The 2009 Guinean protests were an opposition rally in Conakry, Guinea on Monday, 28 September 2009, with about 50,000 participants protesting against the junta government that came to power after the Guinean coup d'état of December 2008. The protest march was fueled by the indication of junta leader Captain Moussa Dadis Camara breaking his pledge to not run in the next presidential vote due in January 2010. The government had already banned any form of protests until 2 October, and when the demonstrators gathered in a large stadium, the security forces opened fire at them. At least 157 demonstrators were killed, 1,253 injured and 30, including Cellou Dalein Diallo, the leader of the opposition Union of Democratic Forces of Guinea (UDFG), were arrested and taken away in lorries.
On the same day in 2018 six human rights organizations demanded justice to be done for perpetrators. The organizations were the Association of Victims, Parents and Friends of the 28 September Massacre (AVIPA), the Guinean Human Rights Organization (OGDH), the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch.
Sidya Touré, former Prime Minister and now an opposition leader, was also injured in the shootings and spoke to the BBC secretly from a hospital's restroom. Opponents have accused the junta of limiting freedom of speech and violating human rights. Camara said that the troops responsible for the shooting spree were out of his control.
Background
On 24 December 2008, about six hours after the death of Lansana Conté, a statement was read on state radio announcing a military coup d'état by Captain Moussa Dadis Camara on behalf of a group called the National Council for Democracy and Development (CNDD), which said that "the government and the institutions of the Republic have been dissolved." The statement also announced the suspension of the constitution "as well as political and union activity." According to Captain Camara, the coup was necessary because of Guinea's "deep despair" amidst rampant poverty and corruption, and he said that the existing institutions were "incapable of resolving the crises which have been confronting the country." Furthermore, Camara said that someone from the military would become president, while a civilian would be appointed as Prime Minister at the head of a new government that would be ethnically balanced.
Initially when Camara took over power there was some support, the public being tired of Lansana Conté's 24-year-long authoritarian rule. Camara promised a smooth transition of the country to democracy and a presidential election in which he would not stand. He gained much popularity by cracking down on drug dealers, including Ousmane Conté, son of the former president, and by making them admit wrongdoing on his television show. Later, Camara lost support because of his dictatorship-like rule and abusive behavior by him and his forces that indulged in violence, robberies and rapes. He himself humiliated several foreign ambassadors, politicians and leaders by telling them to "shut up or leave" from meetings. This had a negative impact on his image in public, and garnered him criticism for the erratic behavior.
Protest
The opponents had decided to stage a demonstration on 28 September against the likely participation of Camara in the next presidential election, and despite the government's ban on protests, they decided to carry on with their scheduled protest. A crowd of around 50,000 people gathered at the Stade du 28 Septembre on the day, carrying signs that read "Down with the army in power" and calling for an end of the "Dadis show".
According to eyewitness accounts, the elite Presidential Guard, commonly known as the "Red Berets", came in trucks and threw tear gas on the crowd at first, but later opened fire. In the atmosphere of terror and panic, people started running, falling and getting hit. Youssouf Koumbassa, an eyewitness, claimed that the troops stripped down some female protesters. The equipment of a French journalist was seized and smashed. Protesters fled the stadium and poured into the streets, where they were pursued and fired on by troops.
After the shooting incident, soldiers were seen publicly raping women, killing people, and looting stores. According to one eyewitness, soldiers asked people if they supported Camara, and those who did not were summarily executed, that some women were raped with guns, and shot dead, and that civilians were beaten and old men yanked by their beards.