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Rights group under gagging order

Guinea-Bissau's attorney general, Caetano Intchama, issued an order to all media organisations last week forbidding them from publishing any information from the Liga Guineense dos Direitos Humanos (LGDH - Guinean League of Human Rights), humanitarian sources in the capital, Bissau, told IRIN on Monday.

Vice-president of the right body, Joao Vaz Mane, said that "imposition of censorship was another step by the attorney general, Caetano Intchama, to silence the LGDH," the Portuguese news agency, LUSA, reported on Monday.

The rights organisation plans to hold a demonstration in Bissau on Tuesday in protest at a series of actions taken against the league by the authorities, including the recent outcome of a court case, humanitarian sources said. Two LGDH officials were found guilty by a court in Bissau on Thursday on a charge relating to "alleged disrespect" they showed Intchama during an inquiry into reported misappropriation of funds, LUSA reported.

Amnesty International said in early February that rights activists and political opponents in Guinea-Bissau faced "a sustained clamp-down" on their activities.


This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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