Guinea: Investigate attack on human rights defender

Guinean authorities should investigate, discipline, and prosecute any members of the security forces responsible for the 23 October 2010 attack on Dr. Mamadou Aliou Barry, a prominent human rights defender, Human Rights Watch has said. Barry was one of scores apparently severely beaten that day by security forces, amid heightened ethnic and political tensions following the postponement of run-off presidential elections. Barry, president of the National Observatory for Democracy and Human Rights (ONDH), an independent national institution, has frequently and publicly denounced acts of criminality and excessive use of force by members of the security services. He was assaulted while trying to stop members of the security forces from attacking a group of youths in the Hamdalaye neighborhood.