Outcry over opposition detainee's death

The death of an opposition political activist who had been sentenced to over six years in jail for allegedly plotting to overthrow Equatorial Guinea's government has caused an international outcry. Local opposition parties, international human rights groups and foreign media blame the death of Juan Ondo Nguema on injuries resulting from torture during police investigations. The government however said such claims were baseless. Nguema was one of about 65 people convicted on 9 June of attempting to overthrow the government of President Teodoro Obiang Nguema. The trial was described as a farse by human rights groups, which also said the accused were tortured before and during the trial. Nguema reportedly fainted on 1 July in the Black Beach prison in the capital, Malabo, and was taken immediately to the Malabo Hospital. He died on 5 July from the effects of police interrogations for which he received no treatment by a doctor and after being denied food or drink for five days, the Spanish daily El Pais reported. Another prisoner was on Monday hospitalised with fever and signs of exhaustion, the daily said. An Equatoguinean opposition party, the Convergence for Social Democracy, and foreign media had reported that detainees' relatives had been prevented from taking food to them. The party also charged in a 27 June communiqué that the state had stepped up repression against the prisoners. The opposition National Resistance of Equatorial Guinea claimed that Nguema's death was a "premeditated political assassination" and part of a strategy to "annihilate the political opposition". Spanish Prime Minister Josep Pique expressed concern at the "regression" of human rights in Equatorial Guinea and said on Monday that Nguema's death needed to be investigated, El Pais reported. Equatorial Guinea is a former Spanish colony. On Tuesday, political, trade union and human rights groups presented the Spanish prime minister with a petition bearing 1,000 signatures and calling for Spain's government to mediate with the authorities in Malabo to obtain the release of the remaining detainees and the trial of perpetrators of torture in Equatorial Guinea. The ruling Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea (PDGE - Spanish abbreviation) denied the torture claims, saying there was no attempt by the government or prison authorities to subject detainees to repression or harassment. Nguema, a Tuesday communiqué by the PDGE said, was hospitalised with pneumonia, an abscess in the liver and anemia, and his condition had worsened even though he had been given medical treatment. The party accused local political groups and international bodies of "disrespectful judgements" and "acts of open hostility" against the president and his government. It said this was "a clear demonstration of an instigation to disorder and disinformation by some Equatoguineans and a blatant, shameless interference by some foreigners".