[JURIST] International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website] deputy prosecutor Fatou Bensouda [official profile] said Friday that Guinean authorities likely committed crimes against humanity when more than 150 pro-democracy protesters killed in Conarky [BBC backgrounder] in September 2009. At the conclusion of her three day visit [JURIST report], Bensouda, a Gambian lawyer, said that the ICC would work with the Guinean legal system [AFP report] to prosecute the offenders. Meanwhile, Guinean Prime Minister Jean Marie Dore [NYT profile] said that his country's legal system would have great difficulty [BBC report] prosecuting the crimes due to the lack of an impartial judicial system.

Earlier this month, a commission created by Guinea's junta announced [JURIST report] that former Guinean junta aide Lieutenant Aboubacar Cherif "Toumba" Diakite is the sole government official to blame for the massacre. The commission's conclusion contradicts a UN report [JURIST report] that blamed junta leader Moussa Dadis Camara [BBC profile], Minister for Special Services Moussa Tiegboro Camara, and Toumba for the September 28 slayings. In October, the ICC placed the Guinean military under preliminary investigation for human rights violations related to the Conakry incident, and the UN and Guinea both announced they were creating commissions to investigate [JURIST reports] the killings. The Conakry incident stemmed from a pro-democracy demonstration against Camara, who intended to push elections forward three months and stand for re-election.