Daily Times

Amnesty International on Tuesday urged Guinea’s junta to pass a comprehensive law on violence against women and revise the definition of rape after failing to meet international obligations to combat sexual abuse. It made the call in a report released a day before the trial begins of former junta members over the 2009 rape of at least 109 women and the slaughter of 156 people at a political rally in a Conakry stadium.

“The fact that the survivors of the 28 September 2009 massacre had to wait 13 years to finally hope for justice and reparation was a powerful symbol of impunity,” Amnesty said in a statement. The report, based on research conducted with the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), found that a lack of data on sexual violence posed significant challenges to authorities and human rights organisations.

It called on Guinea’s government to criminalise all forms of violence against women and revise the definition of rape to reflect an absence of consent rather than the use of violence or coercion. It also urged authorities to accelerate the work of the National Observatory to Combat Gender-based Violence, which was created by decree in 2011 with the mission to collect and publish reliable statistics on violence against women and girls.

But the observatory has not yet “effectively” begun activities, the report said. In November, the death of a 25-year-old woman allegedly raped by doctors in a private Conakry clinic led to national outcry and a social media movement. In 2015, the case of Tamsir Toure, a Guinean rapper accused of raping a woman at knifepoint, provoked uproar from women’s rights groups and pushed the justice and human rights ministers to commit to combatting violence against women.

“Successive governments between 2015 and 2021 have taken important steps to address sexual violence and in particular rape”, including strengthening the legal framework and training magistrates, lawyers and police officers, Amnesty’s report said. The gendarmerie also set up a special brigade for the protection of vulnerable persons. “Despite these advances, this report presents numerous breaches of Guinea’s international obligations in terms of (the) prevention and fight against rape, (the) protection of victims’ rights and (the) fight against impunity”, Amnesty said.

Guinea does not have a reliable toll-free number for reporting sexual violence and many victims are unable to access medical care and justice, it said. The trial of former junta leader Moussa Dadis Camara and others accused is set to begin Wednesday.