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The Strike -The real story |
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For 8 days Guinea has been brought to its knees by a general strike. The hardships suffered by Guineans are consistently increasing with rising inflation, shortages of goods and basic services, high unemployment, banditry, and the looting of the huge natural wealth of their country.� The trade unions made some simple demands; lower the price of gas, (currently one litre cost more than the average Guinean earns in a day), and increase salaries (a sack of rice costs more than most Guineans earn in a month). |
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Three days before the official strike started, the students in Dabola attacked their teachers, then the school across the road from where I live and proceeded to march on the village, destroying the stalls used by local market traders.� Their exams were going to be cancelled because of the strike and they would have to take the year again.� The market traders are from the outside the town; they grow what they can and walk into town every day to try to sell their produce.� They are not wealthy, they are not educated and they do not have any other options to make money.� One student, when reaching out to steal found his arm met with harsh blade of a machete; this is a Muslim world and that is Sharia law, if you steal you can loose the hand that enabled you to do so.�� The next day the students did the same thing, and this time they also stormed the police station and jail and freed whatever prisoners they could find.� The town was thrown into chaos as the market traders fled from the mass of angry students.� There was no food, gas or supplies to be found in Dabola that day.� |
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The government here in Guinea is corrupt beyond belief. The President blatantly and openly steals from the country; he walks into the central bank and empties it of what is available, leaving with his car stocked full of bank notes as he drives by citizens who barely eat once a day. He is also very ill, and is not expected to survive his term. He no longer has the capacity to rule but refuses to leave office and is determined to prevent a coup d'�tat.� He uses the military to ensure that his will is carried out.� Prior to the strike, the government was clearly concerned about its timing; the strike coincided with the student end of year exams, so the students would join with the trade unions and create a volatile situation.� Two days before the date the strike was due to start the trade union leaders received a message from the Minister of State, the message was simple and clear: if you continue with your plans to strike, we will kill you.�� This is not an unusual message, as I said corruption is rampant.�� But the usual method is that such messages are relayed through the military by order of the government, and the actual members of the government keep a little distance and simply turn a blind eye; this time there was no intermediary, no semblance of propriety or honesty, just a very clear message straight from the country leaders. Plans for the strike continued and the leader of the trade unions foiled the attempt made to kill him and somehow escaped with his life.�� |
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Simultaneously, the government also began arresting younger members of the military: those who they feared would be capable of mounting a coup d'�tat.� They targeted those with an education, as in the eyes of the government this makes them a liability.� Being arrested in this sense does not mean incarceration for a period of time, in reality those who were arrested, were taken by the senior military and will not be seen again.� No one knows how many. |
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The strike commenced as planned and the first two days were without incident.� The protest seemed to be going as planned as and peacefully, and the intended impact of bringing the country to a halt was successful.� The days that followed however, saw a different approach from the government.� The Minister of State, who has become the ailing president's public mouthpiece, gave the military the green light to fire at will on protesters. By the 5th day there 10 people dead, as the military began to repress any public demonstrations with immediate fire.� In all of the cities from one end of this country to the other people have died.� Ordinary folks have been afraid to leave their homes and walk in the street.� Businesses remained closed, markets were bare and empty, and the people hungry from previous days without supplies began looting when they could.� The military redoubled their efforts.� |
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When people started to die, the international community at last took note.� International news reports brought attention to the situation and finally Kofi Annan issued a formal call for calm and for the Guinean government to exercise restraint (included below).� By the 8th and final day of the strike, 20 people had died at the hands of the military, and over 100 had been seriously injured ? the real figures are probably much higher. The attention of the international community clearly had an impact, as government cooperation in negotiations increased greatly in the wake of the UN call leading to the promise of some price reductions.� What seemed to be a small improvement cost the lives of at least 20 people. However, the promises made by the government have turned out to be empty.� And apparently many more Guineans will have to suffer from hunger, from lack of healthcare and die at the hands of the military before the international community takes real measures to address the situation in Guinea.�� |
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UN Call for Calm in Guinea |
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Report in the Washington Post |
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Tuesday, June 13, 2006; 2:35 PM
CONAKRY (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan called for restraint from Guinean authorities on Tuesday after at least nine people died around the West African country when soldiers fired on students during a general strike.
Banks, government offices and businesses in the decaying capital Conakry remained shut by the strike, now in its sixth day, which was called to protest against the poor economic record of President Lansana Conte.
Shots echoed across the tropical port city through the night and police patrolled streets, questioning anyone found outside.
"The secretary-general is deeply concerned by the killings of approximately 10 students during the demonstrations in Guinea," U.N. chief spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement issued in New York.
"He underlines the need for the non-violent resolution of disputes and calls on the authorities to exercise restraint."
Authorities have blamed the opposition for inciting violence during Monday's student protests against the postponement of exams.
Long considered one of West Africa's most stable nations, the mineral-rich former French colony faces rampant corruption, economic decline and a fractious military.
Analysts fear a power vacuum if the reclusive Conte -- a diabetic in his 70s -- were to die. A cabinet reshuffle last month snubbed opposition calls for reform.
"Around 60 people detained in flagrant criminal acts have been interrogated. One group was caught with a Kalashnikov machine gun trying to steal a car," a police source said.
VILLA SACKED
Police and medical sources said at least nine deaths had been confirmed after rioting in Conakry, the eastern town of Nzerekore and the northern city of Labe.
In the capital, Monday's rioting caused extensive damage. Protesters looted the suburban villa of Conte's brother, Harouna Conte, a police source confirmed.
"Everything was carried off. Even the metal sheets which made up the roof," one neighbor told Reuters.
In Nzerekore, some 970 km (600 miles) southeast of Conakry, residents reported hearing shooting throughout the night.
"The central police commissariat of the first district of Nzerekore was attacked and all the prisoners were freed by the students in broad daylight," one source said.
Protesters also attacked the Chamber of Agriculture, an organization close to Conte, the source said.
Unions want the government to reverse a 30 percent rise in fuel prices announced in mid-May, which they said obliterated wage increases set a month earlier. A liter of petrol costs 5,500 Guinean francs ($1.20) in a country where more than half the population lives on less than $1 a day.
(Additional reporting by Irwin Arieff in New York) |
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