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  • 10 years on, Zoghota Massacre survivors still struggle to get justice

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    Survivors of an August 2012 attack against the village of Zoghota, Guinea by state security forces organized a press conference  last month on the 10-year anniversary of the attack to demand that the Republic of Guinea comply with an order issued by the ECOWAS Court of Justice in Abuja in 2020 to pay 4.56 billion Guinean francs (then approximately 436,000 U.S. dollars) to victims of the attack and their families.

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    Frédéric Loua, a lawyer at the Guinean human rights organization Les Mêmes Droits pour Tous (MDT) spoke representing the community at the conference saying, “the victims of the Zoghota massacre ask the Guinean state to immediately and without delay pay the amount of the sentence pronounced by the ECOWAS Court of Justice and to have those presumed responsible for the massacre judged for individual criminal responsibility.” The Zoghota people used this opportunity to renew their resolve to pursue all avenues in Guinea and internationally to hold their government accountable for the massacre.

    The order came as a result of a court case filed in 2018, after the community’s cases were repeatedly stalled and ignored in Guinean courts.

    Loua, pictured above at the press conference, has accompanied the people of Zoghota since the day of the attack. On Loua’s first visit to Zoghota on August 1, 2012, homes were still smoldering from fires the attackers had set only hours before. At that time the village of Zoghota in southeastern Guinea bordered an iron ore exploration site controlled by VBG, a mining company owned by Brazilian mining giant Vale and BSG Resources. Conflicts had arisen between the company and community over mining activities causing environmental damage, unfulfilled promises to employ local youth, and alleged mismanagement of VBG’s royalty payments intended for community development. The local communities also reported that they did not give the free and informed consent before the company set itself up in the area.

     

    Around 1:00 AM on August 4, 2012 – the night before the government was to meet with the community to discuss these conflicts – state security forces attacked Zoghota, firing bullets and tear gas. Five villagers were killed that night and a sixth later died of his injuries. More than a dozen villagers were arrested, some of whom were tortured by gendarmes. Homes and other buildings were torched, and almost the entire village fled. 

     

    One month later, Loua and MDT supported the community to file the first in a series of lawsuits against the individual police, gendarme, and military officers accused of carrying out the attack and their accomplice VBG, accused of supplying materials used in the attack.

     

    These cases have since been shuffled between Guinea’s civilian and military courts, languishing for years while the courts have allowed witnesses and defendants to ignore or flee from subpoenas, much to the dismay of Zoghota survivors and their lawyers. “After all that we had done, there was no justice. The state had no will to shine a light on what had happened,” Loua said.

     

    Faced with national court systems unwilling or unable to deliver justice to the victims, the community turned to the ECOWAS Court of Justice in 2018 to hold the Republic of Guinea responsible for the massacre, torture, and illegal detention of the people of Zoghota.

     

    In November 2020, the Court ruled the Republic of Guinea was responsible for violating the Zoghota villagers’ rights to life; to be free of torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment; to not be subject to arbitrary arrest or detention; and to an effective remedy. A year after the Court had ordered Guinea to pay compensation to the victims, the Zoghota community appealed to the ECOWAS Commission to enforce the ruling.

    While Guinea’s government continues to ignore the ECOWAS ruling despite several meetings and advocacy, the people of Zoghota are tired of waiting for justice. Stymied at the state level, the community is ready to once again turn to international legal systems to enforce the ECOWAS ruling.

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  • NGO supports development in Fanteakwa

    Published by the Daily Times

    Advocates for Community Alternatives (ACA), a non-profit making organisation, is spearheading the implementation of Facilitated Collective Action Process (FCAP) in all the 34 key towns in the Fanteakwa South district as part of efforts to deeply involve communities in the planning and execution of development projects.

    In partnership with the Fanteakwa South District Assembly, FCAP is being implemented as a community driven development tool that keeps decision-making and community development in the hands of the local community members.

    It was adopted by ACA from ‘Spark Micro-grants’, a partner NGO in East Africa (Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Congo), and is currently the development pattern used by the Rwandan government to develop the country.

    FCAP takes a maximum of three years in each partner community to fully implement a project, and has three main phases, namely planning, implementation and post-implementation.

