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.


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COMMENT
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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