FOROYAA Newspaper (Serrekunda)
6 November 2009
analysis
The World Should Take Note
The ordeal of the members of the Federation of Youth Associations of Guinea is a reminder to the world that those who perpetrated the atrocities in Guinea on 28 September are still min charge of the armed forces and are still determined to stifle freedom of expression and assembly. The Federation organised a hunger strike with the objective of drawing attention of the Human Rights violations and the need to create a peaceful environment that could give rise to Free and Fair elections. The world should stand firm and prevent those who perpetrated such outrageous crime against humanity from succeeding.
Foroyaa is privileged to get the whole story of the ordeal of the youths. A victim gave the following narration which shows the type of leadership being provided by people who belong to the generation brought up after Africa gained Independence :
"Our hunger strike was qualified as: "a system of modern terrorism" by the Minister of Special Investigation and Drug Trafficking, Cdt. Tiegboro, and as such, for him, we should be dealt with to serve as an example to anyone who would want to follow our footsteps.
We were arrested around 11:00 PM on Wednesday, October 28, 2009 . We were already sleeping when Cdt. Tiegboro arrived with 30 soldiers or more, heavily armed. Once inside the conference room, he asked us to stand up, take our cloths and step outside. Soldiers started to beat us and told us to move quickly. Mr. Jean Camano, one of the FAJEG members, felt down several times. He was asked to stand up or be taken by his feet by soldiers.
After been gathered together at the middle of the conference room, we were pushed out by the soldiers. Some of them were holding us by the belt while others were beating us from behind. Once we got outside, at the middle of the street, Cdt. Tiegboro ordered the soldiers to stop beating us. But still, some kept on beating us at the head and from behind. Finally, he ordered some soldiers to disarm one of their colleagues who was beating us.
All of them were insulting and saying that we will be killed or buried alive. According them, we were the instrument of western countries: that they have never seen a hunger strike and those who were behind had received orders from foreign countries that want to bring down Guinea . For them, we were criminal, unbelievers, unpatriotic
After around half an hour, we were ordered to jump at the back of the military pickups. In our way to Camp Alpha Yaya, some of us were injured. Once inside the Camp, we were held in line in front of the main entrance of the Ministry's building. We were given the option to eat bread and corn beef or to be given fifty lashes. Considering the situation, we decided to opt for the first option. So, we were forced to eat. At the same time, we were told that our parents will be brought the next days, no matter how far they will be, to testify on national TV about our crime.
Once we finished eating, we were jailed in a container with people detained for drug trafficking and armed robbery. After the container was closed, one of the detainees ordered us to pay our due. We told him that we don't have money and that we didn't commit any crime. He wouldn't believe us. Luckily, he was given evidence.
Surprisingly, he became friendly and gave us piece of boxes to sleep in. During the time we spent in the container, we were not allowed to go outside to use the restroom. We had to do our needs inside.
Around 2:00 AM , we were taking out for interrogations, which continued until 5:00 AM for most of us. We had to explain who was behind us, how we were financed, why we didn't get an authorization before going ahead with hunger strike, why we want to damage the image of Guinea , etc
Despite the fact that we have explained that we have sent letters to the ministry of defense, the chief of the army, the chief of the police, the ministry of the youth, the President, etc., they kept asking us to declare that the hunger strike was illegal. They were pushing one of our colleagues, Me Christophe Kone, to declare that the hunger strike was a conspiracy. They threaten him with guns.
Around 3:00 PM in the afternoon, we were ordered to stop and be taken to the main hospital, Donka, for medical check. Once in front of the hospital, we were forced to stand in line, like soldiers, while the insult was coming from soldiers. Several people were looking at us like criminals. After half an hour, a physician came out and asks the soldiers to bring us inside; otherwise, we could fall down considering our physical situation.
Once inside, we were able to seat. The soldiers kept the threats, telling us that the situation has gone far and that we will pay a heavy prize for that. Two of us started crying begged for forgiveness and began to give an apology. They couldn't bear the pressure anymore.
Few minutes later, the Minister of health, the Prime Minister's Adviser on Military Affairs, The President's Health Adviser arrived and told us that our arrest was a mistake and that it shouldn't have happened. He added that our call is noble and that we should be supported. He apologized for our treatment and told us the message has been received at the highest level. He said that we should stop the hunger strike until the delegations come back from Ouagadougou , Burkina Faso . He assured us that he will take our message to his colleagues.
The secretary General of the Religious Affairs came also to talk to us on behalf of the President. He offered to have dinner with us after the medical check. During the dinner the President called and asked him to take us to his office around 9:00 PM . Once inside his waiting room, we were told that he will be with us in few minutes but after waiting until 11:00 PM we decided to leave and go back the following day.
We were able to get home around midnight . On Friday morning, we went back to get our cloths and phones as well the money that we had before the arrest. We got back just few things.
Otherwise, the hunger strike was a success. We have received commitment from both sides to negotiate in good faith.
FAJEG had a meeting on Saturday, October 31st to decide the next steps forward. It has been decided that we will organize a press conference on Tuesday, November 3rd at 10:00 AM local time to explain the conditions of our arrest and the decisions made to move forward for advocating peace and stability in Guinea .
In addition to the press conference, we are going to organize a media campaign with local radio stations to explain further our message, which is justice for all victims, national unity, no further violence and an agreement between all parties that will allow the organization of free and fair elections, and sensitize the population about the consequences of a civil war.
We have also formed a committee of six youths that come from all ethnic groups and regions to meet with all regional coordination (4 regions in Guinea ) and explain our message and coordinate our mediation effort.
Finally, we are planning to send a delegation to Burkina Faso , Abuja , Addis and New York to press for a rapid agreement based on our declaration that is attached above and advocate for a continuous support of the international Community to the Guinean people.
Such efforts put together will bring peace and stability in Guinea so that we will be able for once to establish a viable democracy and rule of law in Guinea ."
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