Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-l7hp2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T15:14:20.325Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

“History is stubborn”: Talk about Truth, Justice, and National Reconciliation in the Republic of Guinea

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 January 2013

Alexis Arieff  and
Mike McGovern
Alexis Arieff*
Affiliation:
Congressional Research Service
Mike McGovern*
Affiliation:
Anthropology, University of Michigan
*
[email protected]; [email protected]
[email protected]; [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This article uses an analysis of discussions of the November 1970 Portuguese attack on Guinea as a window into issues that continue to be raised concerning the country's first post-independence regime (1958–1984). We analyze ongoing debates among Guineans regarding the legacy of the former president, Sékou Touré, and whether or not there is a need for truth-telling and/or justice for abuses committed under his rule. One strand of this discussion focuses on legitimate political tactics and another on the politics of ethnicity in contemporary Guinea. The frequent assertion by Guinean interlocutors that “history is stubborn” points to both the perceived power of truth-telling and the ethno-political stakes with which these debates have become imbued. Debates among Guineans often focus on the uses and abuses of “truth and reconciliation” testimony, which for some Guineans is essential to breaking past cycles of violent state repression and for others is a kind of Pandora's box that could fuel not reconciliation but retribution. We show that Guineans are also engaged in a third order of analysis, of the status of “imported” notions of justice, agency, and culpability in an African setting.

Type
Research Article
Information
Comparative Studies in Society and History , Volume 55 , Issue 1 , January 2013 , pp. 198 - 225
Copyright
Copyright © Society for the Comparative Study of Society and History 2013

