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Conclusion

I sometimes ask myself how we accepted all this suffering all these years. It’s as if we were dead. We were afraid. But the new generation has no more fear. The question is how can we maintain it? Will we go back to sleep?¹⁹⁸

There is no doubt that an enormous change has taken place over the last year in Guinea. Guinean citizens, once famous for their apparent willingness to suffer without complaint, now demand better government and greater accountability from their leaders. Civil society, once thought to be a weak voice for change, is increasingly able to pressure the government for economic and political reforms in a concerted and organized fashion.¹⁹⁹ Yet, this increased awareness and assertiveness has been met with a parallel increase in violations of civil and political rights.

While the immediate crisis is over, Guinea’s stability still hangs in the balance. The indiscipline and brutality displayed by Guinean security forces in the course of the last three general strikes loom like a heavy finger on the scales of chaos and instability on the one hand, and the rule of law on the other. It is critical that the problem of impunity for strike-related violations and other more chronic forms of state-sponsored violence be understood by the international community, the Guinean government, and Guinean civil society, as a key impediment to building the rule of law and a stable, more prosperous future. Bringing to account those responsible for the violations described in this report and making sure that these violations do not repeat themselves in the future will require concerted and sustained action by all of these actors to end the impunity that gangrenes the Guinean judicial system, emboldens perpetrators, and sustains abuses. A list of recommended actions to be undertaken is included in this report.

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