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The International Criminal Court (ICC) has opened an investigation into the Guinean military's brutal suppression of an anti-government protest. The Hague court says it is deciding whether the events of 28 September amount to crimes against humanity. The prosecutors say there is evidence that women were "abused or otherwise brutalised" during the crackdown. Rights groups say 157 people died after soldiers fired at protesters in a sports stadium in the capital Conakry. Guinea's military rulers, who deny responsibility for the deaths, say about 57 people died - and most of them were trampled to death. ICC Deputy Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda labelled the crackdown on protesters "appalling and unacceptable". "From the information we have received, from the pictures I have seen, women were abused or otherwise brutalised on the pitch of Conakry's stadium, apparently by men in uniform," she said. "It must never happen again. Those responsible must be held accountable."