G C H R D
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| UPR 2010 : Report on Guinea |
Being a universal mechanism, the Universal Periodic Review involves periodically the review of all members states of the UN. Its aims at improving the situation of human rights at national level through an assessment of positive developments and challenges facing the state, strengthening state capacity and technical assistance required, through an incentive to cooperate with the council of human right, the bodies of human rights (treaty bodies and special procedures) and the OHCHR, to mention but a few.
With this in mind that Guinea and Guinea Bissau participated to the 8th session of the council of human rights on May 4 and 7, 2010.
Represented by 13 members , the Guinean delegation was headed by H.E. Mr. Bakary Fofana, Minister of State in charge of Foreign Affairs, African integration and Francophony.
While presenting the report, the head of the delegation highlighted several points and said that the Guinean government has committed to hold free, fair and transparent elections in 2010. According to him, the ongoing legislative reform will serve as a springboard to strengthen the right to life and physical integrity, the independence of the judiciary and the freedom of expression. Any development is not possible without a firm commitment of the government to fight poverty and illiteracy which are seen as obstacles to the full enjoyment of human rights that the Guinean authorities stood against.
Morever, the head of delegation has not failed to raise the issue of gender and equity in his address and said that they would impose a minimum of 30% of women representatives on electoral lists in the ongoing constitutional reform, a mean to increase women’s participation into politics. Still, as far as women are concerned, Guinea has taken measures to combat violence against women, and especially sexual violence and genital mutilation with a plan of action to address child labour and trafficking.
To end the presentation of the national report, he said that the police and defence forces are trained in human rights and that human rights education would be introduced in the school and university curricula.
16 member states and 21 observer states took part in the interactive discussion. Many Positive achievements were mentionned such as:
• Ouagadougou agreement for the return to democratic rule and constitutional order (January 2010).
• De facto moratorium on the death penalty.
• Law on Reproductive Health prohibits all forms of female genital mutilations.
• Agreement for the set up of an Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in the country.
• Cooperation with the International Criminal Court and with the UN Commission of inquiry on the September 2009 violence.
But, many other issues and questions was raised :
• Impunity of human rights abusers, in particular among State agents.
• Extrajudicial executions, arbitrary detention, torture, ill treatment, rapes by security forces.
• Violence against women and female genital mutilations.
• Independence of the judiciary.
• Freedom of expression and association.
• Child labour, especially in diamond mines.
• High unemployment and poor representation of women in decision-making positions.
The implementation of the recommendations is a concern and its monitoring is probably one the most important cycle of the UPR.
The next component in the stage of the review was the recommendations made to Guinea:
• Ensure a rapid return to rule of law and democracy through the conduct of fair and free elections in 2010 and the adoption of the new Constitution.
• Take human rights abusers to justice and ensure victims receive adequate compensation, together with medical and psychological support.
• Take further steps to eradicate female genital mutilations.
• Take measures to ensure the independence of the judiciary.
• Guarantee free and independent media.
• Abolish the death penalty.
• Ensure equal access to education.
• Seek cooperation with neighbouring countries to combat trafficking.
• Ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture, the second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.
The extent to which the recommendations are concrete and specific and refer to measures, law, policies and specific programs whose progress and results can be measured in four years is an essential aspect of the effectiveness of the UPR.
| Will Guinea and Guinea Bissau able to convince the delegations of the Council of Human Rights of the UN? |
Two years ago, the UN General Assembly approved by a large majority, the creation of a Council of Human Rights instead of the former Commission on Human Rights, that have been made more increasingly irrelevant by the struggles of leadership across the North, saying exclusive custodians of democracy and human rights while the South ordered to comply with the cannonade. In that vein the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) was created in 2008.
UPR. This three-letter acronym is now on everyone's lips, in the circles of human rights. The new mechanism established by the Council of Human Rights of the United Nations to review the human rights situation in all UN member countries. At its meeting, several delegations from over seventy countries took the floor. Some ask questions, others to make a testimony or seek clarification following a keynote presentation on the state of human rights in a given country.
Most often, the content of reports draws out human rights situation on women and children, as well as the inventory of the country's political, economic, social and cultural rights.
Guinea and Guinea Bissau, members of the West African Human Rights Defenders Network (ROADDH/WAHRDN) will present their report to this mechanism, respectively, May 4th and 7th 2010.
For civil society of both countries, the objective of this report is to inform the international community of human rights violations committed in those territories and challenge the now government to take all necessary measures to locate the responsibility.
Drawing a parallel between some African countries that have already undergone the review and others which are still waiting, it is foreshadowing the outcome to be reserved for them. And it is this failure that may likely have many countries.
As a matter of fact, Tunisia was the first African country to undergo this quadrennial exercise on April 8, 2008. The various delegations almost all praised Tunisia for the excellent report presented for its methodical character, the richness of its content and its commitment to continue working towards the protection of human rights at the point that the President of the Council of Human Rights called upon countries to be reviewed to learn from the Tunisian model.
There are probably reasons for this appeal to the score of Tunisia to the UPR.
Indeed, Tunisia is one of the most competitive country in Africa and in the Arab world. It is ranked 13th in terms of confidence enjoyed by politicians to the public, 17th in launching economic projects competitive, 24th in sub-heading "reliability of police services" and 28th on labor relations.
In light of unfortunate and uninterrupted events most of African countries have experienced (bloody conflicts, murders, killings, arbitrary detentions, muzzling the press, to name a few.) which are the main evils against which Human Rights struggles, will Guinea and Guinea Bissau succeed in editing the Tunisian model at the eighth session of the Working Group of the Council of Human Rights on May 2010?
Wait and see!
NFORMATION
UPR-selection of Troikas for Guinea during the eight session of the working group:
Ghana, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Japan.
