University of Faranah closed after soldiers quell student demo

The University of Agronomy and Vetinary Science at Faranah in central Guinea has been closed and its 3,600 students have been sent home following two days of protest demonstrations last week which were eventually broken up by the army, university principal Yazou Sorovogui said on Monday. He confirmed reports by students over the weekend that the authorities had shut down the university following student demonstrations on 13 and 14 September. These were staged to protest against poor living conditions on the campus and the rising cost of food. Several students told IRIN the army had been sent in to quell the protests on Wednesday and many students had been arrested. Others had been beaten up by soldiers and were receiving treatment in hospital, they added. Soldiers now occupied the campus and all its students had been sent home, they added Police subsequently used tear gas to break up an opposition march in the capital Conakry on Saturday. It had been called to protest at rising food prices and the government's alleged infringement of human rights. An IRIN correspondent who witnessed the unauthorised demonstration said it attracted about 200 people. The march was called by the Union of Democratic Forces in Guinea, an opposition party led by veteran politician Ba Mamadou. The price of rice has more than doubled this year in local currency terms. A 50 kg bag of rice now costs up to 100,000 Guinean francs - about $US28 at the current rate of exchange on the parallel market and more than most Guineans earn in a month. Imports have been made dearer by the rising price of rice on world markets. However, the price rises have been exacerbated by a chronic foreign exchange which has led to a rapid devaluation of the Guinean franc against the dollar. The main human rights issue in Guinea at present is the continued detention without trial of 10 civilians and at least two military officers who were arrested in November and December last year in connection with an alleged coup plot against President Lansana Conte. Thierno Madiou Sowe, the head of the Conakry-based Guinean Organisation for the Defence of Human Rights, recently added his voice to those of the civilian detainees' families, who petitioned the Justice Minister two weeks ago, demanding their release.