Guinea-Bissau
Arrests after alleged coup attempt in Guinea-Bissau

afrol News, 12 December - Allegedly, there was a coup attempt in Guinea-Bissau on 2 December. However, no proof has been presented, and the opposition and human rights groups now fear the government uses the alleged coup to round up the opposition within the military.

On 3 December 2001, then Interior Minister Alamara Ntchia Nhasse (now Prime Minister) announced that armed forces and police had foiled a coup attempt the night before, and that several former military officers and paramilitary personnel had been arrested. These include former Deputy Army Chief of Staff, Almane Alam Camará, and former Navy Chief of Staff, Mohamed Lamine Sanha, who are alleged to have led the coup attempt.

The opposition is still demanding proof that such a plot was ever planned and an explanation to why military leaders are being arrested. Nhasse however maintains he has proof linking the plot to former President Nino Vieira, who was overthrown in 1998, but still is not willing to present it. 

At present there is little detailed information about the alleged coup attempt and the authorities apparently have not yet provided evidence to support the claim, nor released information about the number of people detained, their names and the places of detention. However, the authorities announced that the arrested included military officers who had previously been involved in another alleged military revolt against the government in November 2000.

International concern over the arrests is also rising. The human rights group Amnesty International yesterday called on the Guinea-Bissau authorities "to ensure that the human rights of all detainees are protected." 

The organisation also reminded the authorities that those detained in the aftermath of the alleged coup attempt "should be released immediately and unconditionally unless they are promptly charged with a recognized criminal offence and tried in compliance with international standards of fair trial."

Amnesty recalls with concern the events of November 2000, when at least 200 military and paramilitary officers - including Almane Alam Camará and Mohamed Lamine Sanha - and 10 civilian leaders of peaceful political opposition parties were arrested following an alleged coup attempt. The alleged leader of the coup, Brigadier Ansumane Mané, was subsequently killed in disputed circumstances. The civilians were released on bail within a week, without having charges brought against them.

- Restrictions remain imposed upon them, Amnesty however claims, "including being prevented from leaving the country and having to report to the police or courts periodically."

The military officers remained in prison for about seven months, in conditions which constituted cruel and inhuman treatment. Many contracted life threatening illnesses in detention, while the health of others - already suffering from chronic diseases - deteriorated. They were released on bail in May and June 2000. 

According to the human rights group, they have not been charged. "However, they still have to report to the authorities daily."

The purges within the military after the alleged coup attempt follows a row of other recent purges in Guinea-Bissau. President Yala, increasingly politically isolated, over the last months had sacked a great number of persons within the government, the Supreme Court and civil servants. 

Sources: Based on Amnesty and afrol archives

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