Covering events from January - December 2003
Several political and trade union activists were arbitrarily arrested and detained briefly.
Background
President Lansana Conté, who seized power in 1984, was re-elected for a third term in presidential elections held in December. A new Constitution to allow President Conté to stand for another term had been approved in 2001. Mamadou Bhoye Barry, the only other presidential candidate and member of the Union for National Progress, polled less than five per cent of the vote and contested the results. Other opposition parties boycotted the elections saying they would not be free or fair. The Guinean Human Rights Organization accused the election organizers of serious and massive violations of the law.
Arbitrary arrests
Several political and trade union activists were arbitrarily arrested.
- In April, Diarra Doré and two other leaders of the Union of Republican Forces were arrested after their party organized a march in the capital, Conakry. They were released without charge four days later.
- Six members of the Independent Teachers' and Researchers' Union of Guinea were arrested in November after the union called on teachers to strike for improved pay and pensions. They were released without charge a day later.
- Also in November, Jean Marie Doré, a member of the National Assembly and Secretary General of the Union for Progress in Guinea, was arrested and held for 24 hours in Conakry. He had thrown doubt on a health certificate allowing President Conté to stand in the December elections.
During the year, dozens of military officers and soldiers were arrested. Some were released but others remained in detention. The reasons for the arrests were unclear.
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