Pourquoi le gouvernement a interdit la rencontre des opposants guinéens ce jeudi à Dakar
For reasons of sovereignty and diplomacy, the Senegalese authorities ordered the cancellation of a meeting that Guinean opposition members in exile were to hold in Dakar this Thursday, July 9, 2026. The event aimed to denounce human rights violations and the increasing number of enforced disappearances in Guinea.
This international round table was to coincide with the sad second anniversary of the disappearance of activists Oumar Sylla (alias Foniké Menguè) and Mamadou Billo Bah, two major figures of the National Front for the Defense of the Constitution (FNDC), who disappeared under the regime of General Mamadi Doumbouya.
An order from the DST to avoid a "diplomatic incident"
According to Alseny Farinta Camara, coordinator of the Tournons la Page Guinée movement in exile in Senegal and co-organizer of the event, the pressure began Wednesday evening when the Dakar hotel booked for the meeting cancelled the use of the venue. Following this, the national security services intervened.
"I have been called several times by the Directorate of Territorial Surveillance (DST). They asked me to cancel the presentation that was scheduled for today in Dakar," he confided.
Summoned this Thursday morning to the DST premises, the Guinean activist was formally notified of a ban: "We were told again to cancel the international round table on the epidemic of enforced disappearances in Guinea so as not to create a diplomatic problem between Senegal and Guinea."
A Senegalese police source confirmed the measure, specifying that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had officially contacted the Ministry of the Interior to prevent the meeting from taking place in order to preserve bilateral relations between Dakar and Conakry.
This decision to censor a public debate has sparked outrage within Senegalese civil society. Alioune Tine, founder of the Afrikajom Center, who was scheduled to participate in the discussions, expressed his deep regret:
"We deeply regret that the Senegalese government is censoring a debate on human rights in Guinea."
From Paris, where the FNDC held a parallel press conference, official Ibrahima Diallo also described the cancellation as "regrettable," recalling that "Senegal has always been a land of asylum" and free expression for democrats in the sub-region.
As a reminder, the political situation remains extremely tense in Conakry. This week, Tournons La Page documented some thirty cases of enforced disappearances in Guinea, while the FNDC published a list of 24 high-ranking officials of the Guinean junta – headed by President Mamadi Doumbouya – whom it holds responsible for these abductions. Furthermore, the lawyers for the families of Foniké Menguè and Billo Bah filed another lawsuit in French courts this Thursday against the Guinean head of state, claiming to possess proof of his French nationality.
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