Amnesty launches appeal for political prisoners

Anmesty International said on Tuesday that it was very concerned about the health of scores of prisoners from Equatorial Guinea’s Bubi minority who, it said, were “being held in appalling conditions in Malabo prison”. “Since their conviction in June 1998 they have been held in small, filthy cells,” Amnesty said. “...Most prisoners are being denied medical treatment. Eleven have been held in incommunicado detention in Malabo prison since May 1998”. In May 1998, more than 110 people accused of involvement in attacks on military barracks were tried by a military court, which sentenced 15 to death (including four in absentia), and some 70 to prison terms ranging from six to 26 years. The defendants were predominantly members of the Bubi community, the largest minority in Equatorial Guinea, and the original inhabitants of Bioko Island, where the capital Malabo is located. The vast majority of the country’s population are from the Fang ethnic group. Most of the prisoners appear to have been detained solely because of their ethnic origin, Amnesty said. Many had been forced to make statements under torture, it added. Several of the prisoners have fallen ill as a result of the harsh prison conditions, Amnesty said. One detainee, 58-year-old Martin Puye, a leader of the Movimiento para la Auto-determinacion de la Isla de Bioko (MAIB - (Movement for the Self-determination of Bioko Island), died in hospital in July 1999, reportedly as a result of ill treatment and lack of adequate medical care. Another, Digno Sepa Tobachi, died on 20 October as a result of torture and lack of medical care, Amnesty said. His death was also reported by media organisations and Equato-Guinean human rights advocates. Other Bubi prisoners convicted in May 1998 are seriously ill, Amnesty said.