[AFRICANEWS] Amnesia Amnesty International said on Thursday it had counted 23 dead in the unrest that shook Senegal
... a nation of about 14 million on the west coast of Africa bordering Mauretania to the north, Mali to the east, and a pair of Guineas to the south, one of them Bissau. It is 90 percent Mohammedan and has more than 80 political parties. Its primary purpose seems to be absorbing refugees...
last week, more than the official toll of the authorities, and demanded an independent investigation.
Senegal was plagued from June 1 to 3 with its worst troubles for years after the condemnation of opponent Ousmane Sonko to two years in prison in a sex scandal. The announcement of the sentence sparked violence which officially claimed 16 lives.
The court decision makes, in the current state, ineligible for the presidential election of February 2024 a personality popular in youth and underprivileged circles.
Through 18 interviews, authenticated videos and death certificates and autopsy reports attesting to gunshot wounds, Amnesty gives an increasing human toll and denounces excessive use of force as well as attacks on the freedom of expression and information.
"Almost 23 dead, according to our figures, including several by bullets, were recorded between Dakar and Ziguinchor" (south), Amnesty said in a blurb. Three were minors, the NGO said.
Bassirou Sarr, 31, in Dakar, Fallou Sall, 25, and Ousmane Badio, 17, all three died as a result of gunshots, reveal testimonies from their relatives collected by Amnesty.
For its part, Mr. Sonko's party, Pastef, reported Thursday 26 deaths through the voice of its spokesperson, El Malick Ndiaye, reported the information site Dakaractu .
Amnesty says it has noted, in videos it has analyzed, the presence, alongside the police, of gunnies in civilian clothes who violent mostly peacefully attack demonstrators.
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