VZCZCXRO0638
RR RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHRY #0186/01 0851328
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 261328Z MAR 09
FM AMEMBASSY CONAKRY
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3571
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RHMFISS/HQ USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CONAKRY 000186 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV ASEC GV
SUBJECT: A CASE OF RITUAL CHILD MURDER IN GUINEA 
 
¶1. (SBU)  SUMMARY. On March 16 a young child related to an 
Embassy LES was abducted and brutally killed in what is 
believed to be a ritual murder.  The child's throat was cut, 
his eyes removed and his abdomen slit open in a manner 
consistent with ritualistic ceremonies involving human 
sacrifice.  The relative's willingness to discuss the details 
of his nephew's death provides a rare opportunity to document 
this deadly practice, which is generally considered tabou. 
Human rights contacts have indicated that the practice is 
widespread in Guinea, but it is very difficult to find 
concrete evidence to support this assertion. END SUMMARY. 
 
-------------------------- 
CHILD SACRIFICE IN CONAKRY 
-------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU)  In the late afternoon on March 16, a three-year old 
Guinean boy from a poor Conakry neighborhood was taken from 
his house and brutally murdered.  His body was found in a 
ditch near his home less than 24 hours after he had been 
abducted.  "Junior" Diallo's throat had been cut, his eyes 
removed, and his abdomen slit open.  The manner of his death 
was immediately recognized by Guineans as a ritual murder. 
Rumors of ritual killings in Guinea had surfaced before and 
were an ongoing concern from a human rights perspective, but 
a lack of reliable information made it difficult to confirm 
the practice.  When Junior's death became public at the 
Embassy, it provided a rare opportunity to document this 
deadly cultural practice that human rights contacts say is 
common throughout Guinea.  Junior's uncle, an LES working in 
GSO, offered to share the details of his nephew's murder with 
Pol/Econ Chief and Poloff on March 19. 
 
¶3. (SBU) LES received a call from his niece, a single mother, 
on March 16 around 6pm saying that she had discovered Junior 
missing when she arrived home from work and that neighbors 
were looking for him.  The next morning at 10am, LES was 
informed that the child's body had been found and he left the 
Embassy to join his family.  Arriving at the scene, the uncle 
saw the child's body in a ditch behind the house.  He 
described the state of the corpse and the murder as having 
been committed within hours, and most likely within the 
immediate neighborhood due to the large quantity of blood in 
an adjacent area. 
 
¶4. (SBU) When LES arrived at his niece's house the morning 
Junior's body was found, he stated that the notorious 
Lt.Claude Pivi and Secretary of State for Special Services, 
Anti-Narcotics, and Organized Crime, Captain Moussa Tiegboro, 
had already arrived at the scene and were questioning people. 
 Surprised that a senior member of the government and Pivi 
would arrive at a murder scene so quickly, Poloff asked for 
clarification.  LES said he did not know who had called them, 
but that Pivi's cell phone number is widely available. 
 
¶5. (SBU) In describing his nephew's death, LES was visibly 
upset but answered every question without hesitation.  One 
aspect of the murder seemed particularly inexplicable.  When 
asked why someone would murder a child who would be 
immediately reported missing by their family, instead of an 
unfortunate street child whose absence might take days to 
discover, or never even be noted, LES said he had wondered 
the same thing. 
 
----------------- 
LINK TO ELECTIONS 
----------------- 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Open source reporting suggests that ritual murders 
are deeply rooted in many parts of Africa where sorcery, 
fetishism, and traditional beliefs continue to have a 
powerful influence on daily life both in urban and rural 
areas. LES stated, and conversations with other informal 
contacts corroborated, that ritual murders often occur before 
key elections. Those who request or carry out the murders 
believe that killing their victims so their body parts can be 
offered as sacrifice will give them magical powers to obtain 
political power and social success. 
 
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COMMENTS 
-------- 
 
¶7. (SBU)  Few reliable police statistics are kept in Guinea, 
so it is impossible to ascertain the number of ritual murders 
that occur, yet there is almost universal recognition among 
Guineans that this practice exists and is widespread. What is 
particularly troubling is the link between ritual killings 
and elections, power, and wealth -- topics that are under 
 
CONAKRY 00000186  002 OF 002 
 
 
intense scrutiny in Guinea today.   Political leaders in 
other West African nations, such as Sierra Leone and Liberia, 
have denounced such ritual killings.  In Guinea, due to the 
lack of both governance and the rule of law, ritual practices 
such as these go unpunished. Furthermore, due to the tabou 
nature of the subject, it is a horrendous human rights issue 
that gets little attention, and indeed, is often difficult to 
verify. END COMMENT. 
RASPOLIC