Die Liga für Menschenrechte in Guinea-Bissau fordert in einem offenen Brief den UN- Generalsekretär, António Guterres, den Präsidenten der Afrikanischen Union, Macky Sall, und die Präsidentin der EU-Kommission, Ursula von der Leyen, auf, ihren ganzen Einfluss geltend zu machen, um die Gewalt in Guinea-Bissau zu beenden, die Wahrung der Menschenrechte durchzusetzen und dafür zu sorgen, dass eine unabhängige Untersuchungskommission zur Aufklärung des Angriffs auf den Regierungssitz in Bissau am 1. Februar 2022 eingesetzt wird.
Guinean League of Human Rights
Open letter to Sir/Madam:
António Guterres – Secretary General of the United Nations
Macky Sall – President of the African Union
Ursula Von Der Leyen – President of the European Commission
Excellencies
My best and respectful compliments.
Due to the upcoming early warning mission in the defense of human rights and the urgent need to
contain the unpredictable and pernicious effects of the current situation, the Guinean League for
Human Rights expresses and requests the following:
Guinea-Bissau, as the rule of law, constitutionally obliges to respect, protect and promote human
rights as the primary tasks of the State and indispensable premises for peace and sustainable
development. Living up to this desideratum, there has been gradual progress in fundamental rights
and freedoms, freedom of expression, political pluralism, freedom of the press, independence of
the judiciary, freedom of expression and assembly, since the political opening of the political
opening in the 1990s.
However, the objectively perceptible achievements along our democratic path have been strongly
compromised since the installation of the current political regime whose main purpose has
translated into the gradual confiscation of fundamental rights and freedoms to install a totalitarian
regime. In fact, the political authorities, in collaboration with the security forces and the judiciary,
make their modus operandum has been the systematic use of illegal methods such as police
violence, intimidation, arbitrary arrests, abductions and beatings of journalists, civic activists and
political opponents. All this is associated with segregationist political discourses and incitement to
hatred that are eroding the foundations of social cohesion and religious tolerance in Guinea-Bissau.
Excellencies
It is legitimate to say that the foundations of the democratic rule of law have never been more
threatened in Guinea-Bissau than they are now. This conclusion is the result of an exhaustive and
objective analysis of the patterns and trends of action of the current regime. Moreover, the facts
described above show extremely discouraging signs which point to unpredictable scenarios in the
near future in view of the weaknesses of national democratic institutions. The hazy picture of human
rights is still overshadowed by an ostentatious climate of widespread insecurity sustained by
political crispness, similar to the February 1 riot at the government palace that culminated in 11
dead and several injured, according to official figures released by the government.
Instead of carrying out serious investigations to ascertain both criminal and political and
administrative responsibilities in close compliance with the legal framework, the steps taken by the
national authorities have been guided by the installation of a climate of terror that led to the
unprecedented deterioration of the human rights situation which boils down to the following:
- A barbaric attack and subsequent destruction of Rádio Capital FM on 7 February 2022,
which resulted in seven journalists injured, including one in serious condition; - Abductions and arbitrary detention of more than 60 citizens outside the law, to whom
access to lawyers and family visits are deprived; - Illegal invasion of private facilities without a search warrant, accompanied by shots of
automatic weapons and tear gas to the residence of citizen Rui Landim, political
commentator of Rádio Capital FM; - Persecutions, intimidations and recurrent harassment of deaths to activists and leaders of
the LGDH and other civil society organizations, journalists and political commentators
critical of the current political regime, in particular, the former President of the League, Mr.
Luís Vaz Martins; - Reactivation of a squad of abductions and beatings, which functions as a kind of militia of
the installed regime, in particular the Ministry of Internal Affairs where victims are ultimately
taken, for simulation and procedural arrangements;
In view of this volatile and harmful context to human rights, the most vigorous intervention of the
international community becomes imperative, under penalty of contributing indirectly to permanent
instability, with sub-regional consequences. In defense of the axiological values of democracy and
subregional stability, the National Directorate of the Guinean League for Human Rights urges you
to:
(a) Call on national authorities to immediately cease the wave of arbitrary arrests, intimidation
and threats against citizens and human rights activists;
b) Influence the creation of an independent investigative committee to clarify the
circumstances in which the deadly attack on the government palace occurred;
(c) Require national authorities to comply scrupulously with their international human rights
obligations, in particular freedom of the press and expression and the right to a fair trial;
(d) Call on national authorities to immediately cease acts of violence against political
opponents, as democracy is meaningless without the guarantee of free and responsible
opposition;
e) Contribute to the criminal accountability of the moral and material perpetrators of the
attacks on the government palace, Radio Capital FM, the residence of citizen Rui Landim,
among others.
f) Strengthen mechanisms for monitoring the human rights situation in the country in
collaboration with civil society organizations.
Bissau, 10 February 2022.
The National Directorate
Augusto Mario da Silva, President
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