In that time, rights groups warn that the state has intensified its crackdown on dissent, with journalists, legal professionals, and opposition figures facing abductions and reports of torture.

Oumar Sylla and Mamadou Billo Bah, both affiliated with the National Front for the Defence of the Constitution (FNDC), were taken from Sylla’s home in Conakry on July 9, 2024 by armed men suspected to be members of the country’s special forces. The two men were forced into vehicles and driven to an undisclosed location. No official information has since been provided by Guinean authorities.

In a joint appeal issued this week, 25 human rights organisations, among them Amnesty International, raised serious concerns about what they describe as a “climate of fear” that is gradually silencing Guinea’s civil society.

“The complete silence from the authorities is unacceptable,” said Souleymane Sow, Executive Director of Amnesty International Guinea. “It reflects a broader pattern of repression that we’ve witnessed over the past year, where critics of the government are targeted without consequence.”

The FNDC was at the forefront of demonstrations against a controversial constitutional reform that allowed former President Alpha Condé to seek a third term in 2020. Since then, the group and its members have faced repeated arrests, harassment, and in some cases, enforced disappearances.

The current environment, according to rights defenders, is one of escalating intimidation. Recent months have seen a notable rise in politically motivated detentions, while access to justice for victims remains limited.

--ChannelAfrica--