Guinea's 2009 Stadium Massacre Trial

On September 28, 2022, the Guinean judicial authorities opened a long-delayed trial of 11 men – among them former government ministers and a former president – accused of responsibility for the 2009 Guinean security forces’ massacre of more than 150 peaceful demonstrators and rapes of scores of women in a stadium in Conakry, the capital. Security forces then engaged in a cover-up, burying bodies in mass graves. The trial is the first of its kind involving human rights violations on this scale before domestic courts in Guinea. It has widely captured the nation’s attention, amid a sustained crackdown on the opposition, dissenters, and the media, leaving hundreds dead and hundreds more injured at the hands of state security forces in Guinea. During the trial, judges have heard from the accused, more than 100 victims, and over a dozen witnesses, including high-level government officials. The trial concluded on June 26, 2024, and a verdict is pending.