Warning: Extremely Graphic Pictures

Guinean Coup Leader's Madness Shows Why He and His Co-Conspirators Should Be Condemned, Opposed and Arrested for Crimes Against Humanity

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Tewroh-Wehtoe Sungbeh

     On a trip to Liberia in 1994, I made an unintentional stop in Conakry, Guinea, to catch my connecting flight to Monrovia, since international flights to Liberia at the time were cancelled due to the civil war. Desperate to reach my final destination, I booked my connecting flight with Air Guinee, one of few regional airlines that traveled that route at the time.

     After I purchased my ticket, the attendant informed me that my flight would leave Conakry for Monrovia in two days. When it was time for me to depart that city, I was told that Hadiatou Conteh, wife of the Guinean dictator, Lasana Conteh, was using the plane at the time, as such, it was impossible that I would be leaving Guinea as scheduled. When I asked how long will she be gone with the aircraft for me to catch my connecting flight? I was told by the ticket agent "I don't know."

     It was at that time that a Liberian refugee whom I befriended during my weeklong stay in Conakry advised that I try my luck with RAMVI, the refugee-friendly boat that made weekly trips to Monrovia. Frustrated and not wanting to stay another day in Conakry, I bought another ticket, took a chance and traveled by sea to Monrovia. And for two days, I was a passenger on a boat where I thought my days on Earth were numbered because of the odor in the cabin, the roughness of the high sea, and because of the obvious lack of safety equipment onboard.

     A day after I arrived in Monrovia, I went to Air Guinee's office for my refund only to be told by the Monrovia-based ticket agent that I will not get my money back, because the airline did not owe me any money. Even after I presented my unused ticket as evidence to retrieve my refund, the agent refused to honor his own airline’s ticket, which was disappointing because it was my money, and because this was an infringement of my liberties, which the ticketing agent did not care to know or hear, and care less whether he violated my right as a customer, or the rights of the other stranded passengers who couldn’t fly because of what they claimed First Lady Hadiatou Conteh did.

     The state-owned company’s refusal to honor its own ticket to fly me to my destination, or refund my hard-earned money after the First Lady supposedly took the aircraft for a joyride, speaks of the tragedy that looms all across the African continent.

     What happened to me in Guinea over a decade ago is common in many parts of the African continent, where the liberties of citizens and non-citizens are constantly violated by repressive regimes with no clue of democratic governance, let alone learn to co-exist peacefully with the opposition and the citizenry.

      The Republic of Guinea, which has gone through a succession of dictators in its 51 years since gaining independence from France in 1958, has spiraled downward before our naked eyes resembling the failed state it is than a democratic country that cares for its citizens and its many visitors, as repression continues to be the standard operating method in a country that is capable of being a success story in that part of Africa, if it wants to be a success story.

     It seems however, that the death of one Guinean dictator can quickly bring out of the woodwork another blood-thirsty Guinean military dictator, who has no credible agenda or practical plan for the nation and its people, but dwells on intimidation, harassment, empty slogans, endless rhetoric, and a hidden and selfish desire to be president (as is customary in most repressive military governments), as a way to hold on to state power and control the population, always vowing to rid the country of corruption, improve the standard of living of the people, only to later turn on the people and a segment of the population that opposes such oppressive rule.

      The coming of Captain Moussa Dadis Camara, who seized power after the death of long-time dictator, Lasana Conteh in 2008, was not only a copycat attempt to forcibly seize state power by a guy who has no clue of democratic governance, but an embarrassment to the people of Guinea and the people of the African continent who now must count as one of its own a monster who is also scrambling to extend the almost quarter of a century of misrule, theft, and repression, which has taken that country back to the dark days that has since defined its existence.

     It is unbelievable that in 2009, when countries and visionary leaders in many parts of the world are moving away from coups and military dictatorships to democratic pluralism, and seeking better ways to improve the lives of their citizens, a Moussa Dadis Camara has decided to become a throwback to the unfortunate, heart-wrenching, and despotic days, when coup leaders terrorized their people in the name of patriotism and liberation from tyranny, which they themselves end up repeating.

      However, my unfortunate experience in Guinea over a decade ago is small in comparison to the tragedy that occurred on September 28, which killed 157 innocent Guineans, coupled with sexual violence against women, according to news reports that includes "the stripping of women, raping them, and putting the barrels of guns in their vaginas," after security forces loyal to the military junta leader Captain Moussa Dadis Camara, fired on unarmed demonstrators, who had gathered to protest Mr. Camara’s decision to run in his country’s presidential election in January, after he and his 32-member misnamed National Council for Democracy and Development (CNDD), promised a two-year transitional period.

     With such barbarity against women and the innocent people of Guinea magnified before our naked eyes in graphic pictures, and etched in our collective memories; thanks to Captain Moussa Dadis Camara and his 32-member junta, should be a rallying cry for the people of Guinea to have the courage and fighting spirit to vehemently oppose by all means the sadistic and insane tactics of the junta.

     Just last month, September, President Sirleaf, who was once imprisoned by a military coup leader, and made women’s empowerment one of the cornerstone’s of her administration, naively threw her support behind this mad man by visiting and meeting with him in Guinea.

      Since news of the bloody and fatal crackdown and the raping of women were broadcast worldwide; I have yet to hear a public condemnation from the Executive Mansion of these human rights violations. One would think being a pro-democracy activist in her previous life would encourage President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf to be in the forefront in support of the Guinean people's aspirations to be free. So far, the Liberian leader is mute – dead silent on this issue.  

     Knowing the bloody and deceptive history of military juntas worldwide (Africa), and seeing the chilling pictures of the cold-blooded killings and mutilations, it will be suicidal for anyone in Guinea or anywhere, any country for that matter to accept or embrace this inept, morally bankrupt and ruthless military dictatorship that cannot even accept non-violent dissent from its own unarmed citizens.

     The Guinean people should have a say in the direction of their country by opposing the criminals, all of whom (including Capt. Moussa Dadis Camara), who should be arrested and put on trial in Guinea or at the International Criminal (War Crimes) Court in The Hague. After all, it is their country, and they should have the right to decide the fate of the criminals when they are finally arrested. 

     The Guinean people should also have the right to elect their own leaders, and the right to reject a buffoon such as Moussa Dadis Camara and his council of killers and rapists, who shamelessly declared themselves leaders of the people through sheer force and violence. The criminals should be arrested and put on trial. And if found guilty, should be buried alive for their crimes against humanity. See gruesome pictures below.

     Massacre in Guinea/Que Dieu aide la Guinee