- In Guinea, two years after the verdict was handed down in the first trial for the killings of 28 September 2009, the justice process has never seemed more fragile.
- The historic trial promised to establish clear responsibility for the killings of 28 September 2009. But after the main perpetrator was pardoned, there was a succession of acquittals and procedural irregularities.
- The last hope for obtaining justice for most of the victims is the appeal proceedings that are about to start and the reopening and strengthening of the victim compensation process that was left incomplete, opaque and contested.
3 August 2026. Two years ago, on 31 July 2024, the Dixinn Court found senior Guinean officials guilty for their responsibility and involvement in crimes against humanity committed during the killings of 28 September 2009 in Conakry. Since then, there has been a series of setbacks for the victims and other civil parties who still have no information on appeals proceedings or their scheduling.
On 28 March 2025, General Mamadi Doumbouya, citing health reasons, granted a presidential pardon to the former Guinean President Moussa Dadis Camara, who had been sentenced to 20 years in prison. Two of the other key defendants convicted in the case, Claude Pivi, who was Minister for Presidential Security at the time of the events, and Aboubacar Diakité, aka Toumba, died in detention on 6 January and 25 March 2026 respectively. With their deaths, key evidence in the case disappeared, making it difficult to fully establish the truth.
The second part of the trial began on 18 December 2025 before the same court, which had been relocated to the Conakry Court of Appeal. It resulted in a series of rulings that were unfavourable to the civil parties: on 23 February 2026, the case against Georges Oulemou, Thomas Touaro and Jean-Louis Kpoghomou was dismissed because of a procedural error and the judges ordered their release; on 27 July 2026, after a seven-month long trial and despite the prosecutor having sought a ten-year prison sentence, Colonel Bienvenu Lamah was acquitted of all charges after spending more than 44 months in pre-trial detention. The legal team representing the civil parties, comprised of lawyers from theInternational Federation for Human Rights, the Organisation guinéenne de défense des droits de l’Homme et du citoyen (OGDH) and the Association des victimes, parents et amis du 28 septembre (AVIPA), and the Guinean public prosecutor’s office have appealed the court’s decisions.
"The pardon granted to Dadis Camara, the deaths of Claude Pivi and Toumba Diakité, and the recent acquittal of Bienvenu Lamah are severe blows to the pursuit of justice. Despite all these obstacles, we remain determined and committed to standing alongside the victims to ensure that the proceedings related to 28 September 2009 are brought to a conclusion and that the judicial process contributes to the fight against impunity in Guinea", said Alpha Amadou DS Bah, President of the OGDH and lead counsel for the team of lawyers representing the civil parties.
"Two years on from this historic verdict, we are witnessing a veritable erosion of the gains brought about by the trial. In addition to the consequences for the victims, it is the very credibility of the complementary relationship between the Guinean justice system and the International Criminal Court (ICC) that is being put to the test. Guinean authorities have a particular responsibility to safeguard this achievement of justice, and the Office of the Prosecutor of the ICC must also remain fully committed, in accordance with the memorandum of understanding concluded with Guinea, and its policy on complementarity," explained Alexis Deswaef, President of FIDH.
Proceedings for the events of 28 September 2009 are much more than just a landmark case for Guinea. Since the ICC’s preliminary examination, which began in 2009, and the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the ICC Office of the Prosecutor and the Guinean authorities in 2022, the case has become a prime example of the application of the principle of complementarity contained in the Rome Statute. The developments of the past two years serve as a reminder that complementarity does not end with the rendering of a judgement. It presupposes that proceedings are brought to a conclusion, that decisions are enforced and that victims receive effective reparation which for many constitutes the last hope for justice.
As regards the compensation process, the FIDH, the OGDH and AVIPA have drawn attention to its numerous shortcomings. The Decree of 26 March 2025 on compensation, which is funded through the national budget, provides for the first compensation payments for the 334 victims who were recognised by the July 2024 judgement; but more than 400 other civil parties remain excluded, without any clear explanation or timeline. By May 2026, fewer than 200 victims were reported to have received compensation. The criteria for the selection of victims who are to receive compensation have not been clearly communicated, and the process for identifying victims and allocating and paying compensation also remains very opaque. For the victims, the situation is fuelling a deep sense of injustice, and growing frustration and stress.
"The victims and their families have fought tirelessly for nearly 17 years to ensure that the trial on 28 September goes ahead and to have the fight against impunity be a priority in Guinea. Despite all the obstacles on the long road to justice, we believe that Guinean authorities must rekindle the political will that led to the opening of the trial in 2022. We remain committed to ensuring that the rights to truth, justice and redress are upheld for all the victims,, declared Asmaou Diallo, president of AVIPA.
Faced with the threat that nearly 17 years after the events of the 28 September proceedings may fail to deliver long-awaited justice, the FIDH, the OGDH, and AVIPA are calling on Guinean authorities to take urgent measures to restore the credibility of the judicial process and ensure that it is conducted in accordance with internationally recognised rules and standards.
Background
On 28 September 2009, peaceful demonstrators calling for a democratic transition and the holding of free and fair elections gathered at the main stadium in Conakry. The same day and during those that followed, Guinean defence and security forces, including members of the presidential guard, planned and carried out a series of massacres. At least 156 people were killed, and dozens went missing. More than a hundred women were victims of rape or other forms of sexual violence, including sexual mutilation and sexual slavery.
As of 2009, the OGDH and the FIDH conducted investigations into the offences committed. In 2010, the FIDH, the OGDH, and AVIPA became a civil party to the proceedings to assist victims in their pursuit of justice. Since September 2022, they have represented almost 750 victims during a trial that is emblematic for international criminal justice.
