Making Peace: Peace and reconciliation in Guinea pass from Sant'Egidio. Signing of the Sant'Egidio Declaration and of the General Political Agreement
28 may 2010

22 political representatives from Guniea gathered at the Community of Sant'Egidio in Rome, during a week of intensive work, to discuss the transition and the future of their country and to prepare for the next elections. A few days of intensive meetings in the Community of Sant’Egidio’s main office in Rome, led an outstanding agreement to guarantee a peaceful and democratic transition in Guinea Conakry, where the Presidential election will be held next 27th June.

The Presidential Elections represent the opportunity to leave behind a long sequence of political instability, to look into a peaceful and democratic future. This objective needs a conjunct effort by all the institutional and political parties, and the overall society.

To this extent the Community of Sant’Egidio hosted a number of representatives, namely: the National Transition Committee (interim Parliament), the Council of the Opposition parties, the National Council for Democracy and Development, the National Alliance for Progress and the “Bloc des Forces Patriotiques de Guinée”.
They signed up the Sant’Egidio Declaration for the Future of Guinea and the General Political Agreement, whose text is as follow:

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1. We recognise that the next Presidential Elections on 27th June 2010 represent a crucial point for Guinea. The commitments undertaken during the transition and signed up by all the parties involved in the transition phase are preliminary remarks for a peaceful, transparent and fair election.

2. We commit our parties and political organisation to campaigning according to the rules of a proper political dialogue, both during the Presidential and the General Elections.
 We commit to avoiding any form of violence, able to hamper the free expression of political ideals, or to cause divisions in the civil society. In detail, we refuse to accept any form of propaganda inspiring violence, hate, ethnic or religious hatred.

3. We commit ourselves to:
- The election result, once confirmed by the Supreme Court, to be accepted and respected all over the Country;
- Regulating any arising disputes according to the constitutional and legal dispositions;
- The winning candidate to respect the democracy and the rights of the Opposition.

4. We are conscious that the Country needs to develop a feeling of national unity. We invite the elected President:
- To trigger all the civil society to allow a smooth transition;
- To organise as soon as it is in his power, peaceful General Elections and to establish a constructive cooperation with the National Transition Committee.

5. We commit to guaranteeing a good government, being conscious that all the political and civil parties will primarily pursue the interests and the development of the nation. The present situation witnesses a stronger political cooperation framework. We firmly ask the winning parties to include the Opposition in the institutional, political, and economic reconstruction process of the country.
We hope for a fair and equal allocation of institutional responsibilities, especially regarding the Commissions and the Parliament’s presidency.

6. We remind all that the national reconciliation is a long term objective including the overall population in Guinea. Taking into consideration the history of the country and its relevance in this process of reconciliation, we ask a National Council for Reconciliation to be formed. The Council should allow all the representatives of the society to be part of and its work should be based on the foundations laid by the National Transition Committee and the Commission for the reconciliation, human rights and solidarity. The Council should aim at carrying out the Reconciliation National Programme.

7. The National Council for Reconciliation will create the appropriate opportunities for the different social, economic, religious and political representatives to improve the dialogue and the consultation among themselves. It will develop strategies to guarantee a pacific political background where the political and social parties can live together benefiting from a mutual exchange. It will also define how to identify and rehabilitate the victims, how to amend arbitrary sentences and how to correspond compensations for events occurred from 1958.

8. We declare our gratitude and esteem to the Community of Sant’Egidio for the efforts given in the process of creating a nationwide dialogue. We ask the Community to keep playing along with the people of Guinea and its leaders in this occurring process, and to agree a partnership with the National Transition Committee.

Signed in Sant’Egidio, 27th May 2010: