Case History: Hélène Kokolou Zogbelemou

On 12 February 2016, at around 6 pm, human rights defender Ms Hélène Kokolou Zogbelemou received a threatening phone call from Mr Pépé Koulémou, a lawyer claiming to be working in the defence of the rights of his village. The man ordered her to stop bothering the circumcisers – the women who perform female genital mutilation (FGM) - and cease her work in opposition to the practice, or face legal proceedings.

Hélène Zogbelemou is president of Humanitaire pour la Protection de la Femme et de l’Enfant – HPFE (Humanitarian for the Protection of Women and Children), an NGO that fights against all forms of violence in the south-eastern region of Forested Guinea, particularly rape, domestic violence and FGM.

The human rights defender received the threatening phone call after she had made several attempts to gain access to the Magbozou Village, where she wanted to inform the community about the legal provisions prohibiting FGM and raise awareness about the issue.

Gender-based violence is a serious and ongoing problem in Guinea, where FGM continues to be a very common practice. According to UNICEF, in Guinea 96 per cent of girls are cut, most of them before the age of 15. The practice is usually supported by cultural and religious arguments, even though FGM is illegal under Guinea and international law.

Women's rights defenders working on the issue are constantly targeted and harassed. In most cases, they cannot rely on any support from other civil society groups, as a result of myths and superstition surrounding the practice.

At the beginning of November 2015, Hélène Zogbelemou was contacted by a local farmer in Magbozou, near the town of Koropara, who said the circumcisers had completely destroyed his coffee plantation. Without his consent, the circumcisers intended to establish a so-called “initiation camp” in the village, a place where the girls would attend a rite of passage known as initiation and would be cut.

On 29 November 2015, the human rights defender visited the site with another member of HPFE to gather information on the facts. Even though the incident was reported to the administrative and judicial authorities, no measures were taken to stop the circumcisers from performing FGM. Since then, Hélène Zogbelemou has been prevented from entering the property and has suffered threats and intimidation.

Front Line Defenders expresses grave concern at the intimidation and threats against human rights defender Hélène Kokolou Zogbelemou, as it believes that they are directly linked to her human rights work.