Zogota massacre: French court paves way for compensation of Guinean victims
The Paris judicial tribunal granted exequatur to the ECOWAS Court of Justice judgment condemning Guinea. Guinean assets in France can now be seized.
Paris tribunal recognises condemnation of Guinea for Zogota massacre
The Paris judicial tribunal has pronounced the exequatur of a judgment condemning Guinea to compensate victims of the Zogota massacre, paving the way for forced execution on French territory. According to asso-sherpa.org, this is a first: no French tribunal had previously granted exequatur to a decision from a supranational jurisdiction in matters of human rights.
In the night of 3 to 4 August 2012, Guinean law enforcement forces opened fire on the village of Zogota, suppressing the claims of residents linked to an iron mine located nearby. Six people were killed, and more than a dozen were arrested, arbitrarily detained and, for some, tortured. Legal proceedings initiated in Guinea by survivors had no effect, with those responsible never being prosecuted.
In November 2020, the Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) ruled that Guinea had violated its international human rights obligations and condemned it to pay compensation to the victims. Nearly fourteen years after the events, Conakry has still not executed this judgment.
The Paris decision, obtained at the request of survivors supported by the associations Sherpa, Les Mêmes Droits pour Tous and Advocates for Community Alternatives, now makes it possible to execute this judgment in France in the same way as a national decision. Concretely, Guinean assets present on French territory can now be subject to seizure.
The judges also dismissed the immunity from jurisdiction invoked by the Guinean state, considering that Guinea had waived it by accepting the jurisdiction of the ECOWAS Court of Justice, and that this waiver extends to the exequatur procedure.
"The Guinean state must respect the laws and commitments it imposed on itself. Compensation must be paid so that families can rebuild their lives. My husband lost his life in this tragedy and, alone, I have great difficulty meeting the essential needs of my children, in particular their health, their education and their food," declared a survivor, cited by the associations.
Sherpa, Les Mêmes Droits pour Tous and Advocates for Community Alternatives emphasise that this judgment could constitute a significant precedent in a context where decisions from supranational jurisdictions on human rights are still too rarely followed by effects.
Source: Google News FR — Crime (fr)