Guinea

Constitutional Provisions

The 2010 Constitution of Guinea provides that everyone has the right to life and to physical and moral integrity, and that no one may be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or puishment.Art. 7, 2010 Constitution of Guinea.All citizens have the right of demonstration and of procession.Art. 10, 2010 Constitution of Guinea.

Article 142 provides that the Security Forces are responsible for civil protection, public security, the security of persons and of their property and the maintenance of the public order. Article 144 dictates that the law establishes the organization and functioning of the Security Forces.

Treaty Adherence

Global Treaties

Regional Treaties

National Legislation

Police Use of Force

Law enforcement in Guinea is primarily the responsibility of the National Police Force (Sûreté National) and the Gendarmerie. 

Use of force by the police has been governed by the 1998 Code of Practice. Article 9 provides that:

When authorized by law to use force and, in particular, to use a firearm, a police officer may only use it in a manner that is strictly necessary and proportionate to the goal to be achieved.

Article 10 of the Code stipulates that:

Anyone who is arrested is placed under the responsibility and protection of the police and must not suffer, at the hands of the officers or third parties, any violence or inhuman or degrading treatment.

The 2015 Law on the Maintenance of Public Order allows the police to use force to disperse an unlawful assembly.

In 2016, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights provided technical expertise to the Ministry of Security and Civil Protection in elaborating a code of ethics for the national police in Guinea. According to the provisions of the code, the national police is required to perform its duties in accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, international conventions, the Constitution and the law.Decree No. D/2016/262/PRG/SGG of 25 August 2016.

In June 2019, Guinea’s National Assembly passed a law proposed by the government on the use of firearms by the gendarmerie. The law sets out several justifications for the use of force, including to defend positions gendarmes occupy. This does not comply with international law.

Police Oversight

There is no independent civilian police oversight body. Complaints about the national police may be made to the Independent National Human Rights Institution, which under the Constitution is given the task of promoting and protecting human rights.Art. 146, 2010 Constitution of Guinea.

Caselaw

Global

Views and Concluding Observations of United Nations Treaty Bodies

In its 2018 Concluding Observations on Guinea, the Human Rights Committee expressed its concern that torture "is still frequently practised, in particular, in police custody centres in order to extract confessions or information".

In a 2017 report on the situation of human rights in Guinea, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights addressed the use of force by law enforcement agencies with respect to assemblies:

Unlike the previous year, few violent confrontations linked to political demands were observed. However, on 16 August, following a political protest organized by the opposition, a man was killed by a bullet allegedly fired by a police officer from a special mobile intervention unit. The victim was hit in the neck while on the balcony of his apartment. Three other persons were also injured: a 2-year-old child; a woman, who suffered a leg injury; and a 20-year-old man, who was riding a motorcycle at the scene of the incident, which took place in the Bambeto area of Conakry. All of the victims claimed to have been injured by law enforcement. The police officer suspected of firing the shot that caused the death was arrested and placed in detention. The shot was fired when police officers were attempting to prevent a group of youths from barricading the road on their return from the protest.

Regional

Guinea has not ratified the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, allowing the African Court to hear cases alleging a violation of the Charter by the state.

In 2013, the  African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights adopted a resolution in which it expressed its concern "by the degrading security situation and the several cases of human rights violations related to the legislative elections, a situation which may jeopardise the country’s development and stability". The Commission strongly condemned 

the acts of violence, killing and destruction of public and private property carried out in the N’Nzérékoré and Beyla districts in the Republic of Guinea; 

The Commission urged the Government of Guinea

to take the necessary measures to put an end to impunity and to ensure that the perpetrators and accomplices of these acts of violence are brought to justice....

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