France has joined calls for a transparent and independent investigation into the discovery of a mass grave containing the bodies of six men in Guinea’s south-western Forécariah prefecture.
The victims, whose hands were reportedly tied and eyes blindfolded, were discovered on Monday by a group of young people who had entered a forested area to collect firewood.
Following the discovery, local authorities and the public prosecutor visited the site, while an official investigation was launched to determine the circumstances surrounding the deaths and the identities of the victims.
France has now backed calls for the Guinean justice system to conduct a thorough and transparent investigation into the incident.
Civil society organisations have also urged the United Nations human rights office, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch to closely monitor the investigation and ensure that it is conducted properly.
The citizen movement Turn the Page-Guinea said the circumstances surrounding the discovery raised serious concerns, particularly because the bodies had been concealed in an isolated location and remained unidentified.
The group said it had documented numerous allegations of extrajudicial killings involving civilians and state agents since the military seized power in September 2021.
The latest discovery has also renewed concerns over an earlier mass grave found in the same region last year. Investigations into that case have so far failed to establish the identities of the victims or determine the causes of their deaths.
Guinea has been under military rule since September 2021, when Colonel Mamady Doumbouya led a coup that ousted President Alpha Condé.
Since then, several political parties have been suspended, while public demonstrations have remained banned after authorities prohibited them in 2022.
A number of opposition figures and civil society leaders have also been arrested, convicted or forced into exile, further raising concerns among rights groups over the country’s human rights situation.
