GuineaVibes · Conakry · Guinea's unmarked history
The Stadium Named for the Day Guinea Said No
On 28 September 1958, Guinea voted no to France — the only French colony in Africa to do so, and the proudest day in the country's history. A stadium in Conakry was named for that date. On 28 September 2009, several hundred members of Guinea's own security forces entered that stadium and opened fire on tens of thousands of unarmed people. At least 156 were killed. More than 109 women and girls were raped. The bodies were buried in mass graves.
In 1958, Charles de Gaulle offered France's African colonies a referendum. Vote yes and join a French Community with limited autonomy. Vote no and take immediate independence — with the understanding that France would leave, and take what it could carry.
Every French colony in Africa voted yes.
Guinea voted no.
Ahmed Sékou Touré's formulation is quoted across the continent to this day: Guinea preferred poverty in freedom to riches in slavery.
France withdrew. Administrators left, equipment was removed, and the young republic was cut loose almost overnight. It was one of the defining acts of the African independence era, and it was taken on 28 September 1958.
A stadium in the capital was named for that date. It is the most patriotic address in Guinea.
See our page on Guinea Independence Day for the full account of 1958 and what followed.
Fifty-one years later to the day, tens of thousands of Guineans gathered in that stadium at an opposition rally — protesting against the intention of the military junta's leader to stand for the presidency.
They were peaceful and they were unarmed.
On the morning of 28 September 2009, several hundred members of Guinea's security forces burst into the stadium and opened fire.
By late afternoon, at least 150 Guineans lay dead or dying in and around the stadium complex. The report of the International Commission of Inquiry established later that year put the figure at at least 156 killed.
More than 109 women and girls were subjected to rape and other sexual violence — including, according to the Commission of Inquiry, sexual mutilation and sexual slavery.
A crowd that had come to demand democracy was fired on inside a building named for the day their country chose freedom.
Who was in power. Moussa Dadis Camara had seized power in a coup in December 2008 and declared himself President of the Republic on 24 December 2008, at the head of the CNDD junta. He was commander-in-chief of the armed forces on the day of the massacre.
What followed the killing is part of the crime.
Security forces engaged in a cover-up, burying bodies in mass graves.
That is not an allegation by campaigners. It is the finding recorded by human rights investigators and reflected in the case that eventually came to court.
Families were left without bodies. For many, that has still not been resolved — which is why reparations and the location of graves remain live issues seventeen years on.
It took thirteen years to begin.
The trial opens at the Dixinn Criminal Court in Conakry — deliberately, on the thirteenth anniversary of the massacre. Eleven men appear, among them former government ministers and a former head of state.
The court hears from more than 100 victims, the eleven accused, and over a dozen witnesses including high-level government officials. The trial runs for twenty-two months and captures the nation's attention.
The defence case begins. Around twenty lawyers represent the accused.
The trial concludes. The verdict is reserved.
This had never happened in Guinea before. A former head of state and senior members of his regime, tried in a Guinean court, for what was done to Guinean civilians. Whatever followed, that fact stands on its own.
Presiding judge Ibrahima Sory 2 Tounkara read the verdict to an almost silent courtroom.
The court reclassified the charges from ordinary crimes to crimes against humanity, at the prosecution's request. It was the first time crimes against humanity had been prosecuted in Guinea.
Eight men were convicted:
Two things about that courtroom are worth recording.
Most of the victims were not there. Still fearing reprisals, they watched the verdict on television.
The lawyers' seats were empty. Counsel for both the civil parties and the defence boycotted the hearing, following a call by the Guinean Bar Association in protest at enforced disappearances then affecting civil society activists in the country.
The most significant verdict in Guinea's legal history was delivered to a room with no lawyers in it and most of the victims watching from home.
Appeals had been lodged. Appeal proceedings had not yet opened.
On Friday 28 March 2025, General Amara Camara, spokesperson for the Presidency, read a decree on national television. President Mamadi Doumbouya had granted a presidential pardon to Moussa Dadis Camara, on health grounds.
