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Twenty African civil society organisations have called for an independent, impartial and transparent investigation after six men were found bound and blindfolded in a mass grave in southwestern Guinea. The bodies were discovered last week by young people collecting firewood in Allassoyah, in the Forecariah prefecture. Guinea’s armed forces confirmed the discovery and said the bodies had been taken to a hospital for identification and examination.
The groups, which include several branches of the Tournons La Page network, urged authorities to examine every possible explanation and involve national and international forensic experts to establish the identities of the victims and determine how they died. They said the discovery comes amid at least 35 documented cases of enforced disappearance in Guinea since September 2021, raising fears that the victims may have been subjected to extrajudicial or arbitrary executions.
The development has heightened human rights concerns in Guinea, where General Mamady Doumbouya seized power in a 2021 coup. Several political parties have since been suspended, while opposition figures and civil society activists have faced arrests, prosecution or exile. Guinean authorities have said the results of their investigation into the mass grave will be made public.
