Guinea’s legal community has launched a two-week nationwide boycott of all court proceedings in protest over the abduction of prominent lawyer Mohamed Traoré, a former president of the Bar Association and member of the National Transitional Council (CNT). The Guinea Bar Association announced the strike on Monday, June 23, also declaring its immediate withdrawal from all transitional government bodies. The move follows Traoré’s abduction on June 21 by unidentified masked men who forcibly removed him from his Conakry home. He was later found unconscious under suspicious circumstances, sparking widespread outrage.
Traoré, known for defending opposition leaders and human rights activists, has been a vocal critic of recent judicial reforms under Guinea’s military-led transitional government. His abduction has intensified concerns about political repression and the shrinking civic space in the country. In a statement, the Bar Association condemned the incident as a direct assault on the independence of the legal profession and the rule of law. It vowed to pursue legal proceedings against those responsible and called on the transitional authorities to swiftly investigate and bring the perpetrators to justice.
National and international human rights organizations, including Amnesty International and the Guinean Organization for Human Rights (OGDH), have joined calls for accountability, urging the government to guarantee the safety of legal professionals and uphold judicial independence. This crisis further complicates Guinea’s transition timeline and adds pressure on interim President Mamadi Doumbouya, who seized power in a 2021 coup and promised to restore civilian rule.
