Camp Boiro - Aftermath of 1970 Coup Attempt

Aftermath of 1970 Coup Attempt

On 21 November 1970 a group of Portuguese troops assisted by Guinean fighters invaded Conakry from the sea in an attempt to overthrow the Touré regime ("Operation Green Sea"). They captured Camp Boiro and liberated the prisoners. The camp commandant Siaka Touré managed to hide, but General Lansana Diané, minister of Defense, was captured. He later escaped and took refuge with the ambassador of Algeria. The coup attempt failed, and in the aftermath many opponents of the regime were rounded up and imprisoned in Camp Boiro. On 23 December 1970, the Bishop of Conakry, Raymond-Marie Tchidimbo, was arrested, and subsequently made a "confession". Tchidimbo later wrote a book about his 8 year, 8 month stay at the camp. Alassane Diop, who was Senegalese in origin, a former Minister of Information in Guinea was arrested and held in Camp Boiro for ten years, returning to Senegal after his release.

The prisoners were given little food other than a scrap of bread the size of a box of matches in the morning, and a ladle of plain rice cooked in dirty water in the evening. There was never any meat except on days when Touré was performing some sacrifice. Starting in January 1971 the prisoners were interrogated by a Revolutionary Committee headed by Ismaël Touré, half-brother of Sékou Touré and minister of the Economy. Some prisoners were placed on the "black diet", meaning no food or water until they died. Prisoners could only show their courage by refusing to confess during torture sessions, and refusing to beg for food when placed on the black diet. Loffo Camara, former Secretary of State for Social Affairs, was hanged on 25 January 1971, the only woman killed at that time. According to El Hadj Ibrahima Diane, an inmate for many years, from June 1972 until August 1973 at least four corpses were taken from the cells each day and thrown into mass graves in the rear yard of the prison.

In 1975, France agreed to restore diplomatic relations after French prisoners were released from the camp. This reduced pressure on Touré. The book Prison D'Afrique by Jean-Paul Alata, a survivor from the camp, was banned from publication in France and had to be printed in Belgium. Further incarcerations followed in the ensuing years. Diallo Telli was a popular politician, loyal to the regime, and former Secretary General of the Organization of African Unity (OAU). He returned to Guinea in 1972 and was appointed Minister of Justice. On 18 July 1976, Diallo Telli was arrested at his home and imprisoned at Camp Boiro. In February 1977 five prominent prisoners were eliminated through the black diet: Diallo Telli, ex-ministers Barry Alpha Oumar and Dramé Alioune, and army officers Diallo Alhassana and Kouyate Laminé. The next month five more people died of starvation.

The arrests and deaths continued. In August 1979 Bah Mamadou, an expatriate from Labé who had moved to France, returned to visit his family. Entering the country from Senegal, all occupants of his vehicle were arrested and jailed at Camp Boiro. Eight of the travellers - all but Bah Mahmoud himself - had died of the black diet within a month. In September 1983 the government announced they had uncovered a plot to sabotage a meeting of the OAU planned to be held in Conakry the next year. Eighty one people were incarcerated in Camp Boiro.