[Guinea] – Cancellation of Guinea enforced disappearances’ round table deeply concerns CSOs, citizen movts

On 9 July 2026, the Senegalese authorities cancelled the international round table entitled ‘The Epidemic of Enforced Disappearances in Guinea’, which was due to take place in Dakar — on the very day marking the second anniversary of the enforced disappearance of Foniké Menguè and Mamadou Billo Bah, who were abducted in Conakry on 9 July 2024.

In a joint statement, seven civil society organisations and citizens’ movements — AfricTivistes, Afrikajom Centre, the Senegalese Human Rights League (LSDH), the African Meeting for the Defence of Human Rights (RADDHO), Tournons La Page Sénégal, Amnesty International Senegal and Article 19 West Africa — express their deep concern at this ban and reiterate that the freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly are guaranteed by the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

The signatory organisations are calling, in particular, for the launch of an independent and credible inquiry into the disappearance of Foniké Menguè and Mamadou Billo Bah, the immediate and unconditional release of those arbitrarily detained, and the effective reopening of civic space in Guinea.

“To shut down a space for dialogue on enforced disappearances is to add silence to silence. Two years after their abduction, the families of Foniké Menguè and Mamadou Billo Bah are still waiting for the truth,” says Abdou Aziz Cissé, advocacy officer at AfricTivistes.

📄 Read or download the full joint statement below.