Country

Guinea

Fully Authoritarian

0.18%

of the world’s population

15,442,000 people

Source: Tyranny Tracker

Overview

HRF classifies Guinea as ruled by a fully authoritarian regime.

Guinea is a unitary state. Since its independence in 1958, the country has experienced various forms of continuous authoritarian rule, from the one-party state of independence leader Ahmed Sekou Toure to civilian autocracies and military juntas. In September 2021, the Head of State, General Mamady Doumbouya, seized power through a military coup that deposed the last elected leader, Alpha Condé. The coup followed Condé’s re-election in the 2020 presidential election after forcing a third term through an unpopular constitutional change, which sparked mass protests that were met with deadly repression from his regime. The country just held its first elections since the coup on December 28, 2025.

Key Highlights

National-level elections, such as parliamentary or presidential elections, have been absent in Guinea since the military took power, suspended the constitution, and dissolved the government in September 2021, rendering moot assessment of electoral competition. The country held its first elections since the coup d’etat on December 28, 2025, where General Mamady Doumbouya won the presidency. The ruling National Committee of Reconciliation and Development (CNRD) junta has taken measures to unfairly hold on to power, including by repeatedly delaying the organization of fresh national elections to restore democratic constitutionalism. The military has also unfairly hindered the real, mainstream opposition by harassing their leaders, forcing the main opposition leader into exile.

Independent media, political leaders, civil society leaders, organizations, political leaders and regular people face overt and systematic retaliation if they openly criticize the regime. The military has severely intimidated dissenting independent media, political leaders, civil society leaders, repressed dissenting protests, shut down leading independent media outlets, and heavily manipulated media coverage in its favor.

Institutions largely fail to serve as independent checks on the regime. The ruling CNRD dismissed the Constitutional Court and transferred its power to the Supreme Court, which came under its influence. It also established a special court targeting former members of previous regimes.

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