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