Guinea massacre toll put at 157

[oberliner]

Source: BBC

At least 157 people were killed when Guinean troops opened fire on opposition protesters on Monday, a human rights group says.

Earlier police said 87 people had died, but local activists say hospital sources confirmed a much higher toll.

Human rights groups say they have had reports of soldiers bayoneting people and women being stripped and raped in the streets during the protest.

Junta head Capt Moussa Dadis Camara denied knowledge of sexual assaults.

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8280603.stm

[Flaneur]

1. Guinea? Who cares? That's in West Africa or something.

Let's get back to Roman Polanski.

[oberliner]

2. Sad but true reflection of our times

And it's certainly not just a DU phenomenon.

[EFerrari]

3. Kick

[oberliner]

4. Guinea: war, poverty, dictatorship and bauxite

France's condemnation of bloody events in its former colony of Guinea reflects its awkward relationship with the mineral-rich African state that declared independence in 1958. Post-independence history has been marked by military dictatorship, repression, poverty and the knock-on instability of a succession of wars fought along its borders in the 1990s and early 2000s in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast. Despite a wealth of minerals, Guinea remains one of the world's poorest countries, with 40% living under the poverty line.

"Of all France's colonies in Africa, Guinea was the toughest in cutting links with its former colonial master. At independence, Guinea went down the route of a Marxist regime closer to Russia and China than France," said Sylvain Touati, co-ordinator of the African programme at the French Institute of International Relations.

In contrast to France's privileged relations with regional neighbours Senegal, Ivory Coast or Gabon, Guinea refused a special "françafrique" relationship with the old powers in Paris. France does not have military bases in Guinea. Parisian investors are tempted by Guinea's vast mineral reserves, but France is only one of many nations keen for deals. Russia and China, for example, last year agreed to fund a $1bn hydropower dam in Guinea in return for rights to mine bauxite.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/sep/29/france-guinea-colonial-relationship

[Judi Lynn]

5. Apparently military forces go for broke when their governments give them orders

to get tough with the people.

Who on earth can turn them away from this bloodfeast once they learn they have permission and encouragement to do it?

Heartless. Tragic.

[Barack_America]

6. Unthinkable. Horrific.

It's really hard to wrap one's mind around something like this.

I don't know what else to say.

[On the Road]

7. Very Sad

I hope that place doesn't turn into another Liberia or Sierra Leone.

I have known several people from Conakry who have come to the US for better opportunities. Nice people. It's a desperately poor country.

[Odin2005]

8. OMG, there are no words...

:puke: