Guinea's government to investigate protest deaths

By ALHASSAN SILLAH, Associated Press Writer Sept. 29, 2009

CONAKRY, Guinea – Guinea's government says it is launching an
investigation into who ordered soldiers to open fire on demonstrators with
live ammunition.

A human rights group said Tuesday that 157 protesters were killed. The
government maintained only 57 died, most of whom were trampled.

The interior ministry called the opposition march "illegal" in a statement
released late Tuesday. It also said the president expressed his
condolences to the families who lost loved ones.

Hospitals were flooded with patients Tuesday, the day after presidential
guard troops opened fire on 50,000 people demonstrating against Capt.
Moussa "Dadis" Camara, a military leader who seized power in a December
coup.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information.
AP's earlier story is below.

CONAKRY, Guinea (AP) — Soldiers reeking of alcohol fired into the air
Tuesday, terrorizing residents a day after troops killed 157 people at a
pro-democracy rally and shattered hopes that this West African country was
shedding the yoke of dictatorship.

Hospitals were flooded with patients on Tuesday and the death toll rose
through the day after presidential guard troops opened fire on 50,000
people at the main football stadium. Some of those at the rally, upset
that a military officer who seized power in a December coup might run for
president in January elections, had chanted: "We want true democracy."

Then Capt. Moussa "Dadis" Camara's presidential guard opened fire with
live ammunition, scattering panicked demonstrators who left scores of dead
behind. Opposition politician Mutarr Diallo said he witnessed soldiers
raping women with rifle butts. Camara, the coup leader who was not present
at the stadium, said the violence was beyond his control.

"Those people who committed those atrocities were uncontrollable elements
in the military," he told Radio France International on Monday night.
"Even I, as head of state in this very tense situation, cannot claim to be
able to control those elements in the military."

Human rights groups demanded that those responsible be made accountable.

"Guinea's leaders should order an immediate end to attacks on
demonstrators and bring to justice those responsible for the bloodshed,"
said Corinne Dufka of Human Rights Watch.

Dr. Chierno Maadjou with the Guinean Organization for Defense of Human
Rights said 157 people were killed and more than 1,200 wounded.

An Associated Press reporter saw wounded patients crowded into the large
Donka Hospital, some with bullet wounds, others who appeared to have been
beaten.

Guinea's mineral-rich soil had been plundered by two consecutive
dictatorships before Camara seized control of the country a day after
President Lansana Conte, who had ruled for nearly a quarter-century, died
on Dec. 22. Camara initially was embraced by Guineans, thousands of whom
lined the streets to applaud him as he rode through the capital on the
back of a flatbed military truck.

But since then, tensions have risen amid rumors that Camara may run in
presidential elections scheduled for Jan. 31. He initially indicated that
he would not run but said recently he has the right to do so if he
chooses.

Demonstrations against Camara have grown in recent weeks but the reaction
by security forces had been comparatively moderate. Late last month,
police fired tear gas to break up a demonstration in the capital, and last
Thursday tens of thousands of residents in a town north of Conakry took to
the streets with no serious incidents.

On the deserted streets of this seaside capital Tuesday, mechanic Mohammed
Bangoura discussed politics with friends outside his derelict workshop and
said Camara has now completely lost the people's support .

"Dadis Camara's political career, if he had any ambition, is gone. He has
made an own goal," Bangoura said, using a soccer term for when a player
accidentally scores against his own team. "The killing of all these
innocent protesters can only mean doom for his political ambition."

The African Union, the European Union and the government of neighboring
Senegal denounced Monday's bloodshed. The AU already had suspended
Guinea's membership after Camara seized power. France's foreign minister
said his country is suspending military cooperation with its former
colony.

Eyewitnesses told New York-based Human Rights Watch that security forces
stripped female protesters and raped them in the streets. The rights
group, citing eyewitness reports, said soldiers on Monday also stabbed
protesters with knives and bayonets.

Hardly anyone had heard of Camara, an army captain in his 40s, until his
men broke down the glass doors of the state TV station on Dec. 23. He
announced that the constitution had been dissolved and that the country
was under the rule of a military junta. Many began to question his tactics
when he authorized raids on the homes of well-known members of the dead
president's inner circle. Camara claimed the raids were intended to recoup
money and property stolen from the state, but many complained of
heavy-handed tactics.

The military junta also put top government officials on TV, where they
detailed their roles in a lucrative international cocaine trade in Guinea.
Guinea and other West African countries in recent years emerged as key
transshipment points for cocaine bound from South America to Europe.

Camara's arrests of corrupt officials have won him admiration, but he has
been criticized for his love of the spotlight and his insistence on
broadcasting rambling, multi-hour tirades. Camara generally sleeps all day
only to emerge at night, and has a waiting room adorned with 6-foot
(3-meter) -tall portraits of himself.

Since winning independence half a century ago from France, Guinea has been
pillaged by its ruling elite. Its 10 million people are among the world's
poorest, even though its soil has diamonds, gold, iron and half the
world's reserves of the raw material used to make aluminum.