Amnesty urges probe into deadly Guinea stadium crush

Amnesty International on Thursday called for an "independent and impartial investigation" into a stadium crush that killed dozens of football fans in southeastern Guinea earlier this month.

Scores died in the stampede on December 1 when a contested refereeing decision sparked a pitch invasion and the subsequent use of tear gas by security forces, according to witnesses.

The junta-led government put the provisional toll from the tragedy in Guinea's second city of N'Zerekore at 56, but a group of local rights organisations estimated 135 dead and 50 missing.

Criticism is mounting against the West African country's junta following the disaster, which took place at a football match organised in honour of its leader General Mamady Doumbouya.

"The Guinean authorities must ensure that an independent and impartial investigation into the causes of the deaths is carried out, as they have committed to do, and guarantee the right to freedom of expression," Amnesty International said in a statement published Thursday.

"The government's ongoing silence, coupled with a restriction on internet access in the city, rightly fuels suspicions about the authorities' willingness to take the full measure of the tragedy," said Samira Daoud, Amnesty's regional director for West and Central Africa.

Since seizing power in a 2021 coup, Guinea's junta has led a crackdown on freedom of expression.

Days after the disaster in N'Zerekore, the military-led government warned that anyone publishing "unverified or malicious information... likely to disturb public order" would face arrest.

Prime Minister Amadou Oury Bah has blamed refereeing and poor governance for the stadium crush, denying any intention to downplay the toll.

Justice Minister Yaya Kairaba Kaba said he had ordered investigations "to establish who is responsible for this tragedy".