Question 17390 — foreign policy

Summary

Mr. Thomas Portes alerts the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs about the disappearance of Oumar Sylla, known as “Foniké Menguè” and Mamadou Billo Bah, defenders of Guinean human rights and figures of the National Front for the Defense of the Constitution and Tournons La Page Guinée. On the night of July 9 to 10, 2024, the two activists were kidnapped from the home of Oumar Sylla in Conakry. In a communication addressed to the Government Guinean on April 23, 2025, several United Nations special procedures indicated having received information according to which Oumar Sylla, Mamadou Billo Bah and a third member of the FNDC were kidnapped without a warrant by armed men, including soldiers and members of the national gendarmerie, before this third activist was released the next day. Since then, the fate of Oumar Sylla and Mamadou Billo Bah, as well as the location where they are, remains unknown. The accumulation of these unresolved cases outlines a worrying pattern of impunity that is regularly denounced by the United Nations bodies responsible for the protection of human rights. Despite the announcement of the opening of a judicial investigation in Guinea, the families, lawyers, witnesses to the kidnapping and human rights defenders who investigated the case do not appear to have been auditioned. No precise information has been communicated publicly on the progress of this investigation. The absence of tangible results, a public progress report or even contact with key people in this matter raises questions about the very existence of this investigation. Two years later, the relatives of the disappeared still do not know where they are, in what conditions they are detained and even if they are still envy. The circumstances of their disappearance appear to indicate cases of enforced disappearances under international law. In a response to written question no. 10910 from Mr. MP dating from November 2025, the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs indicated that “France and the European Union have informed the Guinean authorities on several occasions, including through the spokesperson for the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs foreign affairs, their expectations and their serious concerns, particularly with regard to the facts of forced disappearances and violence affecting political leaders and members of civil society. On March 7, 2025, during the ministry's press briefing, it was indicated that France was still "without news" of Foniké Menguè, Mamadou Billo Bah and the journalist Marouane Camara and stressed that the concern of the France had been reported “at high level” to the Guinean authorities. This response does not, however, allow us to know precisely the diplomatic steps undertaken, their timetable, the interlocutors contacted, or even the results obtained. In this context, the MP questions the Minister on the precise steps taken by France since July 9, 2024 in order to obtain verifiable information on the fate of Oumar Sylla and Mamadou Billo Bah, as well as on the initiatives that France intends to take to support an independent, impartial and credible investigation, with international support if necessary. He also questions him on the measures envisaged so that the revelation of the fate of the two disappeared, the fight against impunity and the protection of human rights defenders are fully taken into account in the bilateral dialogue with the Guinean authorities, while political, economic and security relations between the two countries are strengthening. Mr. MP alerts Mr. Minister on the normalization of France's relations with the Guinean junta despite the numerous documented cases of authoritarian excesses and human rights abuses, which seems to go against the commitments of France supposed to make respect for human rights one of the key axes of its foreign policy. He questions him on his desire or not to condition the strengthening of defense and security cooperation with Guinea on concrete progress in terms of respect for human rights. Finally, it underlines the urgency, for the relatives of the people concerned and for the democratic balance in Guinea, that France demands truth and justice for Oumar Sylla, Mamadou Billo Bah and all other cases of probable forced disappearances. He wants to know his position on the subject.

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