Tentative timetable for the eight session of the UPR working group
| Tuesday 4 May | Friday 7 May | Thursday 6 May | Tuesday 11 May |
| 10h-13h: Review of Guinea | 9h-12h: Review of Guinea Bissau | 12h-12h 30:Adoption of the report on Guinea | 12h-12h 30:Adoption of the report on Guinea Bissau |
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THE DIFFERENT STEPS OF THE REVIEW
• National Report
This is the first stage of the UPR. A State under Review (SuR) must present a report on its human rights situation to be used as a basis for the review, as resolution A/HRC/RES/5/1 puts it:
“Information prepared by the State concerned, which can take the form of a national report, on the basis of general guidelines to be adopted by the Council at its sixth session (first session of the second cycle), and any other information considered relevant by the State concerned, which could be presented either orally or in writing, provided that the written presentation summarizing the information will not exceed twenty pages, to guarantee equal treatment to all States and not to overburden the mechanism.”
The “general guidelines” referred to were adopted in September 2007 at the 6th session of the Human Rights Council (HRC) and are contained in resolution A/HRC/RES/6/102.
• National Consultations
In order to write this National report, the SuR is “encouraged” to hold a “broad consultation process at the national level with all relevant stakeholders" (Resolution A/HRC/RES/5/1). It belongs to the State to choose the modalities of the consultation with the civil society.
• Advance written questions
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States can send written questions to the SuR before the Working Group (WG) session. They will be transmitted to it by the Secretariat through the Troika. The SuR shall address these questions during the review.
• Review during the Working Group
The review takes place in a WG of the HRC in Geneva, Switzerland, and lasts for three hours. The WG consists of the 47 members of the HRC, the non-members States and the observers (UN agencies, intergovernmental organizations and civil society). Only States can take the floor.
The SuR has one hour out of the three to present its National report, answer to the advance written questions and answer to questions coming from the WG members during the interactive dialogue. The SuR chooses freely how to split this hour.
The WG starts with the presentation by the SuR of the National report, then there is an interactive dialogue with questions by WG members and answers by the SuR and at the end the final conclusions by the SuR.
The OHCHR has set up a Trust fund for SuR with limited budget to help its delegation come to Geneva. To read more, see this document.
• Response to recommendations
During the interactive dialogue of the review, States make recommendations to the SuR on measures to take to improve the human rights situation in the country.
The SuR is encouraged to provide a response to the recommendations, either accepting them or rejecting them.
This response can be given either orally during the adoption of the Report of the WG during the WG session, in a document of up to 2,675 words (approximately five pages) which will become an addendum to the Report of the WG or orally during the adoption of the outcome in the session plenary of the HRC.
• Implementation
After the end of the UPR process, during the plenary session of the HRC, a final document containing the Report of the Working Group is adopted.
The SuR, between two reviews, has to “implement” the recommendations and improve the human rights situation in the country. If it does not do so, the HRC “will address […] cases of persistent non-cooperation with the mechanism” (Resolution A/HRC/RES/5/1).
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| Serious and massive violations of human rights sanctioned by the African Charter on Human and People's Rights |
Like Senegal, Guinea, with a population of 9 million, is a moderately populous country. Its coastline goes from Guinea-Bissau to Sierra Leone and reaches inland behind the latter as well as Liberia. Again like Senegal, it is a former French colony and uses French as its official language, in this case with Soso and a range of African languages spoken among the population. The religions represented are Islam, indigenous beliefs and Christianity. Its main exports are diamonds, gold, timber, bauxite, and fish. Guinea has suffered from a war that is believed to have been exported from Liberia. The war that destroyed thousands of villages and towns ended in 2003, followed by elections that were allegedly rigged.
Human rights have been abused under President Conte. Security agents and functionaries of the government are intolerant of criticism of his policies and hostile to people in the field of human rights and media, claiming that they are damaging their image abroad, and have put human-rights workers and journalists at risk. There are 24 HRD organizations, with 65 frontline advocates. They are moderately active. Their legal support, logistical capacity (computers and transportation), financial strength and political contacts are adequate, but improvements are needed in training and networking. They operate in a difficult setting. Ostensible security strategies have been used by the authorities to intimidate HRDs and the political opposition. A specific case of persecution was that of Alcoumba, editor of the weekly Aurore. He was arrested on 30 January 2002 for an article that indicated that some Guinea navy ships belonged to the relatives of President Conte. He was later released without charge. It is estimated that close to 400 HRDs and persons connected with them are at potential risk of such persecution and worse.
The 2008 report of the Government of the United States on human rights in Guinea gives a brief overview of serious violations of human rights taking place in Guinea. Torture, inhuman conditions of detention, prolonged periods of detention before trial, violence against women, female genital mutilation, trafficking and violation of freedom of the press are of major concern.
This situation is further aggravated with the arrival of Captain Dadis Moussa Camara (who proclaimed himself president) who plunges again Guinea in a cycle of human rights violations, with attendant acts of barbarism. [Allegations of repression from certain elements of the security forces on peaceful assembly and lawful citizens of Guinea in the stadium, September 28, 2009 culminating in the alleged death of 157 people and over 1,000 wounded, including key political parties leaders of the opposition. Other allegations revealed that the same security forces raped publicly women during the events in the stadium and at some police stations in the capital town] 1.
These alleged acts constitute serious violations of the African Charter (Protocol) and regional legal instruments and international duly ratified by Guinea. 
The African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (African Commission) meeting at its 7th extraordinary session held in Dakar (Senegal) from 5 to 11 October 2009, adopted a resolution on the situation of human rights in the Republic of Guinea and decided to undertake without delay a mission-finding in the Republic of Guinea under Article 46 of the African Charter.
source [ ]1 African Commission on Human and People's Rights (ACHPR)
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