Guinea stadium massacre: Col Camara charged

Guinea stadium massacre: Col Camara charged

A minister in Guinea has been charged for his role in the killing of scores of people during a protest in 2009 in the capital against military rule.

Col Moussa Tiegboro Camara is the most senior official to be charged over the massacre, one of the bloodiest events in the West African country's history.

The protest

At least 157 people died when the troops opened fire in a Conakry stadium and 100 women were raped.

Report say the colonel was not taken into custody.

International rights groups welcomed the indictment of Col Tiegboro Camara, who is a minister in the presidency in charge of fighting drug-trafficking and organised crime.

Senior West Africa researcher for the US-based group Human Rights Watch (HRW), Corinne Dufka, said on Thursday that "ensuring justice for the 2009 victims and their families would help break the cycle of violence, fear, and impunity that has blighted the lives and hopes of so many Guineans for so many years."

A HRW report has implicated Col Tiegboro Camara in the 28 September 2009 massacre - saying that he was in the stadium and in command of soldiers who descended on about 50,000 people protesting against the then-military junta of Moussa Dadis Camara.

Eyewitnesses say people were shot, stabbed, bludgeoned or trampled to death and women raped.

Camara’s profile

Col Camara seized power in 2008 on the death of long-time leader Lansana Conte, but went into exile not long after the stadium massacre following an assassination attempt.

His deputy oversaw the handover to civilian rule, with veteran opposition leader Alpha Conde winning elections in 2010.

BBC/Adekusibe/Cokey