36 EU restrictive measures against the
Republic of Guinea
| Committee's assessment
| Politically important |
| Committee's decision | Cleared from scrutiny
|
| Document details | Council Decision renewing existing measures
|
| Legal base | —
|
| Department | Foreign and Commonwealth Office
|
| Document number | (36358), —
|
Summary and Committee's conclusions
36.1 The Cotonou Agreement, signed in 2000, is the principal instrument
in the EU's development policy towards ACP countries. Article
8 covers normal political dialogue. Article 96 allows for enhanced
consultations between the EU and a partner State if either one
is considered to be in breach of the "essential" political
elements in Article 9: human rights, democratic principles and
the rule of law, or to provide good governance. If no remedy is
found, co-operation with the State concerned may be suspended,
in whole or in part.
36.2 The Committee has taken a particular interest in the Article
96 process in Guinea because the undertakings given by the Government
of Guinea (GOG) were all in areas in which success, or failure,
might well have much wider lessons, or repercussions, both for
the Cotonou Process and ESDP (with its new conditions-based approach
to funding).
36.3 In the case of Guinea, the most recent challenge came in
December 2008: following the death of the President after a long
illness, a bloodless coup took place; a military junta seized
power and its leader, Captain Moussa Dadis Camara, declared himself
President, the Constitution was suspended, the National Assembly
dissolved and all political and trade union activity banned. The
coup initially received widespread popular support. But it was
strongly condemned by most of the international community, including
the AU, ECOWAS and the EU.
36.4 As the body of this chapter of our Report relates, in 2009
the EU began a parallel process: a travel ban and asset freeze
on the military junta and its supporters, and an arms embargo;
and the suspension of normal cooperation under the Cotonou Agreement.
The condemnation that followed the killing by the junta of 159
unarmed opposition supporters that September and the pressure
for change helped to establish democratic constitutional rule,
including an election in which Alpha Condé became Guinea's
first democratically elected president.
36.5 In response:
· the
EU travel ban and assets freeze were lifted in 2010 on 62 listed
individuals — but not the five persons named as being complicit
in the events of 28 September 2009 by the UN International Commission;
and
· the
Cotonou Agreement process was gradually normalised, culminating
last December, in response to the holding of successful, peaceful
parliamentary elections in September 2013.
36.6 Thus, all that remains now is the travel ban
and asset freeze on the coup leader and four associates —
restrictive measures that the draft Council Decision extends for
a further 12 months.
36.7 It is plainly gratifying that Guinea continues
to move in the right direction. But there is plainly still much
work to be done. As noted below, the Minister regards this renewal
as "an important message on the need for these individuals
to be prosecuted and for the Government of Guinea to tackle impunity
more widely" — a message with echoes elsewhere both
in Africa and closer to home, in the Balkans — while, in
"normalising" cooperation under the Cotonou Agreement
last December, the Commission looked forward to the new parliament
meeting and working together, and noted the importance the European
Union attaches to improving the electoral process.
36.8 It would accordingly have been helpful to
have heard more from the Minister with regard to subsequent developments
regarding these important matters, and anything else that indicated
the direction of travel this year. We look forward to a fuller
political assessment in a year's time.
36.9 In the meantime, we clear this Council Decision,
and again draw this to the attention of the House because of the
wider implications of EU policy in Guinea.
Full
details of the documents:
Council Decision amending Decision 210/638/CFSP concerning restrictive
measures against the Republic of Guinea: (36358), —.
Background
36.10 The Cotonou Agreement, signed in 2000, is the
principal instrument in the EU's development policy towards ACP
countries. Article 8 covers normal political dialogue. Article
96 allows for enhanced consultations between the EU and a partner
State if either one is considered to be in breach of the "essential"
political elements in Article 9: human rights, democratic principles
and the rule of law, or to provide good governance. If no remedy
is found, co-operation with the State concerned may be suspended,
in whole or in part.
