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24-692: The roots of Les Ballets Africains go back to Guinean poetry student, dancer, choreographer, and musician Fodéba Keïta . In France, in 1948, he founded a poetry group for Africans, which gradually evolved into the drumming, dancing, and storytelling African Theater Ballet of Fodeba Keita. The company toured Europe from 1951 to 1955 and the United States in 1953. It became Les Ballets Africains in 1952 in Paris . Some initial strong opposition came from various tribes, who were offended that others were dancing their dances and singing their songs, but that objection

48-671: A dispute between West-African soldiers and white officers. However, his works were banned in French Africa as he was considered radical and anticolonial. Politically active in the African Democratic Rally , Keïta worked closely with Guinea's first president Sékou Touré from 1956, and in 1957 was elected to the Territorial Assembly. In 1961, Keïta was appointed minister for defense and security. He uncovered alleged plots against Sékou Touré, but

72-514: A museum in the former camp. In a 2007 interview, Bobo Dieng, a former senior official in the Touré government, stated that there had been just 117 deaths at the camp. It was not until 2009 that the interim president Moussa Dadis Camara met the members of the association. That year, demolition of the camp buildings began, but it was not known whether a memorial would be erected. As of 2010, there had been no commission of inquiry, and all documents about

96-681: A survivor from the camp, was banned from publication in France and had to be printed in Belgium . Further incarcerations followed in the ensuing years. Diallo Telli was a popular politician, loyal to the regime, and former Secretary General of the Organization of African Unity (OAU). He returned to Guinea in 1972 and was appointed Minister of Justice. On 18 July 1976, Diallo Telli was arrested at his home and imprisoned at Camp Boiro. In February 1977 five prominent prisoners were eliminated through

120-460: The black diet: Diallo Telli, ex-ministers Barry Alpha Oumar , Dramé Alioune and Fode Cisse, and army officers Diallo Alhassana and Kouyate Laminé. The next month five more people died of starvation. The arrests and deaths continued. In August 1979 Bah Mamadou, an expatriate from Labé who had moved to France, returned to visit his family. Entering the country from Senegal, all occupants of his vehicle were arrested and jailed at Camp Boiro. Eight of

144-580: The camp, including the Minister of Economy & Finance, Diawadou Barry . Two, Mouctar Diallo and Namory Keïta, died of starvation and dehydration only days after their arrest. Fodéba Keïta , former Minister of Defense, was also arrested for alleged complicity in the Labé plot. He was shot after forced starvation on 27 May 1969. On 21 November 1970, the Portuguese Armed Forces based in

168-471: The commandant had the windows reduced in size, since they were too large for condemned men. The camp was renamed Camp Mamadou Boiro in 1969 in honor of a police commissioner who had been thrown from a helicopter in which he was transporting prisoners from Labé to Conakry. The camp was used to dispose of Touré's opponents. Achkar Marof , actor and former Guinean ambassador to the United Nations,

192-643: The company performed in the United States, with a run of 48 performances on Broadway, following a successful European tour. They appeared at the Edinburgh International Festival in 1964. In 1967, while touring in Quebec , Canada , the troupe's director had to go to court in Montreal to answer the charge of inciting minors to give an indecent performance, since both men and women performers, regardless of age, were dancing topless , as

216-472: The late 1940s, he founded Théâtre Africain (later Les Ballets Africains ), a successful ballet group which toured Africa for six years and later became the national dance company of Guinea; then president of Senegal Léopold Sédar Senghor held it in high esteem. With Kanté Facély and Les Ballets Africains, he became instrumental in showcasing previously unknown Mandé performance traditions to other continents as well. After returning to Guinea, he published

240-416: The leaders of the former regime were imprisoned, and later executed. In the years that followed, the association of Victims of Camp Boiro fought for many years to maintain the memory of what had happened. The council of ministers issued a communique on 27 August 1991 for renovation of the camp and construction of a memorial to all the victims, but no action followed. The Association was forbidden to establish

264-518: The neighbor Portuguese Guinea , assisted by Guinean oppositionists, executed the Operation Green Sea , an amphibious raid against Conakry aimed to achieve several military and political objectives, including the liberation of Portuguese POWs and the attempt to overthrow the Touré regime. They captured Camp Boiro and liberated the prisoners. The camp commandant Siaka Touré managed to hide, but General Lansana Diané , minister of Defence,

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288-622: The poetry collection Poèmes africains (1950), the novel Le Maître d'école (1952), and in 1957, Keïta wrote and staged the narrative poem Aube africaine ("African Dawn") as a theatre-ballet based on the Thiaroye massacre . In African Dawn , a young man called Naman complies with the French colonial rulers by fighting in the French Army only to be killed in Thiaroye in Senegal, in