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Agence de Presse Panafricaine News. 2009. Moussa Dadis Camara très remonté contre l’ancienne garde rapprochée de Lansana Conté. 25 Feb.Google Scholar
Alata, Jean-Paul. 1976. Prison d'Afrique. Paris: Editions du Seuil.Google Scholar
Allen, Tim. 2006. Trial Justice: The International Criminal Court and the Lord's Resistance Army. London: Zed Books.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aminata.com. 2009. Lutte Contre la Drogue: Un autre fils du général Conté cite. 26 Feb.Google Scholar
Amnesty International. 1982. Emprisonnement, ‘disparitions’ et assassinats politiques en République Populaire et Révolutionnaire de Guinée. Paris: Editions Francophones d'Amnesty International.Google Scholar
Andriamirado, Sennen. 1985. Diarra a joué et perdu. Jeune Afrique 1280 (17 July): 16–20.Google Scholar
Antunes, José Freire. 1988. Invasão de Conakry, Novembro de 1970: A ‘Baía dos Porcos’ do general Spínola. Semanário, 29 Nov.Google Scholar
Arieff, Alexis. 2010. Guinea's New Transitional Government: Emerging Issues for U.S. Policy. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Research Service.Google Scholar
Bâ, Ousmane Ardo. 1986. Camp Boiro: Sinistre geôle de Sékou Touré. Paris: L'Harmattan.Google Scholar
Bah, A. O., Keita, B., and Lootvoet, B.. 1989. Les Guinéens à l'extérieur: Rentrer au pays? Politique Africaine 36: 22–37.Google Scholar
Baldé, Souleymane. 2008. La Vérité de Yala Ta-Baldé. Le Lynx, 7 July.Google Scholar
Calvão, Alpoim. 1976. De Conakry ao M.D.L.P.: Dossier Secreto. Lisbon: Editorial Intervenção.Google Scholar
Camara, Mohamed Saliou. 2007. Le pouvoir politique en Guinée sous Sékou Touré. Paris: L'Harmattan.Google Scholar
Cann, John P. 2007. Brown Waters of Africa: Portuguese Riverine Warfare 1961–1974. St. Petersburg, Fl.: Hailer Publishing.Google Scholar
Clarke, Kamari. 2009. Fictions of Justice: The International Criminal Court and the Challenge of Legal Pluralism in Sub-Saharan Africa. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Comaroff, Jean and Comaroff, John L., eds. 2006. Law and Disorder in the Postcolony. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dhada, Mustafah. 1998. The Liberation War in Guinea-Bissau Reconsidered. Journal of Military History 62, 3: 571–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diallo, Alpha-Abdoulaye. 2004 [1985]. Dix ans dans les geôles de Sékou Touré, ou la vérité du ministre. Paris: L'Harmattan.Google Scholar
Diallo, Amadou. 1983. La mort de Diallo Telli, premier secrétaire général de l'O.U.A. Paris: Karthala.Google Scholar
Englund, Harri. 2006. Prisoners of Freedom: Human Rights and the African Poor. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Faligot, Roger and Krop, Pascal. 1985. La Piscine: Les services secrets français: 1944–1984. Paris: Editions du Seuil.Google Scholar
Fitzpatrick, Sheila. 2005. Tear off the Masks! Identity and Imposture in Twentieth-Century Russia. Princeton: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goerg, Odile, ed. 2009. Le NON de la Guinée (1958), Entre mythe, relecture historique et résonances contemporaines. Paris: L'Harmattan.Google Scholar
Gomez, Alsény René. 2007. Camp Boiro: Parler ou périr. Paris: L'Harmattan.Google Scholar
Guineenews. 2011. Révue de presse : la liberté de presse menacée, la refonte de la CENI, la présidente du CNT en difficulté…. 12 June.Google Scholar
Horoya. 1976. Meeting d'information du Comité Central au Palais du Peuple le 22 août 1976: “Le racisme peulh, nous devons lui donner un enterrement de première classe, un enterrement définitif.” Une analyse géniale du chef de l'Etat sur les activités criminelles de la 5ème colonne. 4 Sept. At: www.campboiro.org (accessed 8 Oct. 2012).Google Scholar
Human Rights Watch. 2009. Bloody Monday: The September 28 Massacre and Rapes by Security Forces in Guinea. 17 Dec.Google Scholar
International Crisis Group. 2008. Guinea: Ensuring Democratic Reforms. Africa Briefing 52. June.Google Scholar
International Crisis Group. 2009a. Guinea: The Transition Has only Just Begun. Brussels/Dakar, Mar.Google Scholar
International Crisis Group. 2009b. Guinea Military Rule Must End. Brussels/Dakar, Oct.Google Scholar
Jeune Afrique. 1971. Guinée: Les Premières Photos. 9 Mar.Google Scholar
Kaba, Lansiné. 1977. Guinean Politics: A Critical Historical Overview. Journal of Modern African Studies 15, 1: 25–45.Google Scholar
Kéïta, Sidiki Kobélé. 2002. Des complots contre la Guinée de Sékou Touré (1958–1984). Conakry: Société Guinéenne de Diffusion Presse (SOGUIDIP).Google Scholar
Kilpatrick, J. J. 1970. How U.N. Subjected Portugal to Kangaroo Court on Guinea. Los Angeles Times, 27 Dec.Google Scholar
Lamine, Bah Mamadou. 2008. Les Complots Imaginaires. Le Lynx, 9 June.Google Scholar
Le Lynx. 2008a. 25 Janvier 1971: Ce jour-là.… 21 Jan.Google Scholar
Le Lynx. 2008b. Les germes de la discorde. 11 Feb.Google Scholar
Le Lynx. 2008c. Le Cinquentenaire: Ça divise. 17 Mar.Google Scholar
Le Lynx. 2008d. Sékou Touré: Héros et tyran; La stratégie de Sékou Touré a toujours été le recours à la violence; and Le père de l'indépendance n'a pas droit de vie et de mort sur les citoyens. 31 Mar.Google Scholar
Le Lynx. 2008e. Les 26 ans du PDG: Violence, terreur, torture et mort. 21 Apr.Google Scholar
Le Lynx. 2008f. Le complot de 1961 (novembre/décembre) ou complot des enseignants. 5 May.Google Scholar
Le Lynx. 2008g. Les conditions de la détention des victimes. 19 May.Google Scholar
Le Lynx. 2008h. Les 26 ans du PDG: Violence, terreur, torture et mort [continued from 2008e]. 16 June.Google Scholar
Le Lynx. 2008i. Comploteurs et boucs émissaires. 14 July.Google Scholar
Le Lynx. 2008j. Cherchez le génocidaire. 21 July.Google Scholar
Le Lynx. 2008k. C'est l'Etat, le principal responsible de notre passé douloureux. 1 Sept.Google Scholar
Le Lynx. 2008l. Pages noires. 29 Sept.Google Scholar
MacQueen, Norrie. 1999. Portugal's First Domino: “Pluricontinentalism” and Colonial War in Guiné-Bissau, 1963–1974, Contemporary European History 8, 2: 209–30.Google Scholar
Marchés Tropicaux et Méditerranéens. 1971a. Guinée: Renonçant à son droit de grace, le président Sékou Touré livre ses ennemis à la vindicte de la nation. 16 Jan.Google Scholar
Marchés Tropicaux et Méditerranéens. 1971b. Guinée: Des condamnations à mort et des executions immédiates. 30 Jan.Google Scholar
McGovern, Mike. 2002. Conflit régional et rhétorique de la contre-insurrection: Guinéens et réfugiés en septembre 2000. Politique Africaine 88: 84–102.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Messmer, Pierre. 1998. Les Blancs s'en vont: Récits de décolonisation. Paris: Albin Michel.Google Scholar
Parti Démocratique de Guinée (PDG). 1970. Le complot permanent. Conakry: Imprimerie Nationale Patrice Lumumba.Google Scholar
Parti Démocratique de Guinée (PDG). 1971a. L'Agression portugaise contre la République de Guinée: Livre blanc. Conakry: Imprimerie Nationale Patrice Lumumba.Google Scholar
Parti Démocratique de Guinée (PDG). 1971b. L'imperialisme et sa 5ème colonne en République de Guinée (Agression du 22 novembre 1970): Livre Blanc. Conakry: n.p.Google Scholar
Ross, Fiona. 2002. Bearing Witness: Women and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. London: Pluto Press.Google Scholar
Saraiva, José Manuel. 1997. 27 Anos Depois de Conacri. Expresso, 29 Nov.Google Scholar
Shaw, Rosalind. 2005. Rethinking Truth and Reconciliation Commissions: Lessons from Sierra Leone. Washington, D.C.: United States Institute of Peace.Google Scholar
Shaw, Rosalind, Waldorf, Lars, and Hazan, Pierre, eds. 2010. Localizing Transitional Justice: Interventions and Priorities after Mass Violence. Palo Alto: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Touré, Ahmed Sékou. 1969. Défendre la révolution. Conakry: Imprimerie Patrice Lumumba.Google Scholar
Touré, Kindo. 1987. Unique survivant du “Complot Kaman-Fodéba.” Paris: L'Harmattan.Google Scholar
U.N. Security Council. 1971. Report of the Security Council Special Mission to the Republic of Guinea Established under Resolution 289 (1970). New York: United Nations.Google Scholar
Verschave, François-Xavier. 1998. La Françafrique: Le plus long scandale de la République. Paris: Stock.Google Scholar
Verschave, François-Xavier. 2000. Noir silence: Qui arrêtera la Françafrique? Paris: Les Arènes.Google Scholar
Weber, Max. 1978. Selections in Translation. Runciman, W. G., ed. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Wilson, Richard. 2001. The Politics of Truth and Reconciliation in South Africa: Legitimizing the Post-Apartheid State. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar