Dozens of civil society members and political party representatives in Guinea on Monday called for the immediate release of opposition leader Aliou Bah, who was arrested for allegedly “insulting” the head of the military government.
Bah, leader of the Liberal Democratic Movement (MoDel), was detained as part of a broader crackdown on political freedoms by the junta of General Mamady Doumbouya, who seized power in a 2021 coup, ousting civilian president Alpha Condé.
In a statement sent to AFP, around 150 academics and journalists condemned Bah’s “arbitrary” arrest, calling it part of a broader campaign by the National Committee of Reconciliation and Development (CNRD), the junta’s ruling body, to eliminate political opposition.
“We want to say loud and clear that we reject terror,” the statement declared. “We strongly and unequivocally condemn the ongoing brutality of the regime.”
A statement from a foundation supporting democratic innovation, signed by Cameroonian historian Achille Mbembe, also denounced what it described as the “spectacular return” of serious human rights violations in the region, with efforts to silence or exile all dissenting voices. The foundation also highlighted a troubling rise in kidnappings and forced disappearances.
Bah was arrested last Thursday while traveling to neighboring Sierra Leone with two colleagues. His detention adds to a growing list of opposition figures who have been arrested, charged, or forced into exile since the junta took power.
Two prominent anti-junta activists, detained in July, have been missing since their arrest. Meanwhile, two former senior officers and a doctor have died under suspicious circumstances after being detained.
Earlier this month, a journalist from the Lerevelateur224 website was arrested by men in uniform in the suburbs of Conakry, and his whereabouts remain unknown, according to his lawyers and a press union.
Despite international pressure, the junta has repeatedly stated it will not meet its earlier commitment to hand power back to a civilian government by the end of 2024.