312-502: The prisoners were interrogated by a Revolutionary Committee headed by Ismaël Touré , half-brother of Sékou Touré and minister of the Economy. Some prisoners were placed on the "black diet", meaning no food or water until they died. Prisoners could only show their courage by refusing to confess during torture sessions, and refusing to beg for food when placed on the black diet. Loffo Camara , former Secretary of State for Social Affairs,

336-406: The regime of President Ahmed Sékou Touré , thousands of political opponents were imprisoned at the camp. It has been estimated that almost 5,000 people were executed or died from torture or starvation at the camp. According to other estimates, the number of victims was ten times higher: 50,000. Sékou Touré became president of Guinea when the country gained independence from France in 1958. Over

360-606: The travellers - all but Bah Mahmoud himself - had died of the black diet within a month. In September 1983 the government announced they had uncovered a plot to sabotage a meeting of the OAU planned to be held in Conakry the next year. Eighty one people were incarcerated in Camp Boiro. After the death of Sékou Touré in 1984, the military took power in a coup d'état and released many of the political prisoners at Camp Boiro. Many of

384-557: The years that followed, his regime became increasingly repressive, persecuting opposition leaders and dissidents from within the ruling Guinean Democratic Party (PDG). The camp, situated in the center of Conakry, was originally called Camp Camyenne. It housed the Republican Guard under French colonial rule. The political prison block in the camp was constructed with assistance from the Czechoslovak government. In 1961

408-554: Was Senegalese in origin, a former Minister of Information in Guinea was arrested and held in Camp Boiro for ten years, returning to Senegal after his release. The prisoners were given little food other than a scrap of bread the size of a box of matches in the morning, and a ladle of plain rice cooked in dirty water in the evening. There was never any meat except on days when Touré was performing some sacrifice. Starting in January 1971

432-483: Was a Guinean dancer, musician, writer, playwright, composer and politician. Founder of the first professional African theatrical troupe, Theatre Africain, he also arranged Liberté , the national anthem of Guinea. Keïta was the son of a male nurse. He received his early education at the École normale supérieure William Ponty . During his law studies in Paris in 1948, he founded the band Sud Jazz. Beginning in

456-474: Was captured. He later escaped and took refuge with the ambassador of Algeria . The coup attempt failed, and in the aftermath many opponents of the regime were rounded up and imprisoned in Camp Boiro. On 23 December 1970, the Bishop of Conakry, Raymond-Marie Tchidimbo , was arrested, and subsequently made a "confession". Tchidimbo later wrote a book about his 8-year, 8-month stay at the camp. Alassane Diop , who

480-421: Was eventually overcome. In the 1950s, among the notable musicians recruited were djembe drummers "Papa" Ladji Camara of Mali and Guinean Famoudou Konaté . In 1958, after Guinea obtained its independence from France , then President of Guinea Ahmed Sékou Touré made the ballet the national ensemble. Regional and nationals orchestras from Syliphone supported Les Ballets Africains on tours. In 1959,

504-472: Was hanged on 25 January 1971, the only woman killed at that time. According to El Hadj Ibrahima Diane, an inmate for many years, from June 1972 until August 1973 at least four corpses were taken from the cells each day and thrown into mass graves in the rear yard of the prison. In 1975, France agreed to restore diplomatic relations after French prisoners were released from the camp. This reduced pressure on Touré. The book Prison D'Afrique by Jean-Paul Alata ,

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528-546: Was imprisoned in the infamous Camp Boiro , a prison he himself helped construct, for alleged complicity in the February 1969 Labé Plot, and was subjected to torture ("diète noire" – complete food and fluid withdrawal). On May 27, 1969, he was shot dead without trial. Works cited Camp Boiro Camp Boiro or Camp Mamadou Boiro (1960–1984) is a defunct Guinean concentration camp within Conakry city. During

552-406: Was recalled to Guinea in 1968, arrested and jailed at Camp Boiro. He briefly gained his freedom in the 1970 coup attempt. His family learned in 1985 that he had been shot on 26 January 1971. The so-called Labé plot, linked to French imperialism, was uncovered in February 1969. Touré used this plot to purge the army and execute at least 13 people. A total of 87 people were arrested and detained in

576-755: Was traditional. The judge dismissed the charge. When President Sékou Touré died in 1984, government support came to an end, and the troupe encountered financial difficulties for several years, but has subsequently resumed touring. In 1991, Italo Zambo, the company's artistic director, noted that the Los Angeles day performances differed from the night ones and performances in Africa and Europe in one respect: traditionally, Guinean men and women dance bare-chested. Fod%C3%A9ba Ke%C3%AFta Fodéba Keïta (January 19, 1921 in Siguiri – May 27, 1969 at Camp Boiro )

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