• Text size  | | |
• Email this document
• Printable version

Amnesty International Report 2005 - Equatorial Guinea

Covering events from January - December 2004

Several alleged plots to overthrow the government led to waves of arrests. Several of those arrested were sentenced to long prison terms after unfair trials. Dozens of soldiers and former military personnel as well as political opponents of the government were detained without charge or trial. Many appeared to have been tortured in detention and at least one reportedly died as a result. One person was sentenced to death.

Background

The authorities alleged there were coup attempts in March, May and October.

In January, some 100 soldiers and former soldiers arrested in late 2003 were tried by a military court in Bata. Eighty were convicted of plotting to overthrow the government and given prison terms ranging from six to 30 years.

About 1,000 immigrants living in the capital, Malabo, some of whom had entered the country illegally, were rounded up, beaten and sometimes imprisoned before being expelled from the country in March.

In April, the ruling Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea (Partido Democrático de Guinea Ecuatorial, PDGE) won legislative elections with 95 per cent of the vote. The opposition Convergence for Social Democracy (Convergencia para la Democracia Social, CPDS) won two seats in Parliament.

In July, a US Senate investigation into lax controls on money laundering at a bank in Washington, USA, revealed the misappropriation of at least US$35 million of oil revenue by the President of Equatorial Guinea and his relatives. The President denied the accusation and threatened to sue the foreign media for their reporting of the issue.

Unfair trials

In November, 11 Armenian and South African nationals and nine Equatorial Guineans were convicted of crimes against the head of state and crimes against the government and sentenced to between 14 and 63 years' imprisonment. The foreign nationals had been arrested in March in connection with an alleged plot to overthrow President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo and replace him with Severo Moto, the exiled leader of a banned opposition party, the Progress Party of Equatorial Guinea (Partido del Progreso de Guinea Ecuatorial, PPGE).

Severo Moto and eight members of his "government in exile" were charged half way through the trial and tried in absentia. They were convicted of treason. Two other Equatorial Guineans arrested in March and April and tried on the same charges received sentences of 16 months' imprisonment each for reckless behaviour.

The trial was grossly unfair. No evidence was presented in court to substantiate the charges, other than the defendants' own statements which were in Spanish, a language they do not understand, and which the defendants stated were extracted under torture. The court ignored their claims and did not allow defence lawyers to raise the issue of torture. The defendants had no access to their lawyers until two days before the trial, which started on 23 August, and their lawyers were not given sufficient time to prepare their defence. The defendants complained that their statements had not been taken by an investigating judge, as required by national law, but by the Attorney General, who acted for the prosecution in court. Defence lawyers lodged an appeal which was pending at the end of the year.

Since their arrest, the foreign nationals had been held incommunicado and handcuffed and shackled 24 hours a day. They were deprived of adequate food and medical care and had only sporadic and limited access to their families.

Corisco Island

In May, the security forces on Corisco Island reportedly extrajudicially executed between 12 and 15 Equatorial Guineans resident in Gabon, who, they claimed, had invaded the island and attacked the military garrison there, killing one soldier. The authorities acknowledged the killing of four alleged attackers. Those who died were reportedly killed as they tried to flee the island or as they surrendered.

Five survivors were arrested and were allegedly tortured; one woman was reportedly raped. Some of the survivors appeared on television with cuts to their ears. One reportedly lost the use of his hands. They were held incommunicado and constantly handcuffed in the main police station in Bata for several months. In December they were tried by a military court, from which there is no right of appeal, and convicted of treason, "terrorism" and espionage, for which they received prison terms ranging from 22 to 28 years.

Five others who had managed to escape were illegally extradited from Gabon in June. They remained detained in Black Beach prison in Malabo without charge at the end of the year.

Arbitrary detention, torture and ill-treatment

Scores of political opponents of the government were arrested throughout the year. Most were released within a few days or weeks, but many remained in detention without charge or trial at the end of the year. Most were tortured or ill-treated at the time of their arrest. Former members of the PPGE were targeted. The authorities often arrested their relatives as hostages.

• In March, Weja Chicampo, leader of the Movement for the Self-determination of Bioko Island (Movimiento para la Auto-determinación de la Isla de Bioko, MAIB), was arrested in the early hours of the morning by at least 10 hooded police officers who forced their way into his home in Malabo. He was severely beaten and sustained injuries to his jaw and left shoulder for which he did not receive treatment. He was taken to Black Beach prison and kept incommunicado for several months. He remained detained without charge at the end of the year. Weja Chicampo had returned from exile in Spain in August 2003 and was in the process of getting his party legally recognized at the time of his arrest.

• Pedro Ndong and Salvador Bibang were detained in Malabo in March and remained held without charge or trial at the end of the year. Their detention was believed to be connected to their former membership of the PPGE.

• In June, Marcelino Nguema Esono was arrested at his brother-in-law's house with three others as they watched a football match on television. None of the men was armed. Four security officers entered the house and one opened fire on Marcelino Nguema Esono, injuring his right thigh. Marcelino Nguema Esono was taken to a doctor and then taken with the others to the police station in Bata where they were beaten. The next day they were flown to Malabo where they remained detained without charge at the end of the year. They were reportedly severely beaten on the plane on their way to Malabo.

• In October, dozens of military personnel and former military personnel were arrested throughout Rio Muni. They were taken to a police station in Bata where they were reported to have been ill-treated and tortured. They were accused of trying to overthrow the government. Most if not all were still held without charge or trial at the end of the year.

• In November, Pío Miguel Obama, a member of CPDS and a Malabo local councillor, was arrested and accused of holding an "illegal meeting" in Basupú, his home town, although he was not there the day in question. He was released without charge on 24 December.

Deaths in detention

At least three prisoners died in detention, reportedly as a result of torture, harsh prison conditions and lack of medical treatment.

• In January, Francisco Abeso Mba, a prisoner of conscience convicted following an unfair trial in 2002 of plotting to overthrow the government, died as a result of an illness. One month before his death, the authorities had allowed him to be cared for at home, but he was refused permission to travel abroad for treatment as recommended by doctors.

• Gerhard Eugen Merz, a German national, died in detention nine days after his arrest in March in connection with an alleged coup attempt. The authorities said he had died of "cerebral malaria with complications". However, his body reportedly bore marks consistent with torture and those arrested with him testified in court in November that he had been tortured to death.

Death penalty

In December a military court in Bata sentenced a soldier, Francisco Neto Momo, to death for the killing of a colleague a few months earlier when both were on sentry duty. There is no right of appeal from a military court. It was not known whether the execution had been carried out by the end of the year.

AI country reports/visits

In August and November AI delegates observed the trials of those accused of involvement in an alleged coup attempt in March.