Amnesty denounces 'climate of terror' as Guinea junta steps up disappearances

The organization says journalists, activists and human rights defenders have been especially targeted for disappearance.

It singles out Oumar Sylla and Mamadou Billo Bah, members of the Front national de défense de la Constitution (FNDC) who were abducted a year ago.

The FNDC, a civil society movement calling for a return to civilian rule, was disbanded in 2022.

Oumar Sylla, its national coordinator had called for demonstrations on 11 July 2024 against, among other things, repression of the media before being disappeared on July 9.

The authorities have denied holding Sylla and his colleague and their fate remains unknown to this day. Amnesty says that victims of abductions have also suffered torture.

The country's chief prosecutor announced opening an investigation into cases of disappearance but no report has been made public one year on.

Following the abduction of Abdoul Sacko, the Bar Association denounced ‘the climate of terror that is gradually taking hold and […] the total lack of reaction from the judicial authorities’.

Guinea's military authorities have tried hard to silence demands for elections and a return to civilian rule.