HUMAN RIGHTS LAWYER PROVIDES DIFFERENT VIEW ON

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 CONAKRY 000296 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/22/2019 TAGS: PHUM PGOV ELAB PREL ASEC GV SUBJECT: HUMAN RIGHTS LAWYER PROVIDES DIFFERENT VIEW ON BAR'S DISCUSSIONS WITH DADIS REF: CONAKRY 0287 Classified By: POL/ECON CHIEF SHANNON CAZEAU FOR REASON 1.4 B AND D ¶1. (C) SUMMARY. Comments from one of the country's leading lawyers and human rights advocates, Maitre Mounir, indicate that he is increasingly demoralized by the political situation in Guinea. He described a heated and unproductive meeting between the Bar Association and Dadis, which he believes will not bring any concrete results. Mounir is convinced that Dadis, who he referred to as an "imbecile," is intent on staying in power and actively strategizing to make that happen. Mounir also discussed a March military raid on his residence. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (SBU) Pol/Econ Chief met with Maitre Mounir Houssein Mohammed, a respected high-profile Guinean lawyer, on May 22 to discuss the threatened lawyers' strike (reftel) and the overall political climate. Under former Prime Minister Kouyate, Mounir was appointed head of the Human Rights Commission to investigate abuses committed during the period of civil unrest in early 2007. Those investigations never got off the ground, but Mounir is commonly viewed as an outspoken defender of human rights and an advocate for the rule of law. Mounir is believed to be of Lebanese descent, but is a native-born Guinean. -------------- PERSPECTIVE ON THE BAR'S MEETING WITH DADIS -------------- ¶3. (C) A member of the Guinean Bar Association, Mounir's account of internal discussions among members of the Bar and the meeting with Dadis were quite different from those of his colleague, Maitre Sampil (reftel). Mounir agreed that the military's extensive human rights abuses and misapplication of justice need to be addressed, but told his colleagues that it would be inappropriate for the Bar to meet with Dadis. "This man is not the president...he is nothing more than the head of his own self-perpetuating committee...meeting with him legitimizes his authority," Mounir told Pol/Econ Chief. He reportedly told his colleagues that if they wanted to meet with Dadis, they should insist that it take place in an official government venue, not at Camp Alpha Yaya. The Bar decided to go ahead with the meeting and Mounir decided to stay home. The following details about the meeting were relayed to Mounir by several of his lawyer colleagues. ¶4. (C) Commenting on a group of women that temporarily blocked the Bar's access to the camp, Mounir said that Conakry Governor Diop had organized the demonstration as a display of support for Dadis. (COMMENT. Diop is believed to have orchestrated the pro-Dadis youth rally in March. END COMMENT). "The military were there to protect the women who were loudly insulting the lawyers," Mounir said. ¶5. (C) Once the representative group, which included large numbers of both judges and lawyers, made it to Dadis' waiting room, they were made to wait for an hour. During that time period, Dadis' staff reportedly came back and forth several times to tell them that Dadis could not receive everyone because there wasn't room. The first time the staff came back, they told the group to select 30 lawyers and 30 judges. By the time they came back for the fourth time, after repeatedly changing the numbers, the staff insisted that only one lawyer and 15 judges would be accommodated. "It was a joke," Mounir said. ¶6. (C) After filing into Dadis's office, Dadis immediately started to berate and insult the group for a full 19 minutes. Mounir said that one of the lawyers set his stopwatch until it was over. Dadis reportedly told everyone that they should be ashamed of themselves, that they should take off their judicial robes, and that if they continue to behave inappropriately, he would replace them. According to Mounir, a couple of lawyers from the Forest Region are close to Dadis and were providing inside information to him before the meeting. "He knew exactly what they were going to say and he was ready," Mounir said. ¶7. (C) Dadis eventually listened to the Bar's complaints and reportedly told them that they should meet with the Prime Minister and the Minister of Justice to address their issues. "It was all for show," Mounir said, adding "the Prime Minister has no power and he wants us to go meet with him to abolish a parallel court operating out of Camp Alpha Yaya that Dadis himself authorized? Nothing will come of it." -------------- CONAKRY 00000296 002 OF 003 THE "IMBECILE" AT THE TOP -------------- ¶8. (C) Several times during the discussion, Mounir referred to Dadis as an "imbecile." At one point, he compared him to Hitler and Stalin. He said Dadis has no intention of leaving power and is actively courting supporters so as to reinforce his hold on power. Leaning over conspiratorially, Mounir told Pol/Econ Chief "you know, you have to understand that some Africans think that Westerners are stupid. You say exactly what you think and you mean it. We don't say what we think, but rather what will please you. You have to look at what we don't say and that is where you will really see what is going on." Mounir said that Dadis has privately declared that Sekou Toure ran the country for 25 years without any help from the international community and that he can do the same. -------------- SECURITY ABUSES AND ABSOLUTE IMPUNITY -------------- ¶9. (C) Clearly disturbed by the military's continued impunity and abuse of civilians, Mounir said he himself had been the victim of a military search of his residence. He described how a group of Red Berets showed up at his house in March and started pounding on the door at 2:00 in the morning. His guard sent them away, but they returned at 3:00 with a higher ranked officer. They reportedly beat on the door warning that they would shoot if the door was not opened. Mounir went down to open the door and was told that they were on an official CNDD mission and were authorized to search his residence for narcotics. When Mounir asked for an official document to that effect, the officer claimed to have left the paperwork in his office. Mounir stated that everyone was clearly drunk. ¶10. (C) The men proceeded to search the house for 15 minutes, but found nothing. Mounir said that once they were let in, they were actually quite professional. Nothing was stolen and no one was mistreated. "If it had been during daylight hours with proper documentation, I would have thought nothing of it...but 2:00 in the morning?," Mounir said. Mounir later called the Minister of Justice to complain. A few days later, the Minister reportedly called him to say that he had identified the perpetrators and that they were being appropriately "sanctioned." Mounir told the Minister that he wasn't interested in sanctions, but wanted to file a law suit. He was discouraged from doing so. ¶11. (C) Mounir noted that cases like his are increasingly common. He mentioned that a Lebanese friend of his had rented a house and pre-paid the rent through the end of 2011. The landlady then came to ask him to pay through the end of 2012, but he refused. The landlady reportedly took the case before the Bureau of Conflicts, which immediately ordered the tenant to pay the additional year's rent or move out. He decided to move out, forfeiting the pre-payment he had already made. "These guys can't even write their names and we expect them to administer justice?," Mounir said. -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶12. (C) Mounir was clearly demoralized by the political situation in Guinea. He said he had been fighting for human rights and democracy for 20 years, but is considering leaving or simply staying home. "I can fight the government, but I cannot fight the people too and they are complicit, they are letting this happen," he said. Mounir is well-educated, articulate, and well off by Guinean standards. Although some of his comments may seem extreme, they likely reflect a high level of frustration. Mounir is someone who has spent his adult life under the Conte regime as an advocate for fundamental human rights and the rule of law. Now with Conte gone, he seems discouraged by the fact that nothing appears to be changing for the better. ¶13. (C) Although the current parallel justice system is problematic on a number of levels, it is important to note that the Guinean justice system has been inefficient and endemically corrupt for years. These problems pre-date the installation of the military junta. Many Guineans are just as frustrated with the underlying lack of access to justice as the lawyers are with the relatively new complications introduced by the CNDD. END COMMENT. CONAKRY 00000296 003 OF 003 RASPOLIC