The remarks of a politician close to the junta in Guinea, affirming that people who have been victims of enforced disappearances "live well" and "eat well", have provoked strong reactions in the country, including from the NGO Reporters Without Borders (RSF) on Wednesday.

At a press conference on Sunday in Kankan (east), Taliby Dabo, a close associate of General Mamadi Doumbouya's junta, told journalists that "the men you think have disappeared are eating, dressing, sleeping and following the news very well."

Several opponents of the military regime that seized power in a coup in 2021 have been kidnapped in recent years and their fate remains unknown to this day.

Oumar Sylla, better known as Foniké Menguè, and Mamadou Billo Bah, two leaders of the National Front for the Defense of the Constitution (FNDC), a citizens' movement calling for the return of civilians to power in Guinea, were kidnapped on July 9, 2024.

The authorities have always claimed to know nothing about the cases of enforced disappearances that have taken place and their fate remains unknown to this day.

Mr. Dabo, a former leader of ex-President Alpha Condé's party and now a vocal supporter of the junta, cited "national security reasons" to justify holding the abducted people incommunicado.

"You have seen that since they have been kept incommunicado, there has been calm and no problems," he continued.

Mr. Dabo does not speak on behalf of the government and the authorities have not responded to his statements.

His comments sparked widespread reactions on social media and in the media, rekindling the debate on disappearances in the country.

RSF, concerned about the fate of journalist Habib Maraoune Camara, who has been missing for eight months, called on the authorities "to react to these statements" and "do everything possible" for his release, in a statement published Wednesday.

"Taliby Dabo is the first political figure to publicly share information, which is difficult to verify, on the situation of Habib Marouane Camara," said Sadibo Marong, director of RSF's sub-Saharan Africa desk.

The association Tournons la Page has called for "urgent action" from prosecutors in Conakry and Kankan to "find the perpetrators, co-perpetrators, accomplices and where these Guinean citizens are being detained."

General Mamadi Doumbouya, head of the junta, took power in September 2021 after overthrowing civilian president Alpha Condé, who had been in power for more than ten years.

The Guinean opposition and civil society criticize the junta's increasingly authoritarian exercise of power, regularly accused of repressing dissenting voices.

Under international pressure, she initially pledged to hand power back to elected civilians by the end of 2024, but has failed to keep her commitment.

She promised a return to constitutional order this year and announced the holding of a constitutional referendum on September 21.