    Pilot cases

    For over a year now, ACA been piloting this process in two communities in the Fanteakwa South district, namely Juaso and Nsuapemso, in partnership with the Assembly.

    Following the success of the application of FCAP in these areas, ACA has extended its coverage to all 34 communities of the district on a 60-40 percent deal. ACA will provide 60% of micro grant, which is the cedi equivalent of $9,000.00, in all 34 communities of the district while the district Assembly takes up the remaining 40%.

    Launching the FCAP at a town hall meeting held recently at Osino, the district capital, the Community Development Manager of ACA responsible for West Africa, Nana Ama Nketia Quaidoo, said it was extremely important for intended beneficiaries of every development project to be deeply involved from the scratch rather than just putting up the project for them.

    “If you have any intent of executing any development for me, engage me and let me determine what I want. So, you don’t just wake up and decide that you want to build a hospital, or school or a chapel when I, the intended user/beneficiary, don’t know anything about it,” she explained.

    “How did you know that I need a chapel? What makes you think that the location of the market is at the preferred place? These are some of the issues that hinder effective local governance in Ghana and Africa,” she again said.

    Madam Nketia Quaidoo observed that successive governments sometimes tout their achievements by mentioning a lot of infrastructural projects executed without knowing that the supposed beneficiaries do not seem to resonate with these projects because they were not involved in their implementation.

    This, she further explained, informed ACA’s decision to adopt the Facilitated Collective Action Process, which deeply involves the people in the planning and execution of any project in their community and avoids white elephant projects.

    She expressed the hope that FCAP will help drive community-driven approach in project implementation while reducing the impacts of mining on the local people.

    Read about Advocates for Alternatives on the News via https://dailystatesman.com.gh/ngo-supports-development-in-fanteakwa/


  • PILIWA Annual Conference 2022

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    The Public Interest Lawyering Initiative for West Africa (PILIWA) is a professional network of West African lawyers, legal practitioners, and other advocates who use law to promote social justice.  We share a commitment to using the law to protect the rights of vulnerable individuals and communities and enhancing their ability to shape their own economic future.  We are spearheading the transformation of the legal profession in West Africa to ensure that lawyers work in the public interest rather than just in the interest of the powerful few.

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    To achieve its mission, PILIWA has among other things established an annual conference to allow the members of the network to meet, share experiences and develop new legal and socio-political strategies to better promote and defend the rights of communities and ensure social justice in West Africa.

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    The annual conference is a space for communication and development of strategies to strengthen the network. PILIWA members meet once a year in one of PILIWA’s member countries. It allows members of the network to discuss the cases they are working on, the progress made and the challenges encountered. This allows members to share their knowledge and experiences, reflect together on how to address challenges and more clearly identify opportunities for collaboration.

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    The conference offers members of the network trainings on various human rights themes which allow them to learn different theories of change and different approaches to advocacy and strategic litigation. These trainings not only reinforce their passion for social justice but also sharpen their expertise on issues of environmental rights, land grabbing and all related rights, corporate due diligence standards, resettlement standards, mining standards, strategic litigation etc.

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    Network members use the conference to also propose appropriate strategies for the future of the network. To this end, one of the successes that has emerged from the conferences is the collaboration around a legal strategy to create systemic change in West African human rights jurisprudence. This nine-country strategy consists of filing cases both internationally at the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice and also domestically before national courts to highlight the mismanagement and responsibility of States in relation to mining operations. The aim is not only to seek justice and compensation for communities affected by human rights violations caused by the extractive industries, but also to encourage ECOWAS to examine closely the degree of compliance of its countries members in respect of their obligations under international law.

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    Additionally, it is hoped that these efforts will help to change national and regional policies to prioritize the interests of West African communities that suffer violations and abuses committed by multinationals. The lawyers of the network, French and English speakers, collaborate together on their respective cases and complaints filed at the level of the ECOWAS Court of Justice.

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    From these annual meetings, the idea of making PILIWA an institutional and independent entity was also born, with its own constitution and operating structures with a view to ensuring effective participation and collective ownership by the members. From this institutionalization of PILIWA, was also born the idea of creating a national PILIWA chapter in each country in order to increase its actions  and impact.

