Resolution adopted without a vote by the Inter-Parliamentary Council
at its 169th session (Ouagadougou, 14 September 2001)

The Inter-Parliamentary Council,

Referring to the resolution it adopted at its 168th session (April 2001) on the case of Mr. Alpha Condé, a member of the National Assembly of Guinea, and to the related report of the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians,

Having heard a member of the Guinean delegation to the 106th Conference (September 2001),

Taking account of the information supplied by the sources on 28 April and 19 May 2001,

Considering that Mr. Alpha Condé was pardoned by the President of the Republic on 18 May 2001 and released; considering also that, in a letter of 6 June 2001, the President of the National Assembly appealed to the President to grant Mr. Condé an amnesty and thus fully restore his political rights,

Recalling that Mr. Condé was sentenced after 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, and which involved torture either to extort confessions or to coerce witnesses and co-defendants to testify against Alpha Condé, and that consequently his guilt was in no way proven,

1. Welcomes the release of Mr. Alpha Condé and earnestly hopes that he will promptly be restored to his full political rights and so be able to resume his seat in the National Assembly;

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

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

4. Requests the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians to continue examining this case and report to it at its next session (March 2002), when it hopes to be able to close it in view of the full resumption of Mr. Condé's political activities.

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