The president of the Guinean League for Human Rights, Bubacar Turé, in a phone interview from Lisbon, reported that “five public prosecutors were detained on the first day of the alleged coup,” along with the chairman of the National Election Commission (CNE), Mpabi Kabi, and members of the CNE secretariat.
Also detained were the president of the National Assembly of Guinea-Bissau, Domingos Simões Pereira, PAIGC deputy Octávio Lopes, and Roberto Mbesba from the campaign team of opposition leader Fernando Dias, according to Turé.
“We do not know the motivations, but it is presumed to be related to their role in the election result verification operations. According to our electoral law, public prosecutors participate as observers during different stages of result verification, and there were reports that some of these prosecutors blocked attempts to alter election results,” Bubacar Turé explained, suggesting that “these arrests seem to confirm these rumors.”
The head of the Guinean League for Human Rights stated that the whereabouts of these detainees remain unknown.
Bubacar Turé mentioned that an undetermined number of political leaders were also “illegally and arbitrarily detained,” along with about 30 young people who were arrested and “brutally beaten.”
The league is also aware of over 10 cases of home invasions under the pretext of searches, which, in Turé’s view, are illegal since they lack judicial authorization and were not sanctioned by prosecutors.
“We are deeply concerned about the lives and physical integrity of all the detainees, […] and we continue to demand the immediate and unconditional release of all these individuals, holding the military authorities responsible for their lives and physical integrity,” stated Bubacar Turé.
The Guinean League for Human Rights called on the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which is reportedly headed to Bissau, to prioritize the demand for the release of the detainees and the conclusion of the electoral process.
“The only way to save Guinea-Bissau, restore peace, governance, constitutional order is to conclude the electoral process, which means publishing the election results, ensuring security conditions for the inauguration of the new President of the Republic, and creating conditions for the new government, so the country can return to constitutional normality and democratic institutions can function fully,” emphasized Bubacar Turé.
The elections, held without incident on the past 23rd, proceeded without the participation of the main opposition party, PAIGC, and its candidate Domingos Simões Pereira, both excluded from the race and supporting opposition candidate Fernando Dias da Costa.
Dias claimed victory in the first round over President Embaló, who was seeking a second term. The official announcement of the election results was scheduled for Thursday, November 27.
The military takeover, which ousted the outgoing President Umaro Sissoco Embaló and suspended the electoral process, has been condemned by the international community and is being denounced by the opposition as a maneuver to prevent the release of election results.
