Human rights defenders Oumar Sylla, Ibrahima Diallo and Mamadou Billo Bah released and freed of all charges
On 10 May 2023, human rights defenders Oumar Sylla, Ibrahima Diallo and Mamadou Billo Bah were released and freed on all charges. They were arbitrarily arrested without a trial, never receiving a hearing. Originally, the authorities wanted to make their release conditional upon the human rights defenders’ commitment to cease their activism. However, the three leaders and human rights defenders refused the terms of this offer.
On 21 January 2023, human rights defender Mamadou Billo Bah was arbitrarily arrested by a group of heavily armed security force personnel during the night at his house. The human rights defender was detained incommunicado for two days before being rushed to the hospital as a result of the ill-treatment he had suffered at the Central Direction of Investigations of the Gendarmerie facilities in Conakry.
Mamadou Billo Bah, is a human rights defender and mobilization coordinator of the Front National pour la Défense de la Constitution (National Front for the Defense of the Constitution-FNDC). The FNDC is a non governmental organisation dedicated to upholding the constitution of Guinea and all the rights and freedoms enacted within it.
On 10 May 2023, human rights defenders Oumar Sylla, Ibrahima Diallo and Mamadou Billo Bah were released and freed on all charges. They were arbitrarily arrested without a trial, never receiving a hearing. Originally, the authorities wanted to make their release conditional upon the human rights defenders’ commitment to cease their activism. However, the three leaders and human rights defenders refused the terms of this offer.
Mamadou Billo Bah, Oumar Sylla and Ibrahima Diallo are three human rights defenders that are members of the National Front for the Defence of the Constitution-FNDC, a citizen-led movement that has initiated a series of demonstrations since 2018 in order to uphold the Constitution of Guinea and all the rights and freedoms enacted within it. Oumar Sylla is also the deputy coordinator of Tournons La Page Guinea (Let's turn the page - TLP) of which Ibrahima Diallo is also a member. This is a movement promoting democratic processes and citizen participation. The TLP organisation is active in 10 African countries and advocates for freedom of expression and assembly in efforts to engage all levels of civil society in the democratic process. It mainly conducts its advocacy through demonstrations, campaigns and public debates.
On 10 May 2023, human rights defenders Oumar Sylla, Ibrahima Diallo et Mamadou Billo Bah were released and freed on all charged. They were arbitrarily arrested without a trial, never receiving a hearing. Throughout the course of their arbitrary detention, all motions which were submitted on a regular basis by their defence team were consistently declined, with no justification for this refusal.
On 21 January 2023, during the night, Mamadou Billo Bah was arbitrarily arrested by a group of heavily armed security force personnel at his house. He was also detained incommunicado for two days before his whereabouts was made known.
Following this, Oumar Sylla and Ibrahima Diallo were arbitrarily arrested on 30 July 2022 at their respective homes and were subsequently detained at the civil prison of Conakry. Their arrest follows a ban on all demonstrations on public highways during the election campaign period which was imposed by the transitional military authorities on 13 May 2022. The FNDC movement denounced the leadership and ruling of the military transition and called for a peaceful human rights demonstration on 28 July 2022, demanding a more inclusive dialogue between civil society and the government.
Following their release, the three human rights defenders were prevented by the military authorities of the transitional govenment from leaving the territory. Indeed, Oumar Sylla and Ibrahima Diallo were prevented from leaving the territory in June 2023 following their release; while Mamadou Billo Bah was refused the authorization to leave the territory on 3 July 2023 and his passport was confiscated until then.
While Front Line Defenders welcomes the release of the three human rights defenders, namely Mamadou Billo Bah, Oumar Sylla and Ibrahima Diallo, it believes that the charges against them were politically motivated in an attempt to intimidate them and that the arbitrary detention of the human rights defenders was solely motivated by their legitimate and peaceful work in defence of human rights.
Front Line Defenders reminds the relevant authorities that everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of association, which are essential components of democracy. As such, in all circumstances, all human rights defenders in Guinea should be able to carry out their peaceful human rights work without fear of reprisal.
On 21 January 2023, human rights defender Mamadou Billo Bah was arbitrarily arrested by a group of heavily armed security force personnel during the night at his house. The human rights defender was detained incommunicado for two days before being rushed to the hospital as a result of the ill-treatment he had suffered at the Central Direction of Investigations of the Gendarmerie facilities in Conakry.
Mamadou Billo Bah, is a human rights defender and mobilization coordinator of the Front National pour la Défense de la Constitution (National Front for the Defense of the Constitution-FNDC). The FNDC is a non governmental organisation dedicated to upholding the constitution of Guinea and all the rights and freedoms enacted within it.
On the evening of 21 January 2023, Mamadou Billo Bah was arbitrarily arrested at his house by a group of heavily armed security force personnel. The human rights defender took part, earlier on the same day, in a mobilization meeting organized by the FNDC in Conakry. The purpose of this meeting was to call for a return of the constitutional order and to raise citizens’ awareness of the principles of democracy. The human rights defender was held incommunicado for two days without access to a lawyer. He was then rushed to a hospital, suffering from the ill-treatment that he was subjected to at the Central Direction of Investigations of the Gendarmerie facilities in Conakry.
This new arrest comes as two FDNC leaders have been detained for five months for calling for a peaceful demonstration against the unilateral management of Guinea due to the transition to a military government since September 2021.
On 13 May 2022, the transitional military authorities announced a ban on all protests until the start of the electoral campaign, which will take place in one year. The ban ignited the FNDC movement to call for peaceful protests across the country in June and July 2022, to denounce the leadership and ruling of the military transition and ask for a more inclusive dialogue between the civil society and the government.
In response to these protests, the transition government banned all peaceful protests during the transition period, arrested some leaders of the FNDC and dissolved the FNDC movement on 9 August 2022.
On Saturday 30 July 2022, human rights defenders Oumar Sylla and Ibrahima Diallo, members of the organizations FNDC and Tournons la Page Guinée (TLP-Guinée), were arbitrarily arrested at their respective homes for having called for a demonstration on 28 July 2022 against the management of power by the transitional military authority, led by Colonel Mamadi Doumbouya. Both human rights defenders have been detained at the civil prison of Conakry, after having been charged with "participation in a prohibited assembly, looting, destruction of public and private property, intentional assault and battery". They are still being held at the civil prison of Conakry, in the capital city.
Front Line Defenders is deeply concerned by the arbitrary arrest and detention of human rights defenders and members of the FNDC, as it believes their detention is solely in retaliation to their legitimate and peaceful work in defence of human rights. It is also concerned about the arbitrary detention and ill-treatment of human rights defender and member of the FNDC, Mamadou Billo Bah.
