Press Release

1. At the request of the Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, His Excellency Mr Faure Essozimna Gnassingbe, President of the Togolese Republic, a high-level delegation led by the Chair of the ECOWAS Council of Ministers, H.E Prof Robert Dussey, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and African Integration of the Togolese Republic, carried out a mission to Bissau from 31^st January to 1^st February 2018.
2. The high-level delegation equally comprised H.E. Mr Naby Youssouf Kiridi Bangoura, Senior Minister and Secretary General to the President of Guinea, representing the ECOWAS Mediator for Guinea-Bissau and H.E Mr Marcel de SOUZA, President of the ECOWAS Commission.
3. The main objective of the mission was to assess the implementation of the Conakry and Bissau Agreements, in conformity with the decision of the extraordinary session of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government. The session took place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on 27 January 2018, in the margins of the 30^th ordinary session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union.
4. As a reminder, the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, at its extraordinary session of 27 January 2018, called on the Guinea Bissau parties to implement the Conakry Agreement failing which collective and individual sanctions will be imposed from 1^st February 2018, on all persons or organisations who impede the process to end the crisis in Guinea Bissau. The Authority also directed the President of the Commission to implement the sanctions and set up a monitoring committee comprising Togo, Guinea and the ECOWAS Commission.
5. Following the meetings and discussions with the various stakeholders in the crisis, on 31^st January and 1^st February 2018, the mission:

1. notes the failure to appoint a Prime Minister of consensus as recommended by the Conakry Agreement. Consequently, the ECOWAS Commission announces the imposition of collective and individual sanctions, with effect from today, 1^st February 2018, on all persons or organisations hampering the process to end the crisis in Guinea-Bissau, as decided by the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government in Addis Ababa on 27 January 2018,
3. is convinced that without full implementation of the Conakry Agreement, including the appointment of a consensus Prime Minister and the formation of an inclusive Government, the appropriate political conditions are not in place for the conduct of credible, inclusive and peaceful elections,
5. deeply regrets the lack of respect of the freedom of assembly as enshrined in the Constitution of Guinea-Bissau, as well as existing legal instruments of ECOWAS, African Union and the United Nations. In that regard, the mission urgently calls on the Guinea Bissau authorities to ensure strict compliance with the rule of law and human rights, including the freedom of assembly,
7. urges the Guinea Bissau Defence and Security  Forces to keep to their constitutional duties and remain neutral vis-à-vis the political stakeholders;
9. notes with satisfaction the level and quality of the cooperation of our regional organisation with its partners and makes a very strong appeal to the African Union, CPLP, European Union, and the United Nations to support ECOWAS in the implementation of sanctions.
10. Done at Bissau this 1^st day of February 2018

H.E. Mr Marcel A. de Souza

President of the ECOWAS Commission