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OO RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHGI RUEHJO RUEHMA RUEHMR RUEHPA RUEHRN RUEHTRO
DE RUEHRY #0079 0331535
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 021535Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY CONAKRY
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4442
INFO RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE
RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RHMFISS/HQ USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC

UNCLAS CONAKRY 000079 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL ASEC PHUM GV
SUBJECT: NATIONAL COMMISSION OF INQUIRY RELEASES RESULTS 
 
¶1.  (U) At noon on February 2, the Guinean National 
Commission of Inquiry presented their findings in front of a 
half filled Palais du Peuple. The audience consisted mostly 
of Guinean government officials and African diplomats. No 
members of the Forces Vives attended the event, nor did PM 
Jean Marie Dore. Interim President Sekouba Konate was 
represented by Toto Camara. 
 
 
¶2. (U) After interviewing 508 people, the Commission 
concluded that 58 people died at the stadium, 5 others died 
in the days following the events, 38 women were sexually or 
physically assaulted, and 1,480 people were wounded. The 
Commission also announced 21 families claim that their family 
members are missing. 
 
 
¶3. (U) The Commission placed blame on two parties: the 
political leaders who led the rally, and Toumba's small 
contingent of Red Berets they deemed exclusively responsible 
for firing into the crowd. According to the report, the 
political leaders violated the law by holding the rally 
against the recommendations of the CNDD. They also are guilty 
of not properly controlling their supporters during the march 
down to the stadium, citing protesters, vandalization of a 
police station on September 28. The Commission also credited 
a loss of 125 million GF ($25,000 USD) of government property 
to vandalization by the protesters. 
 
 
¶4. (U) The Commission blamed the government for not 
appropriately controlling the crowd, although it argued that 
Guinean law enforcement is not properly financed or equipped 
to deal peacefully with large-scale protests. The findings 
singled out former aide-de-camp Abubakar Toumba Diakite and 
his close associates as exclusively responsible for killing 
and raping protesters at the stadium. 
 
 
¶5. (U) The Commission recommended that everyone involved in 
the September 28 killings, including the political parties, 
should be given amnesty except Toumba and his associates. 
They argued that the arrest of Toumba is essential for 
national reconciliation, as is amnesty for all other "guilty" 
parties. 
 
 
¶6. (U) The Commission cited that their research was hindered 
by the lack of people willing to come forward and speak to 
their researchers. Arguing that all witnesses received 
appropriate protection, they expressed confusion as to why 
they had to plead for witnesses to come forward. 
 
 
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COMMENT 
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¶7. (SBU) Political parties and civil society members largely 
boycotted the release of the findings in protest of the 
Commission. Since its inception, the Commission was thought 
to have been created by Dadis and the CNDD in an attempt to 
exonerate those involved in the killings. By keeping the 
official number of dead at 58, the Commission ignored the 
findings of the UN Commission of Inquiry which put the death 
toll much higher. The Commission's affiliation with the CNDD 
was widely understood to be the reason that many people, 
including members of the Forces Vives, refused to speak to 
the National Commission. Their absence from the release of 
the report reiterated their objection to the Commission. The 
findings presented today are unlikely to have any impact 
among the civil society and political parties. The inaccuracy 
of the findings, and the political spin regarding who was 
responsible for the deaths had been widely anticipated by 
outside actors. 
Moller