    [/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.6.6″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]To this end, a document stating the vision, missions, principles, theory of change of PILIWA was developed and unanimously approved at the 5th annual conference held in Abidjan in February 2022. During this meeting, the members of the network conducted as assessment of the successes of PILIWA over the past 5 years as well as its setbacks and also developed a country-specific strategic plan that will dovetail into a broader strategic plan for the PILIWA network. This strategic plan document will make it possible to better direct PILIWA’s efforts, coordinate its actions, and increase the visibility and impacts of the network. Another topic that was discussed during this meeting was the enforcement of the decisions of the ECOWAS Court of Justice by ECOWAS member countries. Indeed, members of the PILIWA network discussed the challenges faced in enforcing these judgments in favor of communities.  Considering the unwillingness of ECOWAS Member States to execute judgments, strategies for using regional and international mechanisms to force the enforcement of judgments were the subject of intense and interesting discussions at this meeting.[/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.6.6″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]

    In conclusion, the annual PILIWA conference allowed the network to grow in terms of membership, expertise, strategy etc.

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  • ACA rewards community members

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    In recognition of their exemplary roles in championing development in their communities and also serving as role models to others, four individuals have been awarded by the Advocates for Community Alternatives (ACA) as part the maiden annual national delegates’ conference of the Citizens Committee Network (CiCoNet), which took place at Osino in Fanteakwa South District of the Eastern Region.

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    George Asante of Juaso emerged as the Over-all Best Community Member as a result of his dedication, tolerance and consistency in mobilizing support for Juaso community members, especially with regards to FCAP meetings.

    Although he is from Juaso, Mr. Asante has been extending his support to other FCAP communities such as Nsuapemso and Segyimase, especially when those communities are confronted with challenges.

    He offers the necessary assistance without asking for any honorarium in return.

    As an FCAP Chairperson, he has worked hard to increase attendance and participation of women in meetings and more importantly during decision-making in his community.

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    Another resident of Juaso, Lydia Opokuaa, received the Most Inspiring Community Member award. She is a self-motivated female whose phenomenal interest and contributions in decision-making in her community cannot be over-emphasized.

    Madam Opokuaa Lydia fully attends FCAP meetings every week and participates in all activities for the development of her community.

    In her view, activities of the FCAP and CICONET are both geared towards her own community development. She also considers ACA’s methodologies to be non-discriminatory, giving everyone the opportunity to speak.

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    According to her, the FCAP methodology has helped her to believe that disability is not inability. Madam Lydia has a stammer – a speech impediment that could otherwise discourage her from participating – but the FCA encourages her to get involved in decision making and contribute to the success of her community’s development in the long-term. She therefore entreats other community members with similar speech difficulties to learn from her and be encouraged as well.

    Emmanuel Antwi of Nwoase community in Nkoranza South Municipality of the Bono East Region and Rose Addo of Nsuapemso community in the Eastern Region were also recognized as the Most Dependable Community Members.

    Hon. Edward Kuyiweh of Salamkrom won the Most Disciplined Community Member award, while the Over-all Best Community award went to Segyimase. Records show that Segyimase community has the full participation of its chief in all FCAP meetings, with members being punctual and well-organized.

    All the award winners received Certificates of Recognition.

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  • ACA partner communities embrace brafie “come home” initiative to promote community-driven development and resilience

    For the past five years, ACA has been working with communities in Ghana’s Bono East and Eastern Regions to help them realize their own development vision while avoiding the economic and social ills associated with unsustainable mining practices.  While ACA’s projects usually center around a micro-grant to each community and the community’s efforts to marshal its own resources, a number of the partner communities have now been turning to a new source of support: their own compatriots in the diaspora.

    Known as Project Brafie (“come home” in the local Twi language), this new initiative encourages communities to strengthen ties with their relations outside of Ghana, inviting them to come home, contribute to the community, and help the community realize its development vision.  So far, ACA partner communities have re-connected with expatriate Ghanaians in Italy, Spain, Sweden, and the Netherlands, as well as locals who have left the village to live in Accra.

    Donkro Nkwanta

    Donkro Nkwanta, in the Nkoranza South Municipality of Bono East Region has received tremendous feedback from the diaspora through Project Brafie.  ACA has facilitated the community’s initiative to build a community center, and members of the diaspora contributed $4,700 cash towards the construction.

