Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08CONAKRY169
2008-05-07 11:44:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Conakry
Cable title:  

HUMAN REMAINS UNEARTHED AT CENTRAL PRISON, EMBASSY

Tags:  PHUM PGOV PREL ASEC GV 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO7494
PP RUEHPA
DE RUEHRY #0169/01 1281144
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 071144Z MAY 08
FM AMEMBASSY CONAKRY
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2487
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHMFISS/HQ USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CONAKRY 000169 

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR DRL SHARON COOKE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/07/2018
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL ASEC GV
SUBJECT: HUMAN REMAINS UNEARTHED AT CENTRAL PRISON, EMBASSY
SPEAKS WITH TORTURE VICTIM


Classified By: POL/ECON CHIEF SHANNON CAZEAU FOR REASON 1.4 B AND D

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CONAKRY 000169

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR DRL SHARON COOKE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/07/2018
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL ASEC GV
SUBJECT: HUMAN REMAINS UNEARTHED AT CENTRAL PRISON, EMBASSY
SPEAKS WITH TORTURE VICTIM


Classified By: POL/ECON CHIEF SHANNON CAZEAU FOR REASON 1.4 B AND D


1. (C) SUMMARY. A Guinean prisoner advocacy NGO has
reportedly unearthed human skeletal remains under a former
trash heap at Conakry's central prison. Although most of the
skulls and large bones were reportedly stolen in the middle
of the night, Poloff saw several bone fragments sticking up
out of the ground. Talk of abuse led to a discussion of
torture and an invitation to speak with a torture victim.
END SUMMARY.


2. (C) After receiving an email from an NGO contact at
Conakry's Central Prison about human skeletons being
unearthed, Poloff visited the prison and the NGO on May 6.
Dr. Soraya is a Moroccan woman running the Guinean NGO ASWAR,
which is a prisoner advocacy organization. She has been with
the organization since 2002 and her office is located on the
prison grounds. She is doing phenomenal work in improving
the quality of life for inmates, is widely respected by the
prison community, and has unrestricted access to the
compound. Dr. Soraya is passionate about prisoners' rights,
which she says is partly because her father was unjustly
imprisoned in Morocco for decades.

--------------
HUMAN SKULLS IN THE GARDEN
--------------


3. (C) Dr. Soraya told Poloff that ASWAR has been working on
a project, financed by the German Government, to plant a
large vegetable garden within the prison compound in order to
provide a mechanism for inmates to earn money, and contribute
to their daily nutritional needs. According to the project
manager, who is a Liberian refugee, after only digging one
foot into the ground, he unearthed seven human skulls as well
as a number of other human bones. Dr. Soraya said the garden
site used to be the prison trash heap where garbage was
frequently burned. According to the project manager, many of
the unearthed bones were charred.


4. (C) When Poloff asked to see the bones, the project
manager said that he has been covertly hiding them on the
garden grounds, but that they keep disappearing in the middle
of the night. He said that all of the skulls were gone, but

that he still had a few leg bones hidden. When Dr. Soraya
and Poloff went to the garden site, the project manager
looked at several different spots where he had reportedly
hidden the bones. "They are all gone," he told Poloff, as he
kicked at the ground. However, Dr. Soraya showed how bone
fragments, which appeared human, were literally sticking out
of the ground.


5. (C) According to Dr. Soraya, the skeletons must be at
least ten years old. She said that she had talked to inmates
and all of them confirmed that no bodies had been buried on
the compound for at least a decade. However, she said that
several of the older inmates reported that there are between
75 and 100 bodies buried at the trash site, since it used to
be common practice to throw the corpses out with the trash.
Dr. Soraya told Poloff "I am absolutely sure that these
remains are at least ten years old; since I have been here,
all of the corpses are sent to the cemetery."


6. (C) Dr. Soraya said she had discussed the issue of the
discovered skeletons with the Administrative Director of the
Penitentiary System who reportedly told her "if you want to
bury them, go ahead; if you don't like the site, choose
another one for your garden."

--------------
CONVERSATION WITH A TORTURE VICTIM
--------------


7. (SBU) On a separate issue, Dr. Soraya mentioned the
problem of torture, which she estimates affects at least 30%
of inmates. However, she said that since she has been on
site at the prison since 2002, very little torturing is
happening within the prison grounds. She told Poloff that
the inmates are beaten and/or tortured before they arrive at
the prison, or they are taken to another location and she
just sees the wounds when they return. Her project manager
mentioned that an inmate had been dropped off the previous
day who was suffering from severe injuries. Dr. Soraya said
she had not seen him yet and invited Poloff to accompany her.


8. (SBU) Dr. Soraya and Poloff found the inmate standing

CONAKRY 00000169 002 OF 002


outside the medical facility that Dr. Soraya built a few
years earlier with donor support. The man had large
abrasions all over his body, including areas with large
patches of skin missing. He had a large circular wound on
the back of his head where the hair and skin had been scraped
off. His buttocks were covered in similar abrasions, making
it impossible for the man to even cover himself. He wore
only a ragged pair of shorts that he had pulled up as much as
possible, but which left his buttocks completely exposed, as
well as most of his pubic hair. The wounds looked to have
been recently treated with some kind of topical medication.


9. (SBU) Escorted by one of the prison guards, Dr. Soraya
asked the inmate who was responsible for the wounds. The
prisoner said "the police," but then the prison guard stepped
in and said "no, the population did this to him before the
police got him." The prisoner agreed and said it was the
population, but then later said again that it was the police.
"They kept beating me and telling me to confess," he said.
As Dr. Soraya left, she was issuing orders right and left to
her colleagues for medical treatment. Under her breath, she
told Poloff "if he does not get treatment immediately, he
will die in here."

--------------
COMMENT
--------------


10. (U) Although conditions in Conakry's central prison are
abhorrent by western standards, Dr. Soraya and ASWAR are
doing incredible work to make it a more tolerable place.
Just seven months after Poloff's last visit, the prison
looked transformed. In addition to the vegetable garden,
ASWAR is constructing a soap making facility for female
inmates in order to provide them with an opportunity to earn
money while incarcerated, as well as a marketable skill for
when they are released. Along the same lines, ASWAR is
constructing a poultry growing facility for the male inmates,
thanks to financing from UNDP. Dr. Soraya is especially
sensitive to the young inmates (aged 8 to 18) and has made
several improvements over the years, including building a
stand-alone facility for them so that they can be housed away
from the adult inmates.


11. (C) Unfortunately, the issue of unearthed human remains
is not unusual. The local representative for the
International Red Cross told the Ambassador on May 6 that
human remains are periodically unearthed in various prison
facilities throughout the country, many of them assumed to be
a legacy of the Sekou Toure regime. Embassy continues to
hear reports of torture and abuse of detainees and inmates.
Poloff told Dr. Soraya about the Embassy's initiative to
launch a Human Rights Working Group next week, which was
enthusiastically received. "The U.S. is the champion of
human rights and we need that leadership to make a
difference," she said. END COMMENT.
CARTER