8. Since its second universal periodic review, Guinea has adopted a number of laws with the aim of continuing and consolidating the process of promoting and protecting human rights. These include laws on sectoral rights, the independence of the judiciary and the prevention and punishment of human rights violations.
9. All of these laws were taken into account in the national policy statement on the promotion and protection of human rights, which was approved by the Council of Ministers on 25 August 2019.
10. The following instruments help generally to strengthen the overall framework for the promotion and protection of human rights:
• Act No. L/2015/009/AN of 4 June 2015 on the Maintenance of Public Order in the Republic of Guinea
• Act No. L/2015/019/AN of 13 August 2015 on the Organization of the Courts in the Republic of Guinea
• Act No. L/2016/037/AN of 28 July 2016 on Cybersecurity and the Protection of Personal Data
• Act No. L/2016/075/AN of 30 December 2016 on Financial Governance in Public Institutions in Guinea, amended by Act No. L/2017/056/AN of 8 December 2017
• Act No. L/2017/039/AN of 24 February 2017 establishing the revised Electoral Code, promulgated by Decree No. D/2017/193/PRG/SGG of 27 July 2017
• Act No. L/2017/037/AN of 31 May 2017 establishing the Code of Military Justice
• Act No. L/041/2017/AN of 17 August 2017 on the Prevention, Detection and Punishment of Corruption, promulgated by Decree No. D/2017/219/PRG/SGG of 4 July 2017
• Act No. L/2018/021/AN of 15 May 2018 on Equal Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities, promulgated by Decree No. D/2018/108/PRG/SGG of 13 July 2018
• Decree No. D/2016/261/PRG/SGG of 25 August 2016 on the Composition, Organization and Functioning of the Disciplinary Council of the National Police and Civil Defence Forces
• Decree No. D/2016/262/PRG/SGG of 25 August 2016 establishing the Code of Ethics of the National Police
• Decree No. D/2016/263/PRG/SGG of 25 August 2016 establishing the Code of Ethics of the Civil Defence Forces
• Order No. 6023/MSPC/2016 establishing the Disciplinary Code of the National Police and Civil Defence Forces
• Circular No. 005/MSPC/CAB/16 of 26 October 2016 on the Disciplinary Procedure Applicable to Officials of the Ministry of Security and Civil Defence
11. Guinea is a party to most international human rights treaties, including the following core instruments:
(a) The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights;
(b) The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights;
(c) The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination;
(d) The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women;
(e) The Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment;
(f) The Convention on the Rights of the Child;
(g) The International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families;
(h) The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities;
(i) The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
12. In line with recommendations 118.1, 118.2 and 118.3, Guinea has ratified the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. In doing so, Guinea undertook to act in accordance with article 2 (1) of the Covenant by taking steps to the maximum of its available resources with a view to achieving progressively the full enjoyment of the rights recognized in the Covenant, as well as the realization of the right to development, pursuant to the Declaration on the Right to Development that was adopted by the General Assembly in 1986.
13. Regarding the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, there are still some challenges to be overcome before that instrument can be signed and ratified by Guinea.
14. With regard to recommendations 118.4, 118.5, 118.6, 118.7, 118.8, 118.9, 118.10, 118.11, 118.24, 118.91, 118.92, 118.93 and 118.94, the death penalty has not been applied in Guinea since 2003. This means that the country has observed a de facto moratorium.
There is no mention of the death penalty in the new Criminal Code, which was promulgated on 26 October 2016 as part of the major reforms undertaken by the Government of Guinea.
This shows the willingness of the Guinean authorities to ratify the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty, which is a very important instrument for the protection of human rights.
15. In line with recommendations 118.12, 118.13, 118.14, 118.15, 118.16, 118.17, 118.18, 118.19, 118.20, 118.21, 118.22, 118.23 and 118.38, Guinea has been a party to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment since October 1989. Article 6 of the Constitution stipulates that no one may be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
16. Torture is defined as a criminal offence in articles 232 et seq. of the new Criminal Code. The adoption of this text by the National Assembly has thus filled a gap in the law.
17. There is still work to be done as regards the ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture.
18. Regarding recommendations 118.25, 118.26, 118.27, 118.28, 118.29 and 118.30, Guinea has a legal arsenal that ensures respect for the principle of gender equality, including the Constitution, the Criminal Code, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and Act No. L/010/AN/2000 on Reproductive Health, which protects the physical integrity of women and criminalizes violations of that integrity. Guinea has also ratified the core international and regional instruments on the rights of women.
19. The process of ratifying the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women is under way.
20. As regards recommendations 118.31 and 118.32, article 225 of the Criminal Code establishes that:
Enforced disappearance consists in the arrest, detention, abduction or any other form of deprivation of liberty of a person, in conditions that place the person outside the protection of the law, by one or more agents of the State or by a person or group of persons acting with the authorization, support or acquiescence of the State authorities, where such actions are followed by the person’s disappearance and accompanied by a refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of liberty or by concealment of the fate or whereabouts of the disappeared person. Enforced disappearance shall be punishable by rigorous imprisonment for life.
21. This definition of the offence of enforced disappearance shows the willingness of the Guinean authorities to ratify the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.
22. Under article 703 of the new Code of Criminal Procedure, Guinea is required to play a role in the punishment of offences such as the recruitment of child soldiers, which is considered a war crime, and to cooperate with the International Criminal Court on the terms set forth in the Code. In addition, the Criminal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure incorporate all of the provisions of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (recommendations 118.33 and 118.34).
23. As regards recommendation 118.35, Guinea has acceded to the first two Optional Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child; it has not yet acceded to the third Optional Protocol thereto, on a communications procedure.
24. Guinea intends to cooperate fully with the international judicial authorities in their investigations into the events of 28 September. To that end, the provisions of the Rome Statute were taken into account during the revision of the Criminal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure (recommendation 118.36).
25. As regards recommendation 118.37, the Government has already given the investigators permission to enter the territory of Guinea to conduct their investigation into the events of 28 September and to publish their findings.