    Encouraged by the success of the ACA project, the people of Donkro Nkwanta have continued to turn to the diaspora for community investment.  So far, expatriate natives of Donkro Nkwanta have built four washrooms for the community clinic, fenced the facility as a safety measure to improve health in the community provided funds to construct a 4-unit classroom block, provided a signpost for the town’s police station and secured 110 bulbs to serve as streetlights for the town to further improve security.

    Juaso

    Juaso, a village in the Fanteakwa South District of Eastern Region, is implementing a black soap manufacturing operation as part of its partnership with ACA.  Through sustainable production that capitalizes on the waste products of the village’s traditional industries – cocoa and plantain growing – they are building resilience to external threats, including the mining companies that threaten their land and livelihoods.

    One element of the black soap project is the construction of a production house.  Through Projet Brafie, the people of Juaso have identified a native of the town who works with GHACEM, a leading cement producer in Ghana.  Discussions are now underway between the community and their native son to draw on GHACEM’s Corporate Social Responsibility program to complete construction of the production house.

  • Community Members Seek Evidence Against Octea Ltd.

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    Sierra Leone Community Members Seek Evidence from New York Court in Human Rights Lawsuit against Diamond Miner Octea Ltd.

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    August 19, 2021 – New York – If Sia Janet Bayoh and other members of the Marginalised Affected Property Owners (MAPO) have their way, a trove of documents produced in a multi-billion-dollar battle between international mining giants will help them rebuild their lives and livelihoods, which have been shattered by the abusive diamond mining operations of Octea Ltd.

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    For years, the members of MAPO – residents of Gbense and Tankoro Chiefdoms in Koidu, Sierra Leone, have lost their homes, farms, and livelihoods, and suffered pollution and health problems, due to the Koidu Mine, operated by Octea subsidiary Koidu Ltd.  Bayoh lamented the destruction of the community: “We used to farm and live in peace, but now our lands and water sources are poisoned and covered in rubble. Our homes are shaken by explosives every day.” 

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    In April 2019, MAPO and many of its members filed suit against Octea and Koidu Ltd., several of their affiliates, and their Managing Directors, in the courts of Sierra Leone.  But the convoluted structure of the BSG Resources Group, which includes the defendant companies and stretches across several notorious offshore secrecy jurisdictions including the British Virgin Islands, Guernsey, and Liechtenstein, has proven a major challenge.  “Octea has tried to use its international status to hide from its obligations in Sierra Leone before, and we know they’ll do it again if they get the chance,” said Benedict Jalloh, Principal of C&J Partners and counsel for the plaintiffs.  

    A move by BSGR to declare bankruptcy in order to avoid its multi-billion-dollar arbitral debt to a former business partner, Brazilian mining giant Vale, further raised alarm bells.  “Courts have found that BSGR moves its subsidiaries around like in a game of Three Card Monte, using its global reach to hide documents and assets from creditors,” said Jonathan Kaufman, Executive Director of Advocates for Community Alternatives, which supports the plaintiffs in their pursuit of justice.  “This bankruptcy is just another strategy to frustrate creditors such as the Sierra Leone plaintiffs, putting assets out of reach and making it impossible to satisfy the judgment in case MAPO wins the lawsuit.”

    As the lawsuit finally moves toward trial by the end of the year, the plaintiffs have filed a Foreign Legal Assistance petition in the federal courts of New York seeking evidence that may be unavailable in Sierra Leone.  “While Octea may be able to hide evidence from the court in Sierra Leone, BSGR couldn’t hide from its in bankruptcy proceedings in New York, where they have turned over copious evidence of how their assets are held, how their Sierra Leone operations are governed, and what their liabilities may be,” said Joseph Ansumana, Kono District Manager for the Network Movement for Justice and Development, which advocates for the local community.  “All this will help us ensure that the right parties are held responsible for the environmental and economic devastation Octea has caused at Koidu.”

