Document - Equatorial Guinea: Further information: Refugee abducted from Benin is seriously ill
FU on UA: 44/10 Index: AFR 24/004/2010 Equatorial Guinea Date: 06 May 2010
URGENT ACTION
REFUGEE ABDUCTED FROM BENIN IS SERIOUSLY ILL
Amnesty International has received reports that one of the four men abducted from Benin and returned to Equatorial Guinea in January is seriously ill and is not receiving medical treatment. The Equatorial Guinean authorities have still not confirmed that they are holding the men.
According to information received by Amnesty International, four Equatorial Guinean refugees were abducted from Benin on 28 January by members of the Equatorial Guinean security forces and taken to Black Beach prison, in Equatorial Guinea's capital, Malabo, the next day. They are believed to be held incommunicado. Reports suggest that they have been tortured. The authorities have still not confirmed that they are holding the four men.
The abducted men are former soldiers, José Abeso Nsue, Manuel Ndong Anseme, Alipio Ndong Asumu, and former border guard, Jacinto Michá Obiang. Contrary to the information in the original UA (UA: 44/10 Index: AFR 24/003/2010), Miguelín Eyegue was not among those abducted.
Jacinto Michá Obiang is said to be seriously ill with high blood pressure and has apparently fainted on several occasions as a result. His mental health has apparently also deteriorated. None of the men are receiving medical treatment.
PLEASE WRITE IMMEDIATELY in Spanish or your own language:
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Calling on the authorities to publicly reveal the whereabouts of José Abeso Nsue, Manuel Ndong Anseme, Alipio Ndong Asumu and Jacinto Michá Obiang, who were abducted from Benin apparently by Equatorial Guinean security personnel and are believed to be held incommunicado in Black Beach prison;
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Expressing concern that the four men have been tortured and call for an independent inquiry into their torture and for those responsible to be brought to justice;
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Calling on the authorities to ensure that the four men are treated humanly and are not tortured or ill-treated;
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Urging the authorities to provide Jacinto Michá Obiang and the other three men with the medical care they require as well as to give them access to their families and a lawyer;
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Calling for an investigation into the reported abductions and for those responsible to be brought to justice;
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Urging the authorities to fulfil their pledges to end the practice of abducting Equatorial Guinean citizens from other countries made in the context of the Universal Periodic Review by the UN Human Rights Council.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 17 JUNE 2010 TO:
President
General Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo
Presidente de la República
Gabinete del Presidente de la República, Malabo, Equatorial Guinea
Fax: +240 333 09 3313/ 3334
Salutation: Excelencia/Your Excellency
Attorney General
Sr Don Carlos Mangue
Fiscal General de la República,
Fiscalía General de la República, Malabo, Equatorial Guinea
Fax: +240 333 09 1338
Salutation: Sr Fiscal/Dear Attorney General
Minister of National Security
Sr Don Nicolás Obama Nchama
Ministro de Seguridad Nacional, Dirección General de Seguridad Nacional, Malabo, Equatorial Guinea
Fax: +240 333 09 8259
Salutation: Sr. Ministro/Dear Minister
COPIES TO: Vice Prime Minister responsible for Human Rights, Salomón Nguema Owono, Presidencia del Gobierno, Malabo, Equatorial Guinea. Fax: +240 333 09 9544.
Please note the changes to telephone codes which have now an extra three digits: 333 for land lines including faxes
Also send copies to diplomatic representatives accredited to your country. Please check with your section office if sending appeals after the above date. This is the first update on UA 44/10, AFR 24/003/2010, issued on 26 February 2010
URGENT ACTION
REFUGEE ABDUCTED FROM BENIN IS SERIOUSLY ILL
ADditional Information
Amnesty International has frequently received information about the abduction of Equatorial Guinean refugees in neighbouring countries by Equatorial Guinean security personnel, sometimes in connivance with security personnel in those countries. In 2004, five Equatorial Guineans were arrested in Libreville, Gabon, and handed over to the Equatorial Guinean authorities. After being held incommunicado for two years, they were charged with undermining the security of the state and treason, and then subjected to an unfair trial and given prison sentences of up to 20 years. In 2005, four Equatorial Guinean refugees living in Benin and Nigeria were arrested and abducted by Equatorial Guinea security personnel in connivance with Nigerian security personnel. They were tried in their absence (despite the fact that they were in the country), in September 2005 at an unfair trial and sentenced to long prison terms. One was released after a presidential pardon in June 2008. However, the other three were held incommunicado in Black Beach prison until the end of January 2010, when they were transferred to cells with other prisoners. They are now being treated in the same manner as other prison inmates. On 8 October 2008 Cipriano Nguema, a refugee in Cameroon, was illegally arrested by Cameroonian security forces personnel, handed over to Equatorial Guinean security forces, and transferred to Black Beach prison. The Equatorial Guinean authorities have not acknowledged his detention. However, he was seen by the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture during his visit to the prison in November 2008. Two other men were abducted in Nigeria in December 2008 and taken to Bata prison in Equatorial Guinea. According to reports, these two men were released from detention in 2009 although the authorities never acknowledged their detention.
In December 2009 the UN Human Rights Council, under its Universal Periodic Review mechanism, examined the human rights situation in Equatorial Guinea. During the session, member states made recommendations, 86 of which were accepted by the Equatorial Guinean government. One of the recommendations referred to ending the abduction of Equatorial Guinean refugees from neighbouring countries and their subsequent secret detention in Equatorial Guinea.
Please note the changes to telephone codes which have now an extra three digits: 333 for land lines including faxes
FU on UA: 44/10 Index: AFR 24/004/2010 Issue Date: 06 May 2010
