Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Legal News Blogs -> JURIST - The Paper Chase

Legal News

: JURIST - The Paper Chase

ICC prosecutor concludes Guinea junta likely committed crimes against humanity

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] International Criminal Court (ICC) deputy prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said Friday that Guinean authorities likely committed crimes against humanity when more than 150 pro-democracy protesters killed in Conarky in September 2009. At the conclusion of her three day visit, Bensouda, a Gambian lawyer, said that the ICC would work with the Guinean legal system to prosecute the offenders. Meanwhile, Guinean Prime Minister Jean Marie Dore said that his country's legal system would have great difficulty prosecuting the crimes due to the lack of an impartial judicial system. Earlier this month, a commission created by Guinea's junta announced that former Guinean junta aide Lieutenant Aboubacar Cherif "Toumba" Diakite is the sole government official to blame for the massacre. The commission's conclusion contradicts a UN report that blamed junta leader Moussa Dadis Camara, Minister for Special Services Moussa Tiegboro Camara, and Toumba for the September 28 slayings. In October, the ICC placed the Guinean military under preliminary investigation for human rights violations related to the Conakry incident, and the UN and Guinea both announced they were creating commissions to investigate the killings. The Conakry incident stemmed from a pro-democracy demonstration against Camara, who intended to push elections forward three months and stand for re-election.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on February 20, 2010 (boomark / email).