CASE N° GUI/04 - ALPHA CONDÉ - GUINEA

Resolution adopted without a vote by the Inter-Parliamentary Council
at its 168th session (Havana, 7 April 2001)

The Inter-Parliamentary Council,

Referring to the outline of the case of Mr. Alpha Condé, a member of the National Assembly of Guinea, as contained in the report of the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians (CL/168/13(c)-R.1), and to the relevant resolution adopted at its 167th session (October 2000),

Taking account of the information supplied by a Guinean delegate to the 105th Conference of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (April 2001), as well as of the information supplied by the sources on 16 February and 24 March 2001,

Recalling that Mr. Alpha Condé, a candidate in the 1998 presidential election and President of the opposition Rassemblement du Peuple de Guinée (RPG), was arrested on 15 December 1998 prior to the announcement of the provisional elections results; he was first accused of "attempting to leave the country clandestinely" and "assault and battery of members of the public order force" and subsequently, in January 1999, with "attempt to cross borders, fraudulent export of foreign currency, attempt to recruit mercenaries and breach of State security"; on 11 September 2000, the State Security Court found him guilty of all the charges and sentenced him to five years' imprisonment, which he is currently serving,

Recalling that the on-site observers mandated by the Committee to follow the trial of Alpha Condé and his co-defendants were satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the sentence handed down on Mr. Condé was the outcome of a trial which had patently failed to respect the standards of fair trial as defined in national standards and in international treaties ratified by Guinea, involving in particular torture either to extort confessions or to oblige witnesses and co-defendants to testify against Alpha Condé, and that it had therefore called for Mr. Condé's immediate and unconditional release,

Considering that Mr. Condé, who is serving his sentence at the Conakry Central Remand Prison, is prevented from contacts with the outside world, only his doctor being authorised to visit him from time to time; he is suffering from hip pain and his general state of health is reported to be deteriorating as a result of his conditions of detention,

1. Regrets that the governmental authorities have remained unresponsive to the calls of the world parliamentary community;

2. Expresses deep concern at the conditions of virtual isolation in which Mr. Condé is being held and at his state of health; recalls that, so long as he remains in the custody of the State, the State is under an obligation to ensure his well-being;

3. Forcefully calls again on the authorities to release Mr. Condé and his co?defendants immediately and unconditionally, since they are held in breach of national and international law;

4. Urges the authorities again to launch investigations without further delay into evidence of torture and ill-treatment which surfaced during the trial and to bring to justice, as their duty commands, those responsible for such abhorrent criminal acts proscribed under the Guinean Constitution and the international human rights instruments to which Guinea is a party, including the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment;

5. Calls once again on all member Parliaments to do their utmost to secure the prompt and unconditional release of Mr. Alpha Condé;

6. Requests the Secretary General to convey this resolution to the Guinean authorities;

7. Requests the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians to continue examining this case and report to it at its next session (September 2001).

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