Amnesty International appeal over arrests

The human rights organisation Amnesty International has called for the immediate and unconditional release of jailed opposition member Fabian Nsue Nguema Obono in Equatorial Guinea. The organisation has also urged that rights campaigners write letters to President Teodoro Obiang Nguema calling for investigations into allegations of torture of Nguema Obono, and for the annulment of a sentence against fellow party member Nsue Mibuy. Nguema Obono, a lawyer and member of the opposition Popular Union (UP) party, was arrested in the capital Malabo in April for criticising the government of Equatorial Guinea, Amnesty stated. He was accused of slandering President Obiang Nguema after the publication of a communique on the internet, signed by him and published by Mibuy, another UP member in exile in Spain. That statement criticised the government for cancelling a salary increase for civil servants that had been announced at the beginning of the year. After a trial - reportedly unfair - in July, Obono was sentenced to a one year prison sentence, Amnesty stated. Obono was reported to have been severely tortured on several occasions in prison, and to have sustained broken wrists for which he received no treatment, it added. The same court convicted Nsue Mibuy, in his absence, of defamation and slander, and sentenced him to two years and four months in prison and to pay a hefty fine. The government of Equatorial Guinea has come under severe criticism from the international community in recent months over allegations of torture. There was an international outcry in July at the death of an opposition political activist Juan Ondo Nguema, who had been sentenced to over six years in jail for allegedly plotting to overthrow the government. Local opposition parties, international human rights groups and foreign media blamed his death on injuries resulting from torture during police investigations. The government said such claims were baseless. Also in July, political, trade union and human rights groups urged the Spanish government to mediate with the authorities in Malabo to obtain the release of remaining detainees, and to secure the trial of perpetrators of torture. The ruling Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea (PDGE, Partido Democratico Guinea Ecuatorial) denied the torture claims, saying there was no attempt by the government or prison authorities to subject detainees to repression or harassment.