Mamadou Billo Bah
Mamadou Billo Bah, is a human rights defender and mobilization coordinator of the Front National pour la Défense de la Constitution (National Front for the Defense of the Constitution-FNDC). The FNDC is a non governmental organisation dedicated to upholding the constitution of Guinea and all the rights and freedoms enacted within it.
In 2016, president Alpha Condé was re-elected for a second four-year term. He came to power in 2010, ending five decades of authoritarian rule in Guinea. However, the human rights situation in Guinea remains concerning. Freedom of assembly and freedom of expression have been particularly undermined with recent demonstrations being repressed using tear gas and firearms. Protestors are opposing a potential revision of the constitution that would allow President Alpha Condé to run for a third term in next year’s election.
In 2019, human rights defenders were arrested solely for exercising their right to freedom of expression. Guinea’s 2016 criminal code sets out a string of conditions to exercise the freedom of assembly including the need for prior notification presented in writing to the local authorities between three and fifteen days before the planned event. Local authorities can prohibit a peaceful demonstration if there is a “genuine threat to public order”, this ambiguous wording has resulted in restrictions on the freedom of assembly as many refusals have been politically motivated.