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    Contact:

     

    Benedict Jalloh
    C&J Partners
    +232 76 901637
    benedictcmj@gmail.com

     

    Jonathan Kaufman
    Advocates for Community Alternatives
    +233 55 555 0377
    jonathan@advocatesforalternatives.org

     

    Joseph Ansumana
    Network Movement for Justice and Development
    +232 76 709268
    joseph.ansumana@nmjdsl.org

     

    Kate Fried
    EarthRights International
    +1 (202) 257.0057
    kate.fried@earthrights.org

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  • Improved Household Income

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    Kyeradeso Community Improves Households Income Through Community Savings and Loans Associations (CSLAs)

    By Nana Ama Nketia-Quaidoo

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    In the last three years, the people of Kyeredeso Community in Ghana’s Nkoranza South Municipality have become savers with the resources to invest in their own future.

    For years, most people in Kyeredeso have lived a ‘hand-to-mouth’ existence, focusing mostly on surviving the present and lacking the means to plan for the future.  Many felt that, as they could barely feed themselves, there was no possibility of saving a portion of the little income they earned. Others distrusted savings initiatives, having had the bitter experience of losing their investments to unscrupulous and fraudulent financial schemes in the past.

    Since 2017, however, ACA has worked with the people of Kyeredeso to implement the Facilitated Collective Action Process (FCAP), an approach to community-driven development that helps people unify around a collective vision and roadmap for the future.  The community has, in fact, adopted the teachings of the FCAP so enthusiastically that they have built their own medical center to improve health outcomes for themselves and surrounding villages.  As a result, Kyeredeso enjoys a level of cohesion, capacity, trust, leadership, and above all ownership that enables them to manage their affairs peacefully and profitably.

    This confidence and unity can be seen in another bold self-help initiative to improve household income: the Community Savings and Loans Association (CSLA) project.  Since 2019, CSLA participants have helped each other manage their finances and achieve their individual household goals effectively through weekly savings activities. 

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    The groups hold meetings on a weekly basis, during which they make contributions to the group’s “savings box” based on an agreed group Constitution. When each group was formed, the members were required to set personal household goals and decide how much they wanted to save. Based on their different sources of income, and to avoid over-promising and under-delivering, most chose to set aside weekly savings of between 5 and 10 Ghana cedis (approximately 1 to 2  USD).

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    (Savings group used their proceeds to purchase plastic chairs for hiring to raise additional funds to improve house hold income)

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    These savings are kept safely in the savings box over a period of one year, after which the box is opened, and the proceeds are disbursed accordingly. Each member receives the amount he or she has saved over the year, plus a share of any additional contributions, fees assessed for violation of group rules, or interest charged for loans taken.

    When the program began, Kyeredeso had just one CSLA group, but that number has now grown to five savings groups – total membership of 150 community members – as people have seen the benefits.  “Having the ability to save is as important as being able to raise funds to deal with life circumstances,” said Nana Ama Nketia-Quaidoo, ACA’s Community Development Director. “These savings groups are helping to reduce financial stress and provide people with a greater sense of financial freedom.”

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    The use of the CSLA to secure a lump-sum repayment of savings at the end of the year enables members to plan for seasonal purchases, important investments, or life-cycle events. For example, Puokuum Sumariinga is a widow with four children who has been struggling to feed her family and provide basic supports to her children’s needs since her husband’s demise. When she was introduced to the savings group, she made a pledge of GHS10 a week, although she was unsure whether she would be able to honor the commitment. Working menial jobs on other people’s farms, she managed to earn enough short-term income to save weekly. To date, Sumariinga has saved a total of 1,400 Ghana cedis, making her eligible for a low-interest loan from her CSLA. She used the loan proceeds to buy farm inputs to resuscitate her late husband’s farm, which will enable her to gain much more income and save more for her children’s education. 

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    (One community member who used his savings to purchase agriculture inputs to improve his livelihood)

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    Mr. Amos Salensor, a Kyeredeso farmer, has also set his goals for savings – which currently total 2,550 Ghana cedis – based on his family’s needs. “My overall vision is to save enough to get a decent accommodation for my family and to be able to meet the educational needs of my children,” he explained.  “I hope to painlessly pay school fees and at least buy land to begin building in my next phase from the proceeds of the savings.”  Other CSLA group members report using the proceeds of their savings to venture into small businesses such as hiring out plastic chairs and petty trading, or to deal with unexpected downturns, for which they would have sought support from friends in the past.

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  • The Republic of Guinea Refuses to Honour the Decision of the ECOWAS Court

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    The Republic of Guinea refuses to honor the decision of the ECOWAS Court of Justice in favor of Zogota Community

    Eight months after a judgment of the ECOWAS Court of Justice holding the Republic of Guinea responsible for the murder and torture of residents of Zogota Community during a 2012 massacre, the government has given no sign of compliance. By refusing to compensate the victims and punish the perpetrators of the massacre, Guinea violates international human rights law and flouts the authority of the Court.

    Factual Background
    Zogota, a village located in the forested zone of Southern Guinea, is the site of a rich deposit of iron ore. Just after midnight on 4 August 2012, Guinean security forces entered the community, firing wildly. They killed six villagers, wounded several others, burned homes, and stole personal property.

    The government’s attack was a reprisal against a large-scale protest over employment practices and environmental destruction at the Zogota iron mine owned by Vale-BSG Resources (VBG), an international mining conglomerate. During the protests, villagers from several of the communities surrounding the mine – led by the residents of Zogota Community – occupied the mine site and were accused of destroying company property.

    In August 2012, the Guinean organization “Mêmes Droits pour Tous” filed a complaint against the principal armed forces offiers who were responsible for the massacre. Unfortunately, this complaint was shelved and, eventually, lost in the Guinean legal system. Indeed, despite an extensive search, MDT has still found no trace of the complaint.

    MDT and Advocates for Community Alternatives, with the support of lawyers across the PILIWA network, then turned to the ECOWAS Court of Justice, where they filed a complaint on October 13, 2018, against the Republic of Guinea for violating the human rights of the victims of the massacre. At the same time, MDT filed an additional complaint in Guinea against VBG and its successors in light of the role that the company played in the massacre.

    The trial before the ECOWAS Court of Justice was held on February 6, 2020, in which the plaintiffs were represented by Me Pépé Antoine Lama. The complaint before the Guinean courts is currently under investigation.

    Justice denied to the victims of the Zogota massacre
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    In its judgment No. EWC/CCJ/JUD/25/20 of November 10, 2020, the Court held Guinea responsible for violating the right to life, freedom from torture and other inhuman treatment; freedom from arbitrary arrest and detention; and the right to an effective remedy. These rights arise under several international treaties to which Guinea is a party, including:
    • The African Charter on Human Rights
    • The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
    • The Convention against Torture
    • The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)

    Consequently, the Court gave Guinea a period of 6 months to compensate the victims and their families. This judgment was formally registered with the Guinean judiciary in December 2020. However, eight months after the court ruling – which is binding on the State according to the ECOWAS Treaty and the Protocols of the ECOWAS Court– the Guinean government has taken no public action to fulfill its obligations to the victims and their families.

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    On the contrary, the authorities charged with implementing the judgment have turned a deaf ear to MDT’s communications. No steps have been taken, and no timetable has been set to bring justice to the victims. This clearly demonstrates the intention of the Republic of Guinea to deny justice to the victims of the atrocities committed by State agents against Zogota Community. By refusing to execute the judgment of the Court, Guinea government defies the institutions of ECOWAS and violates the texts that govern them.


    Submission to the ECOWAS Commission
    Due to lack of will on the part of the Guinea government to compensate the victims, MDT has now submitted a report to the President of the ECOWAS Commission, informing the Commission of the refusal to execute the judgment. In this report, the Commission is asked to take all measures for the effective implementation of the judgment in accordance with ECOWAS Community rules.

    The ECOWAS Court of Justice may refuse to hear any petition brought by the accused member state until such state implements its decision. And ECOWAS can take sanctions against the Republic of Guinea, such as suspension of new Community loans or assistance; suspension of disbursement on on-going or planned Community projects; ineligibility to present candidates for statutory and professional posts; and suspension of voting rights.

    In conclusion, we hope that the executive organs of ECOWAS will take all necessary measures to ensure the enforcement of obligations such as the decisions of the ECOWAS Court of Justice, and that no exception will be made for the State of Guinea.
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  • The Arrest of Human Rights Defender Me Antoine Pépé Lama

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    The arrest of human rights defender Me Antoine Pépé Lama: an infringement on the freedom of expression of all human rights defenders in Guinea

    Mr. Pépé Antoine Lama, Lawyer at the Bar of Guinea, member of the Bar Council, and active member of Les Mêmes Droits pour Tous and the PILIWA network, was arbitrarily arrest last month by the Guinean police.

