BACKGROUND Local elections were postponed to February 2017, maintaining a tense political and social environment. The last local elections were held in 2005. EXCESSIVE USE OF FORCE On 17 June, soldiers publicly ill-treated a lorry driver, sparking spontaneous protests in the northern town of Mali. The army used excessive force to disperse demonstrators, including using firearms and batons. Over two days, at least 14 people were wounded, including four shot with live ammunition. On 16 November, 11 soldiers were charged, including with assault and battery, pillage and arson. On 16 August, police shot dead Thierno Hamidou Diallo as he was standing on his balcony in the capital Conakry during a mass, peaceful march of 500,000 to 700,000 opposition supporters. The Security Minister announced that a policeman had been arrested in relation to the killing.1 FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION Security forces harassed and arbitrarily arrested people expressing dissent. On 24 March, Jean Dougou Guilavogui and four other trade unionists were sentenced to six months in prison and ordered to pay damages for defamation and “contempt of the President”. Jean Dougou Guilavogui was released for time served on 25 March and his colleagues on 8 April.2 On 22 June, the Tribunal of Kankan fined journalist Malick Bouya Kébé 1 million Guinean francs (approximately €100) for complicity in “contempt of the President” because he did not interrupt a listener who was criticizing the President during a phonein programme. His guest, also a journalist, was sentenced in his absence to one year in prison and a fine of 1.5 million Guinean francs (approximately €150) for “contempt of the President”. They were tried without a lawyer. On 25 June, journalist Malick Diallo was covering a meeting of the ruling party Amnesty International Report 2016/17 attended by President Condé in Conakry. A presidential guard asked him to hand over his camera. When he refused, he was pushed inside a car and taken to the office of the presidential guards where he was beaten and threatened. The guards took his camera and deleted some of the pictures before releasing him. The police refused to record his complaint. The revised Criminal Code, adopted on 4 July, criminalized contempt, defamation and insult, including of public figures, with penalties of up to five years’ imprisonment and a fine. Vaguely worded provisions could allow the prosecution of people who express dissent or expose human rights violations, including journalists and human rights defenders. The law on cyber-security and personal data protection, passed on 2 June, criminalized cyber-insults, the dissemination and communication of “false information” as well as the production, distribution or transfer to third parties of data “likely to disturb law and order or public security or jeopardize human dignity”. The law likened the disclosure of data “that should be kept confidential” for national security reasons to the crimes of treason or espionage, making it punishable by life imprisonment. This provision could be used against whistleblowers.3 TORTURE AND OTHER ILL-TREATMENT Torture and other ill-treatment were reported. On 4 March, Ibrahima Diogo Sow was arrested and taken to the Anti-Crime Brigade in Kipé, a neighbourhood of Conakry. The security forces suspended him by his hands and feet from a wooden bar and hit him with rifle butts and wooden sticks over three days. Ibrahima Diogo Sow filed a complaint, but no action was taken and he remained in detention at the end of the year. On 26 June, three gendarmes arrested Oumar Sylla in Conakry and took him to a building where they were posted. They tied his feet and hands behind his back. One of the gendarmes stabbed him in his left side and poured boiling water on his chest. They 175