The Media Foundation for West Africa has reported on actions by authorities in Guinea aimed at silencing civil actors, which violate international laws on freedom of expression.
In recent months, Guinea has witnessed an alarming escalation in the constriction of civic space and erosion of media freedom, marked by a series of incidents that underscore the country’s deteriorating human rights landscape.
The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) has been vocal in condemning these developments, which include the violent arrest of civil society actor Abdoul Sacko, threats against opposition leader Dr. Faya Millimono, and the grim findings of the Syndicat des Professionnels de la Presse de Guinée’s (SPPG) annual report on freedom of expression.
On 4 February 2025, the SPPG published its annual report on freedom of expression in the Republic of Guinea, titled 2024: A Dark Year. It notes that 2024 was the worst on record for Guinea since the junta led by Colonel Mamadi Doumbouya seized power, and highlights four major issues: physical attacks, threats and attempted kidnappings, and law suits. The report recorded 70 violations – 47 more than the previous year. These included the cases of 32 journalists who were kidnapped, 16 of whom were arbitrarily arrested. Out of the 16 journalists arrested, two were jailed.
Read the full MFWA article here.
Abdoul Sacko, Coordinator of the Forum des Forces Sociales de Guinée and one of the most outspoken critics of Guinea’s military government, was arrested at in the early morning on Wednesday 19 February 2025 and taken to an undisclosed location. The Forum des Forces Sociales de Guinée brings together the main civil society associations and certain political alliances and trade unions that are opposed to the junta administration. According to accounts from Sacko’s neighbours, armed assailants stormed the house where the activist lives. They brutally beat and tied up some of the residents, and forced them to point out Sacko’s apartment. Unable to break down the door, the assailants crashed through the ceiling to get into the flat.
Read the full MFWA article here.
On 20 February, Dr Faya Millimono, president of the opposition party Bloc Libéral (BL), told journalists who had come to a planned press conference that he had been forced to cancel it after receiving a death threat that same day. He did not reveal the identity of the perpetrators of the threat, but the serious tone in which he spoke struck a chord with those present. At the start of the transition, Millimono had thrown his support behind the military government. However, he became highly critical of the CNRD (Comité National du Rassemblement pour le Développement) and expressed his concerns on the progress of the Guinean transition, as well as other issues, through regular press conferences. MFWA is calling on the Guinean authorities to take all necessary measures to ensure the safety of Dr. Faya Millimono and his right to freedom of expression.
Read the full MFWA article here.
