Dozens of Senegal's newly freed anti-government protesters say accepting a broad amnesty bill for the deadly political demonstrations of recent years is out of the question, as it could also exonerate government officials for the deaths of protesters.
Senegalese MPs began debating the controversial amnesty bill on Wednesday, aimed at calming the crisis sparked by the presidential election delay.
Between 2021 and 2023, dozens were killed, hundreds injured, and hundreds more arrested in several episodes of unrest, triggered by a bitter stand-off between opposition figure Ousman e Sonko and the state.
"Our duty is to ensure that this violence, these blunders, these crimes, these tortures, these physical, psychological and moral assaults do not go unpunished," Pape Abdoulaye Toure, 26, told AFP, three weeks after his release from prison.
'Criminal' acts
Toure says he was pursued by private militiamen in early June at the height of unrest, before being tortured for several hours and left with severe psychological and physical scars, a broken hand and a broken leg.
AFP was unable to verify these claims.
Justice Minister Aissata Tall Sall recently said perpetrators of unjustified use of force and torture against prisoners have been punished.
"The best way is to say no to any form of amnesty law that seeks to erase from history these criminal acts committed by politicians in this country," Toure added.
Questions raised
If the amnesty bill is passed, all prosecutions would be automatically dropped, and the hundreds of detained opponents would be immediately released, according to lawyer Moussa Sarr, who is following the cases of several dozen imprisoned opponents.
Questions have been raised about whether an amnesty would be applied to imprisoned opposition figure Sonko, and what this would mean for his possible return to the presidential race.
But for Toure, the amnesty cannot be accepted "because it has more important consequences than Ousmane Sonko's participation" in the election.
Nafissatou Gueye, 36, agreed: "Because of false accusations, you lose your job, you are separated from your family, your children. We have experienced things that we would really like explained before asking for forgiveness."
'Not afraid of legal action'
Souleymane Djim, who coordinates a group of detainees' families, added that the prisoners and their families also disagree with the amnesty.
"You cannot forgive without establishing responsibility," Djim, who is seeking government compensation for the prisoners, said.
His organisation has recorded 526 releases since February 15, with a similar number of opponents still behind bars.
"We are not afraid of legal action, because these are trumped-up charges that have nothing to back them up," said Yaya Coly, 45, a modern literature teacher who has just been released.
Political criteria
They are all thinking of the dozens of people killed during the anti-government protests – finding the idea of impunity from the amnesty bill unbearable.
The minister of justice refuted any political criteria in the recent release of the detainees.
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