Audio By Carbonatix
Guinea's military leader should be charged with crimes against humanity over the killing of opposition protesters, a leaked UN report says.
The UN panel says Capt Moussa Dadis Camara bears "direct criminal responsibility" for the killings.
The report said it could identify 156 people who were killed at the protest - contradicting claims from the ruling junta than fewer than 60 people died.
Earlier this month Capt Camara was shot and wounded by one of his own soldiers.
Junta spokesman Idrissa Cherif accused the UN of rushing out the report and said there had been a "procedural fault" in the way it had been communicated.
"I get the impression people want to speed things up as if it were a race against the clock. It is not normal," he told Reuters news agency.
Sex crimes
The report, commissioned in October by the UN, backs up claims made repeatedly by rights groups and opposition supporters - and contradicts starkly the accounts offered by Guinea's military rulers.
The panel of experts, who visited Guinea, said soldiers took part in mass murder and also carried out mass rape and sexual abuse of women at the protest, in the capital Conakry on 28 September.
The report, based on interviews with more than 600 people, said at least 109 girls and women were subjected to rape, sexual mutilation or kidnap for repeated rape.
Hundreds of people were also subjected to torture and abuse, it said.
Capt Camara had previously sought to distance himself from the atrocities by blaming unruly elements in the army.
But the report says: "The commission considers there are sufficient grounds for presuming direct criminal responsibility by President Moussa Dadis Camara."
Another passage states: "The commission recommends that the International Criminal Court be seized with respect to those persons on whom, according to this report's findings, weighs a strong suspicion of crimes against humanity."
Junta in turmoil
Critics of the junta had gathered in a sports stadium in the capital, Conakry, to protest at reports that Capt Camara intended to stand for president in an election planned for 2010.
But troops opened fire on the protesters in what human rights groups have described as a pre-planned massacre.
Guinea has been in turmoil since the military took over last December, but the shooting of Capt Camara by one of his soldiers on 3 December this year has thrown the country into even greater chaos.
Capt Camara was flown to Morocco for treatment after the shooting and has not yet returned - fuelling rumours that he was seriously injured.
The soldier implicated in the shooting, Lt Toumba Diakite, has been on the run ever since.
He has been accused of being in charge of some of the soldiers who opened fire on the protesters, and the UN panel recommended that he should also face charges.
Lt Toumba, in an interview with French media last week, said he had shot Capt Camara because he feared he would be blamed for the stadium killings.
A third member of the junta, the drug police chief Moussa Sakho Camara, was also named by the UN experts as bearing responsibility for the massacre.
Source: BBC
DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.
Tags:
DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.
Latest Stories
-
CSIR warns Ghana’s soil health is deteriorating, calls for urgent national action
56 seconds -
Two feared swept away after River Agyei overflows Kasoa–Domeabra road
4 minutes -
Tony Elumelu appointed chairman of Seplat Energy
18 minutes -
Education Minister raises alarm over indiscipline in SHSs, announces national reform conference
19 minutes -
Lom Ahlijah advocates tech-based monitoring in schools after assault case
24 minutes -
UTAG threatens nationwide strike over delay in book and research allowance rate
31 minutes -
Boundary Commission urges border residents to protect boundary pillars and support national security
34 minutes -
Ghana to grow at 5.0% GDP in 2026, but faces huge investment financing gap – AfDB
35 minutes -
Deputy AG, 14 CSOs appear at Supreme Court for hearing on challenge to OSP’s prosecutorial powers
41 minutes -
Minority MPs meet Ghana High Commissioner to Canada to discuss diaspora welfare and bilateral relations
49 minutes -
GNAT threatens WASSCE boycott over detained Nyinahin SHS teacher
57 minutes -
Free SHS: Education Minister hails end of school food shortages
1 hour -
NLA Director-General calls for a concerted effort in fight against illegal gambling
1 hour -
74% of returned Ghanaians had overstayed visas – South Africa’s Int’l Relations Minister
1 hour -
Ghana’s National Vaccine Institute joins WHO-backed Global Clinical Trials Forum
1 hour