French court recognizes ECOWAS judgment, orders Guinea to compensate Zogota massacre victims
via SeneNews2 min read
A French court has recognized a judgment by the Economic Community of West African States ECOWAS ordering Guinea to compensate victims of the 2012 Zogota massacre. This decision, rendered by the Paris Judicial Court on Wednesday, paves the way for the ECOWAS ruling to be enforced in France. Survivors of the massacre had approached the Paris Judicial Court in October 2023 to seek reparations, three years after the ECOWAS Court of Justice, of which Guinea is a member, made its initial ruling. The Paris Judicial Court stated that by ratifying the ECOWAS treaty, the Republic of Guinea specifically consented to the jurisdiction of the Community's Court of Justice and thereby waived its immunity in proceedings before that court. Consequently, the court declared the ECOWAS judgment of November 10, 2020, enforceable in France regarding the compensation for damages suffered. It also ordered the Republic of Guinea to pay costs. NGOs "Les m锚mes droits pour tous" MDT, Guinea, Advocates of Community Alternatives Ghana, and Sherpa France, which supported the victims, welcomed the decision as "unprecedented" and a "decisive step for access to reparation for the survivors of the Zogota massacre." The massacre, which occurred on the night of August 3-4, 2012, involved Guinean security forces opening fire on the village of Zogota while repressing residents' demands concerning a nearby iron mine. Six people were killed, and over a dozen were arrested, arbitrarily detained, and some tortured, ac
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