Guinea's military leader banned all gatherings and demonstrations today, as the United Nations pressed for an independent investigation into why troops opened fire on 50,000 pro-democracy protesters.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay condemned the soldiers' use of live ammunition against the unarmed people who gathered Monday in a stadium in Conakry, the capital, to protest against Capt. Moussa "Dadis" Camara, the country's military leader.
A human rights group said 157 people were killed and more than 1,200 were wounded. The government maintains that 57 people died and said most of them were trampled.
The UN Security Council also condemned the shootings Wednesday and joined the call for an independent investigation.
US Ambassador Susan Rice, the current council president, called on the government to free all opposition leaders and political prisoners "without delay."
Guinea's government said it will investigate why troops opened fire at the pro-democracy rally.
But Pillay said "it is essential that such an inquiry is both independent and impartial so that all those responsible for carrying out summary executions, rapes and other human rights violations are brought to justice."
Camara called for two days of mourning starting Wednesday. Flags fluttered at half-staff in the capital's streets Wednesday morning. Shops, schools and gas stations were closed.
An opposition leader said his faction had no plans to hold another demonstration.
"Our priority is to bury our dead and to take care of our wounded," Sidya Toure said. "We are very far from making any demonstration plans. You know, Conakry is a very small town, people are traumatised."
Toure, a former prime minister, was arrested during the protests and released on Tuesday. He said he suffered head wounds and returned home to find his house ransacked. The house was also used as opposition party headquarters.
Camara appeared on state television late on Tuesday, blaming the opposition for acting irresponsibly in Monday's demonstration and calling for an inquiry.
The protest in the capital's main football (soccer) stadium turned bloody when Camara's presidential guard opened fire into the crowd of 50,000, scattering panicked demonstrators and leaving behind scores of dead. Opposition politician Mutarr Diallo said he saw soldiers raping women with rifle butts.
"It was the opposition politicians who led other people's sons and daughters to their deaths while their own sons and daughters are comfortably living elsewhere," Camara said, referring to wealthy Guineans who send their children abroad to study.
He said the government would pay the families of the wounded and dead. He also warned religious leaders, politicians and the media against inciting violence.
"I call on imams, political leaders, civil society groups and the mass media to refrain from doing or saying things that will further plunge this country into anarchy," he said.
Toure said he had recognized several members of Guinea's junta in the stadium during demonstrations, including Camara's nephew and his top aide.
"These are the people that are directly next to Dadis," he said.
Witnesses told New York-based Human Rights Watch that security forces stripped female protesters and raped them in the streets during Monday's protest. The rights group, citing witnesses, said soldiers also stabbed protesters with knives and bayonets.
Hardly anyone had heard of Camara, an army captain in his 40s, until his men broke down the glass doors of the state TV station Dec. 23 after the death of longtime leader Lansana Conte. Camara announced that the constitution had been dissolved and that the country was under the rule of a military junta.
Since the coup, tensions have risen amid rumors that Camara may run in presidential elections scheduled for Jan. 31. Camara initially indicated that he would not, but suggested in an interview with France-24 television Wednesday that he could run after all, after recent "spontaneous events" and protests urging him to be a candidate.
"I am in a dilemma. If I say I'm not a candidate, there are problems. If I say I am a candidate, there are problems," he said.
Camara criticised France for suspending military cooperation with Guinea, saying "it is France who loses" with this move.
Since winning independence half a century ago from France, Guinea has been pillaged by its ruling elite. Its 10 million people are among the world's poorest, even though its soil has diamonds, gold, iron and half the world's reserves of the raw material used to make aluminum.
AP