Rights body condemns government

Senegal's leading human rights organisation, RADDHO, condemned the Guinean government on Monday for refusing visas to some foreign journalists and lawyers wishing to attend the impending trial of jailed opposition politician Alpha Conde. "We condemn this attitude as it violates the African Charter of Human Rights, which is enshrined in the Guinean constitution," Alioune Tine, secretary-general of RADDHO, told IRIN. One of Conde's lawyers, Doucounta Diallo of Senegal, was informed today that he would be arrested if he arrived in Conakry, Tine said. However, he added, RADDHO's observers at the trial would leave Dakar today for the Guinean capital. Tine said RADDHO, La Rencontre africaine pour la defense des droits de l'homme, was "deeply worried" that Conde's right to a fair trial and to counsel of choice would be denied. Conde, charged with endangering state security, is due in court on Wednesday. He was arrested on 16 December 1998, the day after presidential elections in which he was a candidate. RADDHO called on the Guinean authorities to "respect its international undertakings", and on the Organisation of African Unity and the Economic Community of West African States to pressure the government on the human rights issue.