36.11 The Committee has taken a particular interest
in the Article 96 process in Guinea because the undertakings given
by the Government of Guinea (GOG) were all in areas in which success,
or failure, might well have much wider lessons, or repercussions,
and not just for the Cotonou Process (a number of other ACP countries
being similarly challenged, against a background in which the
inter-relationship between development, security and good governance
was now widely acknowledged) but also ESDP (with its new conditions-based
approach to funding).
36.12 For some 50 years after independence in 1958,
Guinea remained a one-party dictatorship. When President Lansana
Conté died in office in 2008 with no obvious successor,
Guinea's army staged a bloodless coup d'état: a military
junta calling itself the National Council for Democracy and Development
(CNDD) seized power and its leader, Captain Moussa Dadis Camara,
declared himself President, the Constitution was suspended, the
National Assembly dissolved and all political and trade union
activity banned. The coup initially received widespread popular
support; following 24 years of President Conté's rule many
sought change, and the junta promised to root out corruption,
update the Constitution and manage elections before the end of
2010. The coup was, however, strongly condemned by most of the
international community, including the AU, ECOWAS and the EU.
36.13 In 2009, the EU imposed an embargo on arms
and equipment for the use of internal suppression and travel restrictions
and an asset freeze targeting the military junta and individuals
associated with them; first in response to the coup and then to
the killing of 157 unarmed opposition supporters in September
2009, when soldiers went on a rampage of rape, mutilation and
murder amongst the demonstrators.
36.14 The condemnation which followed and the pressure
for change helped to establish democratic constitutional rule.
In December 2010 Alpha Condé was inaugurated as Guinea's
first democratic President, appointing a civilian government.
In response, in February 2010, the travel ban and assets freeze
were lifted on 62 listed individuals — but not the five
persons named as being complicit in the events of 28 September
2009 by the UN International Commission (see below).
36.15 In parallel, Article 96 consultations were
closed in July 2009 via Decision 2009/618/EC, and a two-year staged
process initiated whereby, in return for measured progress towards
and the holding of "free and transparent" elections,
normal relations would be restored. President Condé undertook
to hold National Assembly elections by the end of 2011. To encourage
further progress towards good governance and full democracy, the
EU proposed to provide financial support for the elections and
to link the release of further tranches from the €275 million
in question in EDF 10 to an announcement of the date and then
holding them in a free and transparent manner.[183]
36.16 With regard to the arms embargo, the EU introduced
a number of exemptions: in 2010, to allow the acquisition of non-lethal
equipment intended to assist the police and the gendarmerie in
maintaining public order; in 2011, to allow the return of non-combat
helicopters to Guinea (at the time, two such helicopters were
being repaired in Romania); and in 2012, with regard to the export
of explosives and related equipment for civilian use in mining
and infrastructure investments in Guinea.
36.17 With regard to the Article 96 process, in July
2013, the Minister for Europe (Mr David Lidington) reported that
the political climate had remained tenuous and fragile over the
previous two years: mistrust and suspicion between the President
and key opposition leaders continued, June elections had been
postponed, a new date had yet to be set, and the EU High Representative
had informed the President that the balance of the 10th EDF funds
could be retained only until 31 October 2013; it was important,
the Minister said, that the Article 96 measures were maintained
to encourage progress towards holding the elections.[184]
36.18 Elections for the National Assembly were finally
held on 28 September 2013. Six months later, those elections having
been deemed successful, the EU decided to lift the arms embargo
and embargo on equipment which might be used for internal repression
currently in place. The Minister said at the time that, as well
as, marking Guinea's transition as a strengthened (if still relatively
fragile) democracy, the Government had made significant progress
on reform of its security sector, including the adoption of a
national security strategy in December 2013 — one outcome
being that Guinean soldiers are taking part in the UN's peacekeeping
mission in Mali (MINUSMA), trained and equipped by France and
the US.
