Acknowledgements

This report was researched and authored by Corinne Dufka, senior West Africa researcher; Peter Bouckaert, Emergencies director; Aloys Habimana, deputy Africa director; and Matthew Wells, Africa fellow. It was reviewed by Georgette Gagnon, Africa director; Jon Elliott, Africa advocacy director; Liesl Gerntholtz, women’s rights director; Steve Crawshaw, United Nations advocacy director; Elise Keppler, senior counsel in the International Justice Program; Clive Baldwin, senior legal advisor; and Andrew Mawson, deputy director of the Program Office. Thomas Gilchrist, senior associate in the Africa Division, provided research, editorial, and production assistance. Sam Clearwater, Dakar research assistant, and Bettina Reveyron and Christian Wagner, interns in the Paris office, provided research assistance. The report was translated into French by Griselda Jung and Fanny Mourguet, of the Grenoble-based ATIT agency, Hélène Tagand, and Amadou S. Diallo. Vetting for a faithful translation was provided by Thomas Gilchrist and Peter Huvos, French website editor. John Emerson designed the maps. The report was prepared for publication by Grace Choi, publications director; Anna Lopriore, creative manager; and Fitzroy Hepkins, mail manager.

Human Rights Watch thanks several organizations and individuals for their assistance in this research: Mamadi Kaba, Guinea representative of Rencontre africaine pour la défense des droits de l’homme (RADDHO); Mamadou Aliou Barry, president of the Guinean National Observatory for Democracy and Human Rights (Observatoire national de la démocratie et des droits de l’homme, ONDH); Dr. Thierno Maadjou Sow and the staff of the Guinean Human Rights Organization (Organisation guinéenne de défense des droits de l’homme et du citoyen, OGDH); and the many victims and witnesses who were willing to share their stories, many of whom cannot be named here for reasons of confidentiality and security.

Human Rights Watch expresses its gratitude to those who have generously supported our work on West Africa.