\n Rights groups in Guinea on Friday demanded a reconciliation process as a condition for participating in a national conference planned by the military junta, which seized power six months ago.\n<\/p>\n
\n Coup leader Colonel Mamady Doumbouya -- who was sworn in as president in the West African state last October -- has promised to restore civilian rule after a transitional period.\n<\/p>\n
\n But he has so far resisted international pressure to commit to a date.\n<\/p>\n
\n The head of Doumbouya's interim government, Mohamed Beavogui, last week announced that a national conference aimed at finding a path forward for the country would be held from March 22.\n<\/p>\n
\n He stressed the need \"to forgive and move forward\" in the nation of 13 million people, which has a history of authoritarian rule and political violence.\n<\/p>\n
\n But on Friday, 12 leading Guinean rights groups said in a joint statement that they would skip the conference unless the junta clarified what they termed \"undefined and imprecise aims\" for the talks.\n<\/p>\n
\n They also demanded that the junta set up a reconciliation commission after the conference, as a condition for their participation.\n<\/p>\n
\n Several African countries have set up such panels to shed light on atrocities committed during periods of repression or war, with South Africa's post-apartheid Truth and Reconciliation Commission being the most notable example.\n<\/p>\n
\n Guinea's strongman Doumbouya deposed elected president Alpha Conde in a putsch on September 5, defying broad diplomatic condemnation of the coup.\n<\/p>\n
\n Conde, 84, had drawn fierce opposition after he pushed through a new constitution in 2020 that allowed him to run for a third presidential term.\n<\/p>\n
\n Dozens of protesters were killed in nationwide unrest ahead of the September coup, and dozens of opposition activists were also arrested.\n<\/p>\n
\n Among the signatories to Friday's statement were groups representing victims of massacres committed under other former Guinean leaders.\n<\/p>\n
\n One group represents the victims of a notorious incident in 2009, for example, when soldiers loyal to then military leader Moussa Dadis Camara killed 150 people during an opposition rally in a stadium in the capital Conakry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Rights groups in Guinea on Friday demanded a reconciliation process as a condition for participating in a national conference planned by the military junta, which seized power six months ago. Coup leader Colonel Mamady Doumbouya -- who was sworn in as president in the West African state last October -- has promised to restore civilian […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[553],"tags":[],"ji_location":[],"class_list":["post-88994","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-feed"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n