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Articles - Guinea

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Guinea

Despite democratic rise to power, president represses media freedom

Guinea's first democratically elected President survived an assassination attempt on 19 July after gunmen surrounded his home and pummeled it with heavy artillery. Three people were killed during two separate attacks. But President Alpha Condé immediately clamped down on any media coverage of the attack, a censorship that IFEX members report is emblematic of his contempt for the media, despite promises for positive change. During a May fact-finding mission to Guinea, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) found a thriving media landscape hindered by repressive media laws with journalists targeted by security forces and political interference.

Guinea

Positive new media laws welcomed

Guinea's military leader, Gen. Sékouba Konaté, has enshrined press freedom in the country's new constitution. He has reformed media laws to protect journalists from jail sentences and ensure the freedom to create independent newspapers, report Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and ARTICLE 19. Passed on 22 June, the new legislation has come into place at a historic time: the first free presidential elections in 52 years.

Guinea

Radio stations self-censor; foreign journalists barred

Private radio stations have cancelled political programmes in Guinea as journalists continue to be harassed by opposition supporters and the military after last month's massacre at an opposition rally, says the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA). Also, Guinea's military denied entry to several French journalists on 17 October and continues to monitor and threaten local journalists, reports Reporters Without Borders (RSF).

Guinea

On the hunt for journalists; massacre of demonstrators

Journalists were assaulted after they witnessed a massacre of protesters by Guinean soldiers during an opposition demonstration on 28 September in Conakry, report the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) and other IFEX members. Two journalists have gone into hiding after learning that soldiers are on the hunt for them for reporting the killings to the international community.

Guinea

LEY MARCIAL IMPONE APAGÓN INFORMATIVO

Guinea

MARTIAL LAW IMPOSES INFORMATION BLACKOUT

The West African country of Guinea has been in the midst of an information blackout since 12 February 2007, after President Lansana Conté declared martial law in response to widespread protests calling for his resignation.

Guinea

FUERZAS DE SEGURIDAD DISPARAN CONTRA MANIFESTANTES

Guinea

FORCES DE SÉCURITÉ TIRENT SUR DES MANIFESTANTS

Guinea

SECURITY FORCES GUN DOWN PROTESTERS

Human Rights Watch reports that security forces in the West African country of Guinea killed, raped and assaulted demonstrators who protested fuel and rice price hikes last month, actions that violate international treaties on freedom of expression and other human rights that Guinea has signed.

Guinea

LE GOUVERNEMENT DÉMOCRATISE LES ONDES

Guinea

GOBIERNO DEMOCRATIZA ESPECTRO RADIAL

Guinea

GOVERNMENT DEMOCRATISES AIRWAVES

The small West African republic of Guinea took an important step toward guaranteeing press freedom last month, following the signing of a presidential decree that opens up the airwaves to private broadcasters, reported the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

Guinea

AUTORIDADES CENSURAN PRENSA LOCAL Y EXTRANJERA

Guinea

LES AUTORITÉS CENSURENT LA PRESSE LOCALE ET ÉTRANGÈRE

Guinea

AUTHORITIES CENSOR LOCAL AND FOREIGN PRESS

The National Communications Council (CNC) of Guinea's recent decision to suspend three foreign correspondents is part of "a systematic campaign to stifle critical voices in Guinea and, in particular, to block international coverage of the Condé trial," warns the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). On 28 July, Mouctar Bah of Agence France-Presse, Ben Daouda Sylla of Africa No. 1, and Amadou Diallo of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) had their credentials suspended for two months by the CNC. The regulatory body accused the journalists of "distributing information of a tendentious and malicious nature on the socio-political situation in the Republic of Guinea, with the unconfessed intention of tarnishing its image of peace and stability,"says Reporters sans frontières (RSF). The suspension occurred only one week prior to the resumption of opposition leader Alpha Condé's trial. The trial of Condé, who faces charges of "endangering the state," has been widely denounced by both local and international media as well as human rights groups "on both procedural and substantive legal grounds," attests CPJ.