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AFP
Dakar
Amnesty International on Thursday said security forces in Guinea were complicit in election-day violence which killed at least 12 people in the West African nation.
Guinea voted on March 22 on whether to adopt a new constitution, which the government has argued is needed to enshrine gender equality, among other things.
But the proposal proved hugely controversial over fears that it was a ploy to allow President Alpha Conde to run for another spell in office later this year.
It provoked mass demonstrations in which at least 32 people have been killed, according to an AFP tally.
The political opposition has said that scores of people also died in unrest on polling day -- when parliamentary elections were also held -- although the government has said that only a few deaths occurred.
On Thursday, based on some 30 interviews and verified photos and video footage, Amnesty International said in a statement that 12 people had been killed on or around March 22, mainly in the capital Conakry. Ten of those people were protesters or passers-by killed by bullets fired by Guinean security forces.
Another person was killed after being struck by a security-forces vehicle.
And another was “lynched by a group of youngsters,” the human rights monitor said, which also suggested that they had links to the security forces.
“This must not go unpunished,” said Amnesty researcher Fabien Offner, referring to the spate of election deaths, adding that the perpetrators must face trial.
Dakar
Amnesty International on Thursday said security forces in Guinea were complicit in election-day violence which killed at least 12 people in the West African nation.
Guinea voted on March 22 on whether to adopt a new constitution, which the government has argued is needed to enshrine gender equality, among other things.
But the proposal proved hugely controversial over fears that it was a ploy to allow President Alpha Conde to run for another spell in office later this year.
It provoked mass demonstrations in which at least 32 people have been killed, according to an AFP tally.
The political opposition has said that scores of people also died in unrest on polling day -- when parliamentary elections were also held -- although the government has said that only a few deaths occurred.
On Thursday, based on some 30 interviews and verified photos and video footage, Amnesty International said in a statement that 12 people had been killed on or around March 22, mainly in the capital Conakry. Ten of those people were protesters or passers-by killed by bullets fired by Guinean security forces.
Another person was killed after being struck by a security-forces vehicle.
And another was “lynched by a group of youngsters,” the human rights monitor said, which also suggested that they had links to the security forces.
“This must not go unpunished,” said Amnesty researcher Fabien Offner, referring to the spate of election deaths, adding that the perpetrators must face trial.