He left Conakry's central prison that evening. His lawyer confirmed it the following day.
Victims learned of the pardon at almost the same moment they learned that their reparations would be covered by the national budget.
A man convicted of crimes against humanity walked out of prison eight months after sentencing, before his own appeal had been heard.
The International Federation for Human Rights called it an affront to justice and to the memory of the victims, and noted that a presidential pardon for crimes against humanity contradicts Guinea's national, regional and international commitments. Human Rights Watch has stated that the pardon is incompatible with Guinea's obligations under international law and could amount to a violation of victims' right to an effective remedy.
This is not closed history. It is a live proceeding, and the position changes.
Mamadi Doumbouya — who took power in a coup in September 2021 — is formally elected President of Guinea.
A new trial opens of seven further defendants. Four appear in court, including Colonel Bienvenue Lamah, former regional director of the Conakry gendarmerie. Three remain at large.
Claude Pivi dies in custody in hospital, reportedly of natural causes. He had been sentenced to life.
Five of the men convicted remain in custody. Appeal hearings are long delayed. Victims are still waiting on reparations.
This page will be out of date. Proceedings continue and the situation shifts. We update it when we can, and we would welcome corrections from readers closer to it than we are.
The Stade du 28 Septembre is a working sports stadium in Conakry. Football is played there. It is not a memorial site and it is not presented as one.
A stadium. There is no plaque, no memorial, no interpretation, and nothing to tell a visitor what happened here. If you did not know, you would not know.
Perfectly reasonable, and Guinean football is worth seeing. But go knowing where you are sitting. That is the whole reason this page exists.
Many Guineans lost family here, or know someone who did. Some will speak about it; many will not, and fear of reprisal has been a documented feature of this case from the beginning. Follow people's lead and do not press.
Do not photograph security personnel anywhere in Conakry. Around a stadium with this history, that applies with particular force.
Two dates, one building. The country's proudest and its worst, sixty-eight years apart, at the same address.
Reviewed . The Stade du 28 Septembre in Conakry is named for the referendum of 28 September 1958, in which Guinea voted against membership of the French Community and took immediate independence. On 28 September 2009, members of Guinean security forces attacked an opposition rally at the stadium; the report of the International Commission of Inquiry recorded at least 156 people killed and more than 109 women and girls subjected to rape and other sexual violence, including sexual mutilation and sexual slavery. Human Rights Watch has recorded that security forces subsequently buried bodies in mass graves. The trial of eleven defendants opened at the Dixinn Criminal Court in Conakry on 28 September 2022, ran for twenty-two months, concluded on 26 June 2024, and heard from more than 100 victims. On 31 July 2024 the court reclassified the charges as crimes against humanity — the first such prosecution in Guinea — and convicted eight defendants: Moussa Dadis Camara (twenty years, on the basis of command responsibility), Claude Pivi (life), and Moussa Tiegboro Camara, Marcel Guilavogui, Blaise Gomou, Paul Mansa Guilavogui, Mamadou Aliou Keita and Aboubacar Diakité (ten to twenty years). Four defendants were acquitted. On 28 March 2025 President Mamadi Doumbouya granted a presidential pardon to Moussa Dadis Camara on health grounds, announced on national television by General Amara Camara; the pardon was issued before appeal proceedings had opened and has been criticised by FIDH, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. Claude Pivi died in custody on 6 January 2026. A further trial of seven defendants, including Colonel Bienvenue Lamah, opened on 18 December 2025. Mamadi Doumbouya was formally elected president in December 2025. All convictions and sentences stated here are matters of public court record. This page makes no allegation beyond what has been found by a court or reported by the named organisations, and notes that appeals remain outstanding. Proceedings are ongoing and this page may be out of date — corrections are welcome and will be credited. All photography © Remo Kurka. Usage strictly by prior authorisation only.
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