GUINEA

When Guinea gained independence by referendum on September 28, 1958, France severed all contact with its former colony immediately. The country was led by the Democratic Party of Guinea (PDG), which quickly formed governmental institutions and established a fifteen-member constitutional commission.

The First Republic lasted from 1958 to 1984 under President Ahmed Sekou Toure, who quickly transformed it into a single-party “constitutional dictatorship... with numerous coup attempts, either real or invented, which led to arrests and arbitrary detentions, ‘people’s’ trials organized against the ‘enemies of the Guinean Revolution,’ [and which] forced millions of Guineans into exile in neighboring countries (mainly Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire) and Europe” (Kane 2003: 99). Guinea became among the first African countries to establish a single-party state, a trend that later came to be copied widely in Africa. The ruling party became a “hollow shell whose functions were unclear and whose utility was uncertain” (Chazan 1992: 62). The party was turned into an omnipresent tool of control, with patronage often replacing ideology. Coercion was used as a “substitute for acquiescence” (144). Whatever level of democracy may have been promised at independence receded farther and farther as a consequence. As a result of mounting international and domestic pressure, the PDG regime was forced to liberalize somewhat in 1982 by adopting a new constitution with greater human rights protection.

At the same time, however, the constitution removed the right to association, because the PDG was to be the “meeting place and debating hall for all currents of national life and the supreme means of the people to exercise power and the principal guiding force of its actions” (the preamble to the 1982 Constitution). The legislature was given authority over most civil and political rights, other than freedom of conscience and the prohibition on arbitrary arrest. The 1982 Constitution also included a number of duties that the citizens of Guinea were required to fulfill in exchange for the rights afforded them. The extensive list of duties included the obligation to carry out their civic duties (Article 15), to show solidarity with all other citizens (Article 17), to work according to their abilities (Article 18) and with the strictest respect for discipline and working hours (Article 19), to care for collective property, to fight against the misuse and squandering of public property, and to be “constantly striving to safeguard and develop the best interests of the people” (Article 27). Even more problematic were the vague obligations not to betray the people or the country (Article 16(2)) and to maintain “revolutionary vigilance toward all elements hostile” to the regime (Article 31). It was also not clear how this exchange of rights for duties was supposed to work in practice: who is to determine if duties were properly discharged, and how are the consequences of failure to do so be determined? As was to be expected, the extensive and vague nature of these duties was used by the regime against its opponents and critics (Kane 2003: 102).

When Sekou Toure died suddenly in April 1984, the military took power and established the Military Committee for National Recovery (CMRN), which designated a six-year transitional period during which the repressive laws of the previous era were repealed and replaced by laws which took greater account of civil liberties. But the economic, social and political situation in the country deteriorated during the military transition of 1984–1990 (131–32). In 1990 discussions of a new constitution started, and democratic institutions began to be established for the first time since independence. According to Kane, however, those “discussions represented more of a token gesture to donors and international opinion than the laying of the foundations of a real democracy in Guinea” (2003: 132).

On December 23, 1990 Guinea adopted the Basic Law, which “integrated certain principles and rules of the liberal democratic model with the rule of law, without really breaking with the country’s constitutional heritage” (100). The 1990 Constitution incorporated the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Charter of the Organization of African Unity and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. The Constitution proclaimed a dedication to democracy and the democratic establishment of the rule of law, and affirmed “the sacrosanct nature of the person and the inviolability, inalienability, and irreversibility of the rights and freedoms described in the constitution which ‘are the foundation of all societies and guarantee peace and justice the world over’” (Article 5) (102). In addition, the 1990 Constitution provides for a wide range of fundamental rights, some in unusual formulations, like the right to free personal development (Article 6(1)), and the right to resist oppression (Article 19(4)). Freedom of association is also provided for (Article 10(2)), subject to two conditions on political parties: they must have representation throughout the country and they must not be identified with a particular race, ethnic group, religion, or territory.

On the other hand, the 1990 Constitution also maintained and expanded the requirement of duties owed by Guineans, requiring them to abide by the constitution, laws, and rulings (Article 20(1)), be loyal to the nation, promote tolerance and the values of democracy (Article 20(2)), respect the dignity and opinions of others (Article 20(3)), pay taxes “according to one’s means,” and fulfill social duties (Article 20(4)). While the constitution mixes liberal democratic provisions with the maintenance of links to the country’s constitutional heritage by retaining the hegemony of the president of the republic, “these measures resulted, for the first time in Guinea, in a real opening up of the political space with the emergence of a whole range of political movements, trade unions, and media” (133).

The past continued to cast its shadow during the presidential elections of December 1993, in which incumbent president General Lansana Conte was elected after “an exceptionally violent campaign during which ethnic tensions increased to such an extent that the results from nearly all the electoral constituencies of highland Guinea were quite simply canceled by the Supreme Court. These first elections confirmed the administration’s lack of impartiality (at the central, territorial, and judicial levels) and showed it to be totally subservient to the elected president’s party” (134). The 1993 elections were followed by legislative and local elections in 1995, and the Second Republic was thereby established. Conte was reelected in December 2003 with 95.3 percent of the popular vote, after the constitution was changed to allow him to run, and he appointed the prime minister and cabinet.

The political culture inherited from the PDG combined with the social and political circumstances made it almost impossible for constitutional rights and guarantees to be protected. Curbs on freedom of speech and association, harassment of media, detentions, and torture continued. At the same time, “it is also true that there was increased recourse to legal institutions with the aim of putting an end to these practices and this was showing significant results. For instance, the Supreme Court has been trying, through its use of precedents which are increasingly available, to reinforce its role as guardian of the constitution and public freedoms” (135).