Guinea requests France to return Bokar Biro’s skulls

Guinea has formally asked France to return the skulls of 19th‑century resistance leader Bokar Biro, his father, brother and a war chief that were identified in the Musée de l’Homme in Paris. The request, filed on 27 July 2026, follows French confirmation that the four remains had been located after earlier inquiries about personal items of Almamy Samory Touré.

Guinean Minister of Culture Moussa Moïse Sylla announced the restitution demand, noting that a scientific committee – chaired by museum director Mohamed Amirou Conté – is preparing for the return, which could occur within one to two years under France’s 2023 law governing human remains in public collections. Bokar Biro, the last Almamy of the Fouta‑Djalon theocratic state, was decapitated in 1896 for opposing French colonial expansion, and his skull has long been a symbol of colonial violence.