36.19 We concluded that these particularly welcome
developments warranted drawing to the attention of the House;
expressed the hope that the Minister would have further progress
along these lines to report when he submitted the targeted sanctions
against the five individuals for scrutiny prior to their renewal
this October; and cleared the relevant Council Decision and Council
Regulation from scrutiny.[185]
The further Council Decision
36.20 The Decision provides for the extension of
restrictive measures against the five individuals identified by
the United Nations International Commission of Inquiry as being
directly responsible for the acts of suppression; acts which were
deemed as crimes against humanity by the ICC, viz:
| Name (and possible aliases)
| Identifying information (date and place of birth (d.o.b. and p.o.b.), passport (Pass.)/ID card number, etc.)
| Reasons |
| Captain Moussa Dadis CAMARA
| d.o.b: 01.01.64 or 29.12.68
Pass: R0001318
| Person identified by the International Commission of Inquiry as responsible for the 28 September 2009 events in Guinea
|
| Commandant Moussa Tiégboro CAMARA
| d.o.b: 01.01.68
Pass: 7190
| Person identified by the International Commission of Inquiry as responsible for the 28 September 2009 events in Guinea
|
| Colonel Dr. Abdoulaye Chérif DIABY
| d.o.b: 26.02.57
Pass: 13683
| Person identified by the International Commission of Inquiry as responsible for the 28 September 2009 events in Guinea
|
| Lieutenant Aboubacar Chérif (alias Toumba) DIAKITÉ
| | Person identified by the International Commission of Inquiry as responsible for the 28 September 2009 events in Guinea
|
| Lieutenant Jean-Claude PIVI (alias Coplan)
| d.o.b: 01.01.60 | Person identified by the International Commission of Inquiry as responsible for the 28 September 2009 events in Guinea'
|
The Government's view
36.21 The Minister recalls the significant changes that have
taken place in Guinea over the past 12 months, after nearly three
years of uncertainty and upheavals, as a result of which EU relations
with Guinea were normalised, with discussions under the Cotonou
Agreement moving from Article 96 to Article 8, with the only EU
measures still in place being those targeted against the five
leading individuals linked to the killing of protesters in September
2009.
36.22 The Minister says:
"The retention of these measures is intended to send
an important message on the need for these individuals to be prosecuted
and for the Government of Guinea to tackle impunity more widely."
36.23 The resumption of normal political dialogue under Article
8 of the Cotonou Agreement was effected via a joint letter in
December 2013 from the High Representative/Commission Vice-President
and the Commissioner for External Relations to President Condé,
which congratulated the authorities and the people of Guinea on
peaceful and successful elections, and looked forward to the new
parliament convening quickly, "thus filling a significant
void in Guinea's institutional architecture and paving the way
for a genuine democratic debate between the different political
views represented in parliament". It also included the following
passage:
"We would like to stress once more the importance that
the European Union attaches to improving of the electoral process
in Guinea, and we invite all stakeholders now to join the discussion
on the reforms that are necessary so that forthcoming elections,
particularly the presidential election scheduled for 2015, can
be held under the best possible conditions. As to the measures
that may be implemented, it is important to note that the commitments
contained in the political agreement of 3 July 2013, the joint
statement by the last follow-up committee for the electoral process
on 16 November 2013 regarding the effective management of electoral
disputes, as well as the recommendations made by the European
Union observation missions of 2010 and 2013, form a very comprehensive
and solid basis for the discussion."
Previous Committee Reports
None; but see Forty-fifth Report HC 83-xl (2013-14), chapter
7 (2 April 2014). Also see (34028) 11490/12: Eighth Report
HC 86-viii (2012-13), chapter 14 (11 July 2012).
183 See (34028), 11490/12: Eighth Report HC 86-viii
(2012-13), chapter 14 (11 July 2012). Back
184
See (35075), 11380/13: Ninth Report HC 83-ix (2013-14), chapter 19
(10 July 2013). Back
185
See Forty-fifth Report HC 83-xl (2013-14), chapter 7 (2 April
2014). Back
| 
