Search Results

Sort by
News

What is the Future of Guinea's Mining Sector After the Coup?

Guinea’s September 5 coup sent shock waves through both West Africa and global commodities markets. Guinea is the world’s second largest producer of bauxite, the ore needed to produce aluminum, and has rich iron ore, gold, and diamond reserves. The…
A woman in Lansanayah, a village 750 meters from a bauxite mine owned by La Société Minière de Boké consortium.
News

Guinea: Coup Further Complicates Massacre Justice

Efficient, Fair Trial Should Hold 2009 Stadium Abusers Accountable

(Conakry) – The trial of suspects in the massacre of more than 150 people and the rape of dozens of women in a Guinea stadium on September 28, 2009, should begin as soon as possible, six human rights groups said today. Twelve years later, victims and…
News

Guinea: Leaders Should Respect Fundamental Rights

Release Everyone Arbitrarily Detained

(Nairobi) – Military forces responsible for a coup d’état in Guinea should immediately restore fundamental human rights, Human Rights Watch said today. They should ensure respect for rights within the security forces and ensure the lawful and…
Guinea's Col. Mamady Doumbouya, center, is heavily guarded by soldiers after a meeting with ECOWAS delegation in Conakry, Guinea on September 10, 2021.
Report

Aluminum: The Car Industry’s Blind Spot

Summary Maciré Camara, a widow and mother of five, is a farmer in Diakhabia, a village in the Boké region of Guinea, West Africa.[1] Walking through Camara’s community, it’s hard to imagine the connection between the global car industry and her rural…
News

Abuses in Aluminum Supply Chains a Blind Spot for Car Industry

Car Companies Should Drive Up Standards at Mines, Refineries, Smelters

Automobile companies need to do more to address human rights abuses in their aluminum supply chains. The transition to electric vehicles means that car manufacturers are forecast to double their aluminum consumption by 2050. The impacts of…
Women from Hamdallaye village, in Guinea’s Boké region, in 2018. In 2020, Hamdallaye was relocated to a new site by La Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinée, a mining company backed by mining giants Alcoa, Rio Tinto, and Dadco. The new site lacks adequate farmland, housing, water and sanitation.
News

Interview: Aluminum Is the Future for Electric Cars

But Mining and Refining the Metal Often Involves Human Rights Abuses

Sales of electric cars are surging – with sales predicted to rise from 2 million in 2018 to 12 million in 2025 – as people choose to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and better protect the environment. To keep electric cars lightweight and ensure…
202107africa_guinea_use
News

New Pledges to End Child Marriage in Francophone Africa

Governments Need to Match Commitments with Action

Earlier in July, governments, philanthropies, and the private sector pledged almost $40 billion at the Generation Equality Forum in Paris to fight gender inequality over the next five years. The aim is to accelerate progress on women’s and girls’…
A girl holds the hand of a boy in Agadez, Niger on October 9, 2018.
News

The human rights of older women

Submission to the UN Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons

This submission is based on Human Rights Watch research on human rights issues impacting older women,[1] including domestic violence, abuse, and neglect in residential institutions for older people, abuses during armed conflict, and health disparities…
News

Guinea: Opponents’ Deaths In Detention

Four Suspected Political Opposition Supporters Died Since November

(Nairobi) – Four men detained as suspected political opposition supporters died in Guinea between November 2020 and January 2021, Human Rights Watch said today. The four men were among hundreds of opposition supporters or suspected opposition…
A sign showing Conakry’s central prison. Photo taken on March 11, 2021, in Conakry, Guinea. 
News

The Relentless Crackdown on Guinea’s Opposition

Free Wrongfully Held Opposition Members, Respect Freedom of Assembly

As Guinea’s President Alpha Condé prepares to be sworn in for a controversial third term on December 15, scores of opposition leaders, supporters, and others perceived to be close to the opposition are locked up, facing what appear to be politically…
A group of people standing in a city street
News

Guinea: Post-Election Violence, Repression

Investigate Use of Excessive Force; Hold Those Responsible to Account

(New York) – The post presidential-election period in Guinea has been marred with violence and repression, with at least 12 people dead, Human Rights Watch said today. Following the October 18, 2020 election, security forces used excessive force…
Guinea Voter Card- Elections 2020
News

Guinea: Stadium Massacre Victims Await Justice

Still No Trial 11 Years after September 28, 2009 Attack in Conakry

(Conakry) – Victims and their family members are demanding justice for the killings of more than 150 demonstrators, rapes, and other crimes committed by the Guinean security forces on September 28, 2009 in a stadium in Guinea’s capital, Conakry, 6…
Report

“They Let People Kill Each Other”

Summary Security forces only defended the polling stations, the voters, and took care of the delivery of the ballot boxes. But they did nothing to stop the mob violence by armed Guerzé, Konianké, and Malinké, who attacked people and their properties…
Video

Guinea: Security Forces Failed to Stem Election Violence

(Nairobi, September 23, 2020) – Guinea’s security forces failed to protect people and committed human rights abuses in Nzérékoré, southeastern Guinea, during legislative elections and a constitutional referendum in March 2020, Human Rights Watch said in a…
News

Documenting Violence in Guinea During a Pandemic

How to Keep People Safe in the Run-up to Presidential Elections

When Guinea’s President Alpha Condé tried to get approval via a referendum in March for a new constitution that would allow him to run for a third term, violent clashes between opposition groups, the security forces, and pro-government supporters erupted…
A group of people standing in a city street
News

Guinea: Security Forces Failed to Stem Election Violence

Urgent Changes Needed Before October Presidential Vote

(Nairobi) – Guinea’s security forces failed to protect people from election-related and intercommunal violence and committed human rights abuses in Nzérékoré, southeastern Guinea, during legislative elections and a constitutional referendum in March…
Uniformed soldiers march down a city street
News

Victims of Draconian Forced Evictions in Guinea Seek Justice

Residents Take the Fight for Compensation to the ECOWAS Court

More than a year after losing their homes, thousands of victims of brutal forced evictions in Guinea have yet to receive compensation, alternative housing, or any other form of redress. Between February and March 2019, Guinea’s Ministry for Towns…
Rubble of demolished homes in the Dar-Es-Salam neighborhood of Conakry, Guinea’s capital, on June 8, 2019.
News

Guinea: Respecting Rights Key Amid Covid-19

Do More to Win Trust, Rein in Security Forces

(Nairobi, April 29, 2020) – The authorities in Guinea have harassed, intimidated, and arbitrarily arrested opposition members and supporters in recent weeks, in an atmosphere of insecurity linked to restrictions because of the Covid-19 pandemic,…
People wearing protective masks in the city of Conakry, Guinea, on April 29, 2020.
News

Guinea: Dam Displacement Destroys Livelihoods

16,000 People Losing Land for China-Backed Souapiti Project

The Guinean government’s failure to provide adequate land, compensation, and other forms of support to those displaced for the Souapiti hydroelectric dam has devastated the livelihoods and food security of thousands of people, Human…
guinea dam displacement
Video

Guinea: Dam Displacement Destroys Livelihoods

(Nairobi, April 16, 2020) – The Guinean government’s failure to provide adequate land, compensation, and other forms of support to those displaced for the Souapiti hydroelectric dam has devastated the livelihoods and food security of thousands of people,…