    Facts of the arrest
    On Monday, June 7, 2021, around 12:00 p.m., Mr. Lama was arrested on the premises of the Judicial Police Headquarters (Direction Centrale de la Police Judicaire, or DCPJ). Mr. Lama was at the DCPJ in performance of his duties as a lawyer and human rights defender, as he was there to meet with Commissioner Mathieu Haba about a criminal defendant whom he is defending in court.

    Once he arrived, Commander Sékou LY directed Mr. Lama to go to the office of Comptroller-General Aboubacar Fabou CAMARA, without giving any reason. Commander Ly and the Comptroller-General proceeded to violently insult and threaten Mr. Lama, exclaiming: “Look at that! Who do you think you are? I’m going to bring you up on charges. You think we’re playing? I’ll show you how to play!” They then arrested him without cause. Mr. Lama was only released thanks to the intervention of the Guinean Bar Council.

    Complaint filed
    Due to this unfortunate act, Me Antoine and the Guinea Bar Council filed a complaint on June 8, 2021, against Sékou LY and Aboubacar Fabou CAMARA before the 1st Criminal Court of Conakry for public insult and infrigement of individual liberties. The defendants appeared in Court on and were released on bail in the amount of 3,000,000 Guinean francs (approximately 300 U.S. dollars). However, following the intervention of the Guinean Minister of Justice to pacify the parties and find an amicable settlement, Me Antoine and the Bar Council withdrew their complaint.

    Human rights defenders are constantly harassed in Guinea:
    The arrest of Me Pépé Antoine Lama is not a first. His detention is part of a worrisome pattern of detention of active human rights defenders in Guinea that violate the provisions of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 9, 1998. These arbitrary detentions and threats constitute acts of intimidation aimed at deterring human rights defenders and punishing their legitimate activities.
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  • ACA teams up with AAAS to help Sierra Leone citizens use science in the pursuit of justice

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    In March 2021, members of the Marginalized Affected Property Owners (MAPO), a community-based association in Kono District, Sierra Leone, finally learned what a decibel is.

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    Of course, as residents of communities that abuts the giant Koidu Kimberlite Mine, whose operator regularly shakes the foundations of their homes with massive blasts of dynamite, MAPO members have long been intimately familiar with the impacts of decibels on their lives.  They also know very well how declining soil fertility affects their crop yields, and how the contamination of water supplies leads to skin conditions and stomach ailments.  But it’s one thing to know something in your gut, and another to understand it, measure it, and use it to advocate for yourself.

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    To support the affected communities in their struggle for justice against Koidu Ltd., the operator of the diamond mine, ACA and the Network Movement for Justice and Development (NMJD) organized a five-day citizen science workshop to introduce them to basic concepts and help them gather evidence.  The workshop also benefited from technical advice by the American Academy for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) On-Call Scientist program and the participation of Dr Eric 

    Adjei, a soil science expert with Ghana’s Center for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).

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    For three days, workshop participants received an intensive education on the impacts of noise, water and soil pollution.  Then they were put to work, sent out into their own communities with measuring instruments and a detailed questionnaire.

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    They were able to make their own detailed observations of their surroundings and report back to the group – how does the water taste, smell, and look?  What is happening in the immediate environment that may affect soil quality?  How noisy is it, and how does the noise affect our physical health or state of mind?  And what levels of noise, water contamination, or soil degradation are considered normal or consistent with human health?

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    Thanks to this experience, MAPO members now know – among other things – what a decibel is, and that the number of decibels they are subjected to on a prolonged basis is causing long-term hearing damage.  Armed with this knowledge, MAPO members are creating action plans to further investigate

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    and document the state of their natural environment and the environmental impacts of the Koidu mine.  With the assistance of ACA, NMJD, and both national and international scientific experts, they will bridge the gap between community, laboratory, and courtroom to defend and restore the water, soil, and quiet atmosphere of Kono.

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