NATIONAL COMMISSION OF INQUIRY RELEASES RESULTS

UNCLAS CONAKRY 000079 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL ASEC PHUM GV SUBJECT: NATIONAL COMMISSION OF INQUIRY RELEASES RESULTS ¶1. (U) At noon on February 2, the Guinean National Commission of Inquiry presented their findings in front of a half filled Palais du Peuple. The audience consisted mostly of Guinean government officials and African diplomats. No members of the Forces Vives attended the event, nor did PM Jean Marie Dore. Interim President Sekouba Konate was represented by Toto Camara. ¶2. (U) After interviewing 508 people, the Commission concluded that 58 people died at the stadium, 5 others died in the days following the events, 38 women were sexually or physically assaulted, and 1,480 people were wounded. The Commission also announced 21 families claim that their family members are missing. ¶3. (U) The Commission placed blame on two parties: the political leaders who led the rally, and Toumba's small contingent of Red Berets they deemed exclusively responsible for firing into the crowd. According to the report, the political leaders violated the law by holding the rally against the recommendations of the CNDD. They also are guilty of not properly controlling their supporters during the march down to the stadium, citing protesters, vandalization of a police station on September 28. The Commission also credited a loss of 125 million GF ($25,000 USD) of government property to vandalization by the protesters. ¶4. (U) The Commission blamed the government for not appropriately controlling the crowd, although it argued that Guinean law enforcement is not properly financed or equipped to deal peacefully with large-scale protests. The findings singled out former aide-de-camp Abubakar Toumba Diakite and his close associates as exclusively responsible for killing and raping protesters at the stadium. ¶5. (U) The Commission recommended that everyone involved in the September 28 killings, including the political parties, should be given amnesty except Toumba and his associates. They argued that the arrest of Toumba is essential for national reconciliation, as is amnesty for all other "guilty" parties. ¶6. (U) The Commission cited that their research was hindered by the lack of people willing to come forward and speak to their researchers. Arguing that all witnesses received appropriate protection, they expressed confusion as to why they had to plead for witnesses to come forward. -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶7. (SBU) Political parties and civil society members largely boycotted the release of the findings in protest of the Commission. Since its inception, the Commission was thought to have been created by Dadis and the CNDD in an attempt to exonerate those involved in the killings. By keeping the official number of dead at 58, the Commission ignored the findings of the UN Commission of Inquiry which put the death toll much higher. The Commission's affiliation with the CNDD was widely understood to be the reason that many people, including members of the Forces Vives, refused to speak to the National Commission. Their absence from the release of the report reiterated their objection to the Commission. The findings presented today are unlikely to have any impact among the civil society and political parties. The inaccuracy of the findings, and the political spin regarding who was responsible for the deaths had been widely anticipated by outside actors. Moller