African NGOs demand probe into six bodies found in Guinea mass grave

A group of 20 African civil society organisations has called for an independent investigation into the discovery of six unidentified bodies in a mass grave in Guinea.

The call on Sunday came after local men gathering firewood stumbled upon the six male bodies in the village of Alassoya in Lower Guinea’s Forecariah administrative prefecture on August 24.

The NGOs included the Afrikajom Centre and several branches of the Tournons La Page (TLP), an organisation that unites citizens’ movements across a dozen African countries.

They demanded that “all hypotheses be examined as part of an independent, impartial and transparent investigation”. They also called for the investigation to be conducted “with the support of national and international forensic experts in order to formally identify the victims”.

The groups said the discovery of the mass grave comes on top of “at least 35 cases of enforced disappearances documented by TLP-Guinea since September 5, 2021”.

They added that the circumstances in which the bodies were found “raise fears that the victims may have been subjected to extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions”.

The military said in a statement that the six bodies have been transported to the hospital in Forecariah “to proceed with identification and, if possible, determine the circumstances of their deaths”.

It added that “all measures were being taken to shed light” on the discovery and stated that “investigation results will be made public”.