FORCES VIVES DESCRIBE EXPERIENCES, MAINTAIN THAT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CONAKRY 000632 SIPDIS SENSITIVE E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/07/2019 TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL ASEC GV SUBJECT: FORCES VIVES DESCRIBE EXPERIENCES, MAINTAIN THAT JUNTA MUST GO Classified By: A/DCM SHANNON CAZEAU FOR REASON 1.4 B AND D ¶1. (SBU) Summary: Key members of Les Forces Vives met with DAS Fitzgerald on October 5 to discuss Guinea's political impasse. Clearly shocked and angered by the September 28 violence, they were eager to describe their experiences at the stadium, many of them either victims of beatings or witnesses of shootings and rapes. Participants were concerned about rising ethnic tensions as well as reports of ongoing political detentions of demonstrators. The Forces Vives is opposed to negotiating with the junta, arguing that the only option is for the junta to step down. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (SBU) About a dozen key members of Les Forces Vives met with visiting AF DAS Fitzgerald on October 5 to discuss their views on Guinea's current political situation. Forces Vives representatives included Jean-Marie Dore (UPG),Sidya Toure (UFR),Mouctar Diallo (NFD),Francois Fall (FUDEC),and Dr. Ibrahima Fofana (union - USTG),as well as representatives from civil society and the RPG and UFDG political parties. Several of the participants were still wearing bandages or had visible injuries from the violence on September 28. The sole woman participant had clearly been beaten severely as she still had residual swelling on her face and was walking slowly with the aid of a cane. Her colleagues said that she had been raped at the stadium on September 28. ¶3. (SBU) The discussion was dominated by Jean-Marie Dore, the official spokesperson for Les Forces Vives. Dore said that the Forces Vives has resolved that the only solution to Guinea's current political impasse is for the junta to relinquish power. "There will be no debate with them," he said. He emphasized that the Forces Vives will push for a civilian government supported by international security forces (such as ECOWAS troops) to control the Guinean military. ¶4. (C) As this was the first opportunity since the September 28 violence for members of the Forces Vives to comment on their experiences to the Embassy, much of the discussion focused on what they had witnessed or undergone at the stadium. Several representatives spoke extensively about the rapes that took place. Dore described how he saw one of his supporters raped not 10 feet away from him by a Red Beret while another woman fell victim to sexual assault with a Kalishnikov. Former PM Francois Fall confirmed that one of his sisters had been raped by a Red Beret. Another former PM, Sidya Toure, described how he could not even process what was happening when he started to see bodies fall to the ground, not realizing that they had been gunned down, and when he saw that women were being raped, he remembered thinking to himself "this cannot be Guinea." ¶5. (C) Aboubacar Syllah, a former Minister of Informationstated that the violence was premeditated. He described how he was at the front of the march when leaders were stopped by police who warned them against entering the stadium. When they proceeded, the police and gendarmes reportedly "disappeared." Upon arriving at the stadium, Syllah found the gate open. "We did not break down anything, it was wide open," he said. Syllah emphasized that the junta has not shown any regret for the violence, nor has it arrested anyone. "I saw the same person who struck me sitting behind the president at an event just a few days ago...there have been no sanctions against these individuals." ¶6. (C) Chiming in, Sidya Toure said he received a call from CNDD President Moussa Dadis Camara at 0130 on September 28. Dadis reportedly told Sidya to postpone the march. Sidya told him it was too late to call it off because it was already scheduled to take place at 0800 that day. Last week, Sidya told the A/RSO and told him that Dadis had assured him that there would be no violence if they went forward with the protest. ¶7. (SBU) A question from DAS Fitzgerald about the potential for ethnic violence in Guinea prompted a heated discussion. Participants agreed that Guinea does not have a history of ethnic violence, but that the military junta has been actively cultivating ethnocentrism since it took power nine months ago. Jean-Marie Dore, a Forestier like Dadis, was quick to argue that ethnic violence is unlikely. He also distanced himself from the September 28 violence, which many Guineans perceive as a Forestier-driven initiative. Dore explained that the Forest Region is comprised of several small ethnic groups and that it was primarily the Guerze, Dadis' ethnic group, that were present at the stadium. CONAKRY 00000632 002 OF 002 ¶8. (SBU) Contradicting Dore's claims, several other representatives stated that if things continue as they have been, there is a strong possibility that ethnic violence could erupt in Guinea. Oury Bah, of Cellou Diallo's UFDG party (predominantly Peuhl),stated that the September 28 killings were ethnically motivated. "We heard them saying we will kill you, all of you, because you are trying to take power away from us...we will massacre you." Another participant said that members of the Diaspora, appalled and frustrated by the violence, are trying to raise money to help citizens purchase weapons so that they can fight back. ¶9. (SBU) Another speaker emphasized that Guinea has never had an ethnic problem, but that the CNDD has been purposely sowing the seeds of discontent. He claimed that the CNDD has been building up the Forestiers with propaganda and that the Peuhl are starting to react. "They took the brunt of the violence and they are not going to take it anymore," he said. The same speaker claimed that Dadis told the Red Berets to "exterminate them" at the stadium. ¶10. (SBU) Participants also claimed that a number of Guineans continue to be detained by the military, in relation to the violence on September 28. They said that the military has put people into shipping containers in various military camps throughout the city. Jean-Marie Dore stated that the military has no intention of releasing these individuals. "Their destiny is to die...they will kill them and then drop them in the ocean to cover up the evidence," he said. Participants said that many detainees are people who were marching in the streets or present in the stadium. One speaker said that he knew of one person who had already died while incarcerated in a shipping container. BROKENSHIRE