MIILTARY PRISONERS MOVED TO KASSA ISLAND

C O N F I D E N T I A L CONAKRY 000450 SENSITIVE SIPDIS C O R R E C T E D COPY - ADDING CLASS MARKING PARA 1 E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/16/2019 TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL ASEC GV SUBJECT: MIILTARY PRISONERS MOVED TO KASSA ISLAND Classified By: POLOFF JULIA TULLY FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D) MILITARY PRISONERS MOVED TO KASSA ISLAND ¶1. (C) SUMMARY. Over the August 1-2 weekend, a group of military officers who were reportedly being held without charges at Camp Alpha Yaya since early January, were transferred to the military prison on Kassa Island. Family members and local media confirmed the transfer. The move is most likely life-threatening as access to this prison is denied and prisoners are rarely released from the island. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (C) Embassy sources and local media have confirmed that 12 military officers who had been held in Camp Alpha Yaya since early January, were transferred to the military prison on Kassa Island just off the coast near Conakry, on Saturday or Sunday morning around 2am. According to a report from a Conakry family member received via an NGO, the prisoners were reportedly brutalized and tortured at the camp. Relatives of the prisoners who were at Camp Alpha Yaya monitoring their situation were reportedly roughed up and removed from the camp during the transfer of the prisoners in the early morning. ¶3. (C) A group of approximately 12 military officers had been detained in early January shortly after the December 2008 coup, but to the Embassy's knowledge, had not been charged with a crime. The newly transferred prisoners will join another group already at Kassa Island, of at least three other military officers who were detained in late April following an alleged coup attempt. ¶4. (SBU) Access to the military prison on Kassa Island by any type of NGO, prison advocacy organization, or the International Committee of the Red Cross has been denied by military authorities for years. Prison conditions on mainland Guinea that are monitored by NGOs are generally considered inhumane and are frequently described as life threatening. ¶5. (U) Family members have sent a letter to national and international organizations seeking assistance in securing the release of the prisoners. ¶6. (C) Jean-Marie Dore, leader of the UPG political party and spokesperson for Les Forces Vives, told A/DCM on August 5 that he had raised these cases directly with CNDD President Moussa Dadis Camara during a private meeting over the weekend. When Dore emphasized that the prisoners had been held for more than seven months without being formally charged, Dadis reportedly waved Dore off and said he did not want to talk about it. Dore pressed the issue again later on in the meeting, but Dadis was uninterested and said he would talk about it later. -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶7. (C) The transfer of the military officers to Kassa Island could represent a death sentence for these men as prisoners are rarely released from Kassa and their confinement conditions are completely unknown and unmonitored. A rumor of castrations and torture on Kassa Island surfaced a few months ago, but could not be confirmed. What prompted the transfer of the prisoners is also unknown. END COMMENT. BROKENSHIRE