Editing Politics of Guinea (section)

=== Camara's 2008 coup and following ===
[[File:Dadis Camara portrait.JPG|thumb|Captain Moussa Dadis Camara, who seized power in [[2008 Guinean coup d'état|a military coup d'état]] in December 2008]]
Six hours after Somparé announced Conté's death, a statement was read on television announcing [[2008 Guinean coup d'état|a military ''coup d'état'']].<ref name="google.com">[https://web.archive.org/web/20081226135521/http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jaQPxwTr7Ls-HVfZkk2xle0dPUhQD9589THO0 "Military-led group announces coup in Guinea"], Associated Press, 23 December 2008. </ref> This statement, read by Captain [[Moussa Dadis Camara]]<ref name=Prompts>[http://news.smh.com.au/world/death-of-guinea-dictator-prompts-coup-20081223-741k.html "Death of Guinea dictator prompts 'coup'"], AFP (''Sydney Morning Herald''), 23 December 2008.</ref> on behalf of a group called National Council for Democracy,<ref name="google.com"/> said that "the government and the institutions of the Republic have been dissolved". The statement also announced the suspension of the constitution "as well as political and union activity".<ref name=Prompts/>

On 27 September 2009, the day before planned demonstrations in the capital city [[Conakry]], the government declared demonstrations illegal. Thousands of protestors defied the ban, assembling in a soccer stadium. 157 were left dead after the level of violence used by security forces escalated.<ref name=CBC>[https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/guinea-military-kills-157-in-protest-crackdown-rights-group-1.813248 Guinea military kills 157 in protest crackdown: rights group], [[CBC News]]</ref> Captain Moussa (Dadis) Camara told Radio France International on 28 September the shootings by members of his presidential guard were beyond his control. "Those people who committed those atrocities were uncontrollable elements in the military," he said. "Even I, as head of state in this very tense situation, cannot claim to be able to control those elements in the military."<ref name=CBC/>

On 3 December 2009 Captain Moussa Dadis Camara suffered a head wound in an attempted assassination in Conakry led by his aide-de-camp, Lieutenant Aboubacar Sidiki Diakité, who is known as Toumba.  Captain Camara underwent surgery at a hospital in Morocco.  Reports say Toumba's men opened fire on Captain Camara late Thursday at an army camp in the city of Conakry. 
<ref>[http://www.malaysianews.net/story/573838 "Guinean soldiers look for ruler's dangerous rival", ''Malaysia News.Net'' (5 December 2009)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723202201/http://www.malaysianews.net/story/573838 |date=23 July 2011 }}</ref>

In a document released in 2010, an unknown source spoke with a U.S. diplomat and described the "ethnicization" of Guinea and the risk of conflict and violence like in [[Rwanda]]. He stated that Dadis Camara has recruited mercenaries from South Africa and Israel and assembled them, along with some of his own men, in Forecariah, in the ethnically Sussu region in the west of the country, while Dadis was from the Forest region to the east. His militia numbered 2,000-3,000 and was 
armed with weapons from Ukraine. The risk of conflict and destabilization threatened the entire region, he said.<ref>http://46.59.1.2 {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110701214412/http://46.59.1.2/ |date=1 July 2011 }}.nyud.net/cable/2009/12/09RABAT988.html</ref>

After a meeting in [[Ouagadougou]] on 13 and 14 January, Camara, Konaté and [[Blaise Compaoré]], President of Burkina Faso, produced a formal statement of twelve principles promising a return of Guinea to civilian rule within six months. It was agreed that the military would not contest the forthcoming elections.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://peacemaker.un.org/sites/peacemaker.un.org/files/GN_100115_DeclarationConjointeOuagadougou.pdf |title="In Full: Declaration Made in Burkina Faso Between Dadis Camara and Sekouba Konate", ''Newstime Africa'' (16 January 2010) |publisher=DeclarationConjointeOuagadougou |access-date=28 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100118234046/ |archive-date=18 January 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref> On 21 January 2010 the military junta appointed [[Jean-Marie Doré]] as Prime Minister of a six-month transition government, leading up to elections.<ref>[https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLDE60K1L120100121?type=marketsNews "Guinea junta officially names Dore prime minister"], Reuters, 21 January 2010.</ref>

In July 2024, Camara was convicted alongside several military commanders for crimes against humanity. However, in early 2025, Camara was pardoned for health reasons by the then-current junta.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-03-29 |title=Guinea ex-ruler Moussa Dadis Camara pardoned over stadium massacre |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c24144pqd3do |access-date=2025-03-31 |website=www.bbc.com |language=en-GB}}</ref>