SUMMARY
Guinea became independent in 1958; from then onwards, the country has experienced political unrest in several forms that prevail across the country. While authoritarian presidents have sought to remain in power for periods longer than those mandated by the country’s constitution, different ethnic groups continuously clash with each other on the grounds of their political affiliation. Presidential transitions have been hampered with difficulties and in spite of elections being held, politics continue to be contentious involving tense and at times violent relations between the Government of Guinea and the political opposition.
Guinea’s own internal conflicts have been accompanied by several bursts of one-sided attacks perpetrated by foreign rebel groups from neighboring countries Liberia and Sierra Leone. In terms of providing secondary warring support, Guinea supported the Government of Guinea-Bissau against the Military Junta for the Consolidation of Democracy, Peace and Justice in 1998 and 1999 in the context of the intrastate conflict in Guinea-Bissau.
Since 1958, Guinea has experienced the intrastate, non-state and one-sided categories of UCDP organized violence.
Constant violence
Guinea has experienced violence intermittently, with short periods without incidences of either type of violence. Overall, attacks against civilians perpetrated by either the Government of Guinea or foreign rebel groups has been the most recurrent type of violence, followed by non-state violence between different ethnic groups. Finally, the country experienced a short-lived intrastate conflict over government that led to the highest peak in the time-period.
The first peak in violence in the time-period happened in 1996 when in the context of the Liberian conflict, ULIMO-K forces committed acts of one-sided violence in Guinean territory. Between 1998 and 1999, foreign rebel groups involved in conflicts over government in the neighboring countries continued to attack civilians in Guinea. RUF and AFRC, both fighting against the Sierra Leonean government at the time, perpetrated acts of one-sided violence across several towns bordering Sierra Leone. Known for their ruthlessness, RUF attacked civilians in Guinea more frequently and viciously than AFRC.
In 2000, although RUF continued to attack civilians, the number of fatalities related to one-sided violence decreased. On the other hand, for the first time in the time-period, instances of non-state violence were recorded as the Torma and Torma Manian ethnic groups clashed in the region of Nzérékoré over land disputes, resulting in 31 fatalities. That same year, the previously unknown RFDG (Rassemblement des forces démocratiques de Guinée, Rally of Democratic Forces of Guinea) launched an insurgency in southeastern Guinea with the declared aim to topple then-president Lansana Conté. The intrastate conflict caused the highest number of fatalities in 2000 and led to the highest peak in fatalities of the whole time-period in 2001. During the conflict, the towns of Guéckédou and Macenta -both close to the Sierra Leonean and Liberian borders- were the most hardly hit, adding up to more than 500 deaths. By the end of 2001, however, the intrastate conflict was regarded as terminated due to low activity.
The number of fatalities peaked again in 2007, when the Government of Guinea deployed its armed forces to attack civilians who engaged in oftentimes non-violent demonstrations against the president. One-sided attacks from the Government ceased the following year just to reach the highest peak in fatalities caused by this type of violence in 2009, when the Guinean junta troops shot and killed at least 157 people trying to break up a rally in a stadium in Conakry.
The next peaks in violence were caused by incidences of non-state violence that took place in the Nzérékoré region. In 2011, the indigenous Kpelle and the Malinké people clashed in the town of Galagbaye leaving at least 25 dead (See: Kpelle-Malinké). Two years later, in 2013, the lynching of a man accused of being a thief led to clashes between the Kpelle and the Konianke leaving a death toll of 98, by far the highest number of fatalities from non-state violence in the time-period (See: Konianke-Kpelle).
In 2020, Guinea again saw a peak of non-state violence between various ethnic groups settled in the region of Nzérékoré. In the town of Macenta, the conflict between the Torma and Torma Manian caused mainly by land disputes, re-ignited after a long period without violent incidents. In addition, in the context of the presidential elections, the Konianke and Malinké, commonly identified as supporters of president Alpha Condé, allied temporarily to fight the Kpelle in the town of Nzérékoré, where they are known for their opposition to Condé. While these groups had already fought each other on previous occasions (See: Kpelle-Malinké and Konianke-Kpelle), clashes that involved the three groups simultaneously had not been recorded in previous years.
Pre-1989 conflicts
In 1958, Guinea gained independence from France. Ahmed Sekou Touré became the first Guinean president and turned the country into the socialist People's Revolutionary Republic of Guinea. During his rule, opponents of the government were kidnapped, tortured and killed, generally in Campo de Boiro. Guinea was ruled by Sékou Touré until his death on 26 March 1984 when, after a military coup, a semi-military regime under General Lansana Conté was established that departed from the socialist ideology, however, political unrest continued.
