the latest discovery has heightened concerns about what may have happened to people who disappeared during the same period.
The organisations said the condition in which the six bodies were found raised fears that the victims could have been subjected to extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions.
They did not, however, present the deaths as established cases of execution, instead demanding that investigators examine all possible hypotheses and determine the facts through an independent process.
The controversy comes against the backdrop of Guinea’s political situation since General Mamady Doumbouya seized power in a military coup in 2021.
Since the takeover, several political parties have been suspended, while authorities have suppressed protests and a number of opposition and civil society figures have been arrested, sentenced or forced into exile.
Civil society groups have also raised concerns about the growing number of opposition activists who have reportedly been abducted or have disappeared.
The latest discovery has therefore intensified scrutiny of the government’s handling of allegations involving political opponents and civil society members. For the organisations demanding an investigation, establishing the identities of the six victims and determining how they died are essential steps in addressing the concerns surrounding the mass grave.
The Guinea armed forces have said that the bodies were being examined and that authorities would seek to determine the circumstances of the deaths, with the results expected to be made public.
The NGOs are seeking assurances that the investigation will go beyond an internal examination and involve independent experts capable of establishing the facts through forensic evidence.
They have specifically urged the authorities to ensure that every possible explanation is considered and that the investigation is conducted without political interference.
The discovery in Allassoyah has consequently become a significant test of the authorities’ willingness to investigate allegations surrounding disappearances and suspected abuses transparently. While the circumstances of the six deaths have yet to be officially established, civil society organisations are demanding that the investigation provide clear answers about who the victims were, how they died and how their bodies came to be buried at the site.
Until those questions are answered, the groups say the discovery will continue to fuel concerns over the fate of people who have disappeared in Guinea since the 2021 military takeover.
20 African NGOs Demand Independent Probe Into Guinea Mass Grave
A mass burial took place in December 2021 when the morgue became overwhelmed. Credit: Getty Images
