Senegal: First charges in the investigation into the 2021-2024 violence

Senegalese justice has issued the first charges in the investigation into the political violence that occurred between 2021 and 2024. Four individuals are implicated in the case opened following a complaint by Pape Abdoulaye Touré, who claims to have suffered acts of torture during the protests in June 2023.

Djibril Guèye, an agent of the Dakar University Works Center (COUD), has been charged with conspiracy, crimes against humanity, and acts of torture, and has been placed in provisional detention. Guindo Traoré, described as a security guard, has been charged with the same offenses but is under judicial supervision. Both men deny the allegations against them.

Two other individuals subsequently appeared before the investigating judges. Amadou Tidiane Cissé, known as “Kabakrou,” the head of security at COUD, has been charged with complicity and placed under judicial supervision. Djibril Diaw, a security guard who was employed at the time by former Youth Minister Pape Malick Ndour, has also been charged with complicity and placed under electronic monitoring. The prosecution had requested their detention.

A procedure initiated following a torture complaint

The procedure originates from a complaint filed in September 2024 by Pape Abdoulaye Touré. He claims to have been a victim of kidnapping, illegal detention, torture, and inhumane treatment on the night of June 2, 2023, amid the political unrest that was then shaking Senegal.

The Dakar public prosecutor’s office has opened a judicial investigation covering events that occurred between February 1, 2021, and February 25, 2024. The introductory indictment specifically targets the classification of crimes against humanity through acts of torture or inhumane, cruel, and degrading treatment. This classification will be assessed at the end of the procedure, with the accused benefiting from the presumption of innocence.

The political violence case expands

This new judicial development comes just days after the formal opening of the investigation into the Pape Abdoulaye Touré case. It is part of the ongoing procedures related to the political violence that marked Senegal between 2021 and 2024, particularly during the protests of 2021 and June 2023.

Other aspects are also being examined by the Senegalese judiciary. A community security agent has notably been arrested in a separate investigation concerning the death of a protester in Bargny during this period.