Paris, Conakry, 1 April 2025. Moussa Dadis Camara was sentenced to a 20-year prison term for crimes against humanity for his part in the 28 September 2009 killings during protests, but on Friday 28 March of this year he was pardoned. The verdict, handed down on 31 July 2024, found him directly responsible, as commander-in-chief of the armed forces, for the Conakry stadium killings. Camara, former leader of the National Council for Democracy and Development (CNDD), the junta that seized power in December 2008, and self-proclaimed President of the Republic on 24 December 2008, appealed the first-instance sentence, as have a number of other parties to the trial. When the pardon was announced, Camara and the civil parties to the case were waiting for appeal proceedings to open.
Alpha Amadou DS Bah, attorney-at-law, President of the OGDH, and lead counsel for the group of lawyers representing the civil parties explained, “The pardon has given rise to a great deal of incomprehension on the part of the civil parties, as it effectively disrupts the justice process and appears to be in total contradiction with the principles governing the separation of powers and the sound administration of justice […]. The civil parties are shocked by the health reasons given to justify the presidential pardon. There are legal provisions that allow medical care to be provided during detention, be it for Mr Moussa Dadis Camara or any other detainee.”
“For 22 months, and despite the difficulties encountered throughout the exceptional trial, the victims continued to mobilise and remained hopeful of seeing the justice process through to its conclusion so as to re-establish the truth and provide them with justice and reparation” said Asmaou Diallo, President of AVIPA. “Today, the victims have learned, almost at the same time, that their reparations will be covered by the national budget and that Moussa Dadis Camara has been granted a presidential pardon. This is an afront to the selfless quest for justice they embarked on so that we can finally claim ‘never again’ in Guinea” she added.
“This pardon sends out a disastrous signal that shows contempt for the fundamental principles of justice, accountability, and the fight against impunity” explained Drissa Traoré, attorney-at-law, Secretary General of the FIDH, and member of the group of lawyers representing the civil parties. Traoré said, “The memory of the victims, respect for human rights, and the need for truth cannot be sacrificed on the altar of political considerations.”
Peaceful demonstrators gathered at Conakry’s Grand Stade on 28 September 2009, to call for a democratic transition and free elections. In response, Guinean defence, and security forces, including members of the presidential guard, coordinated and carried out deadly attacks on the first day and those that followed. At least 156 people were killed, and dozens were reported missing. More than a hundred women were victims of rape or other forms of sexual violence, including genital mutilation and sexual slavery.
The trial for Guinea’s 28 September 2009 stadium killings finally opened on 28 September 2022, after a 13-year struggle for justice led by the victims and civil party organisations. The emblematic nature of the trial, with respect to the fight against impunity in Guinea and international justice, was underlined by the presence on the first day of 11 defendants ―among whom there are several high-ranking political and military officials―and representatives from the FIDH, OGDH, and AVIPA―the latter representing more than 450 victims. Also present were Karim Khan, Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), and Pramila Patten, UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict.
While the Guinean state has been congratulated for holding the trial through to the verdict, the pardon is a cruel setback. A presidential pardon for crimes against humanity contradicts all of Guinea’s national, regional, and international commitments. Indeed, international law and the treaties to which Guinea is a party―including the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court―require States to prosecute perpetrators of serious crimes such as crimes against humanity, so that victims’ rights to truth, justice and reparation are respected. Pardoning Camara runs counter to the founding principles of the African Union and the rights enshrined in the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
In a statement released on 29 September 2022, to mark the opening of the trial on the events that occurred in Guinea on 28 September 2009 and the closing of the [ICC] preliminary examination, Karim Khan, Prosecutor of the ICC, recalled that “It is now for the Guinean authorities and institutions to ensure a fair, credible, independent and impartial process in order that the full truth can emerge in accordance with the law.” Article 4 of the Memorandum of Understanding on complementarity, signed on 28 September 2022 between the Republic of Guinea and the Office of the Prosecutor of the ICC, reads that, “[…] the ICC-OTP may reconsider its assessment of complementarity in light of any significant change in circumstances, including the imposition of any measures that might significantly hamper the progress or genuineness of the judicial proceedings related to the 28 September 2009 events […].”
The FIDH, OGDH, and AVIPA reaffirm their commitment to working to ensure that justice prevails and reserve the right to explore all existing avenues of appeal, at national, regional, and international levels.