Guinea
On 28 September 2009, a peaceful demonstration against the military junta at a sports stadium in Conakry was violently repressed by security forces. Many people were subjected to sexual violence.
In 2024, former government officials, including president and junta leader Moussa Dadis Camara, were convicted by a national court for crimes against humanity, including sexual violence.
This historic decision marked the first time in Africa that a national judiciary has held former high-ranking officials accountable for crimes committed against their own citizens. Following the judgment, a presidential pardon was granted to Camara, sparking significant public debate.
I testified. It was not easy to speak to a judge and tell my story. But I was supported in doing so. I dared to do it.
Guinea was the site of our first interim reparative measures project in 2019. More than 100 survivors took part in the project, which ended in 2023.
The project left a lasting impact on survivors and their families. They used compensation to restart small businesses, secure housing, and send their children to school, reporting better social relationships and reduced discrimination. Quality of life scores nearly doubled, rising from 35 to 68 over the course of the project, while symptoms of depression and anxiety decreased significantly following therapy and peer support.
A full impact report is available here.
2019
WORK BEGAN
From pilot project to national policy
Our pilot laid the groundwork for broader, national-level efforts. Survivors involved in the project, together with their legal counsel and local partners Association des victimes, parents et amis du 28 septembre (AVIPA) and Organisation Guinéenne de Défense des Droits de l’Homme et du Citoyen (OGDH), played a key role in drafting a new reparations law. The then-justice minister requested our technical expertise and lessons learnt from the pilot to inform the law, and the national Steering Committee model was adapted to a wider context, ensuring survivor participation and leadership.
The draft law now awaits adoption by the government. It is aligned with international standards and reflects the lived experiences and needs of survivors. Importantly, the law addresses all serious human rights violations, broadening its reach beyond conflict-related sexual violence. This represents a major achievement: for the first time, Guinea is poised to establish a national reparations programme, shaped by survivors and tailored to their needs.
Meanwhile, OGDH and AVIPA continues to deliver advocacy training to survivors of conflict-related sexual violence, and began collecting data across other victims’ associations to document their specific needs and demands. This initiative aims to produce the first national overview of survivors of conflict-related sexual violence in Guinea. These activities, created with survivors, build on our interim reparative measures project.
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