FIDH President Alexis Deswaef is in Conakry to commemorate the 28 September 2009 massacre. As judicial proceedings have stalled, he is meeting with victims and all relevant stakeholders. The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), the Organisation guinéenne de défense des droits de l’Homme et du citoyen (OGDH), and the Association of Victims, the Association des victimes, parents et amis du 28 septembre 2009 (Avipa) are calling on the Guinean authorities to ensure that justice and reparation are finally and fully delivered.
Conakry, 28 September 2026. For the first time, FIDH President Alexis Deswaef is in Conakry to mark the anniversary of the 28 September 2009 massacre. Seventeen years after the events, FIDH, its member organisation in Guinea, OGDH, and Avipa reaffirm their commitment to standing alongside the victims.
“Seventeen years after the massacre, the victims are not simply asking that we remember,” said Alexis Deswaef. “Above all, they are demanding justice, that responsibility be fully established and that reparations be effectively delivered. At a time when judicial proceedings are suffering serious setbacks, my presence in Conakry is a message of solidarity: FIDH will remain alongside the victims until their rights to truth, justice and reparation are fully upheld.”
On 28 September 2009, tens of thousands of people gathered at the stadium in Conakry to call for a democratic transition and free elections. Guinean defence and security forces, including members of the presidential guard, violently repressed this peaceful gathering. At least 156 people were killed, dozens remain missing, and more than a hundred women were victims of rape and other forms of sexual violence.
Justice under threat
After 13 years of waiting, the trial concerning the massacre opened on 28 September 2022. FIDH, OGDH and Avipa, acting as civil parties, supported nearly 750 victims throughout the proceedings. On 31 July 2024, the Dixinn Criminal Court recognised the responsibility of several senior Guinean officials and reclassified the acts as crimes against humanity, sentencing, in particular, former junta leader Moussa Dadis Camara and several senior military officials to lengthy prison terms.
However, two years after this historic verdict, the achievements of the trial are now seriously under threat. The presidential pardon granted to Moussa Dadis Camara on 28 March 2025, and the deaths in detention of two other convicted individuals, Claude Pivi (6 January 2026) and Aboubacar Diakité, known as Toumba (25 March 2026), have dealt serious blows to the judicial process, with key elements of the case having been lost with them.
The second phase of the trial, which opened on 18 December 2025 before the same court, relocated to the Conakry Court of Appeal, resulted in a series of decisions unfavourable to the civil parties. On 23 February 2026, proceedings against Georges Oulemou, Thomas Touaro and Jean-Louis Kpoghomou were annulled on procedural grounds, and the three men were released.
On 27 July 2026, after seven months of trial, and despite the prosecutor having requested a ten-year prison sentence, Colonel Bienvenu Lamah was acquitted of all charges. This followed more than three years and eight months in pre-trial detention. He was subsequently promoted to the rank of general, prompting outrage among the victims and those supporting them. The legal team representing the civil parties, as well as the public prosecutor’s office, have appealed these decisions.
FIDH, OGDH and Avipa consider that the opening of appeal proceedings against Moussa Dadis Camara and the other individuals convicted in the July 2024 judgment, alongside the continuation of proceedings against the other persons involved, is now essential for the victims.
What compensation for the victims?
The compensation process also remains largely unsatisfactory. The decree adopted on 26 March 2025 provides for an initial compensation payment, financed through the national budget, for the 334 victims recognised in the July 2024 judgment. However, more than 400 other civil parties remain excluded from this scheme, without any clear explanation or timetable. In September 2026, approximately 200 victims are reported to have actually received compensation, while the selection criteria and allocation procedures remain insufficiently transparent.
The trial concerning the events of 28 September 2009 is also a landmark example of the implementation of the principle of complementarity between national and international justice. Since the International Criminal Court (ICC) opened its preliminary examination in 2009 and a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the ICC Office of the Prosecutor and the Guinean authorities in 2022, this case has represented a major experience in the pursuit of national justice for international crimes. For FIDH, the credibility of this process now depends on the ability of the Guinean authorities to allow judicial proceedings to run their full course and to guarantee effective reparations for all victims.
Since the opening of the preliminary examination in 2009, the ICC Office of the Prosecutor has supported the Guinean judicial process, notably through several missions to Guinea and the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with the Guinean authorities in 2022. This agreement commits both parties, in particular, to cooperating to ensure that those responsible for the crimes perpetrated on 28 September 2009 are held accountable. It also provides for the Office of the Prosecutor to reassess its position in the event of interference with proceedings, ineffective sanctions, obstruction or unjustified delays.
The pardon granted to Moussa Dadis Camara, at a time when the proceedings had not yet resulted in a final and binding judgment, together with the continuing uncertainty surrounding the appeal proceedings, therefore raises serious questions regarding these commitments. For FIDH, it is essential that the ICC Office of the Prosecutor draw the necessary consequences from these shortcomings and ensure that the achievements of this experience of complementarity are safeguarded, so that they can continue to benefit the victims of 28 September and serve as a reference for other justice processes around the world.
During his visit to Conakry, Alexis Deswaef met with victims, Guinean organisations that have been supporting them and fighting impunity since 2009, as well as representatives of the Guinean authorities.
FIDH, OGDH and Avipa call on the Guinean authorities to :
– Ensure that appeal proceedings are opened and conducted without further delay, in accordance with the guarantees of a fair trial;
– Ensure that all victims have access to effective reparations, without discrimination and within a transparent framework;
– Continue judicial proceedings against all individuals involved in the crimes committed on 28 September 2009 and in the days that followed;
– Safeguard the independence of the judiciary and the integrity of judicial proceedings;
– Guarantee victims’ rights to truth, justice and reparation.
FIDH, OGDH and Avipa will remain mobilised alongside the victims until their quest for justice has been fully achieved.
