MALABO, Equatorial Guinea,
March 1, 2015
/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Government of Equatorial Guinea has strongly denied
allegations about the country contained in Amnesty International's
Annual Report 2014/15, including the allegation that it had
executed nine prisoners in January
2014.
In a statement issued by Minister of Information Teobaldo Nchaso
Matomba on February 26, the government said, "This information is
totally false, since neither in January nor in all of 2014, were
any executions carried out in Equatorial
Guinea." AI's report had said, "Nine prisoners were executed
in January shortly before a temporary moratorium on the death
penalty was declared."
The government stated that AI did not cite "even one of the
names of the people supposedly executed, no dates, no causes, no
details," and officially requested a public correction of the
record.
The Government of Equatorial
Guinea also denied that it had arrested any political
opponents in 2014 and asserted that there had not been "a single
case of solitary confinement, much less with the aggravators of
denial of trial or medical assistance mentioned by AI. Similarly,
we deny the allegations of torture that appear in the report," the
government said.
"Over the past year, the Government of Equatorial Guinea has worked closely with
international organizations to improve the conditions of prisoners
and prison centers, which now offer good food, television and
physicians, doctor offices and other health care," the government
said. "It is also a fact that the representatives of the National
Human Rights Commission, the Attorney General, and the
International Red Cross made regular inspection visits to prisons,
police stations and other holding and/or arrest centers in the
Country."
Minister Nchaso's statement says that the country's "National
Security Authorities have published manuals in which arrests and
torture are strictly prohibited, under penalties and measures that
include even the separation from the service and other punishing
measures." He also noted that the Human Rights Council meeting in
Geneva had approved the Universal
Periodic Review of Equatorial
Guinea. "Our country accepted 80 of the 132 Recommendations
and conditioned the ratification of the Rome Statute on grounds
that were covered by…the unanimous decision adopted by the African
Union."
The government also clarified the status of some individuals
cited in the report, saying that three prisoners that AI reported
as having been sentenced to long prison terms had been released
under a "general amnesty granted to all those convicted of
political crimes and who were in legal proceedings for the same
offenses."
The government said that one person cited by AI as a prisoner of
conscience "was tried and convicted years ago for diverting the
salary of all the Military members of the Continental Region and
attempted rebellion in the army."
The full test of the government's statement can be read
here.
About Equatorial
Guinea
The Republic of Equatorial Guinea (Republica de Guinea
Ecuatorial) is the only Spanish-speaking country in Africa, and one of the smallest nations on the
continent. In the late-1990s, American companies helped discover
the country's oil and natural gas resources, which only within the
last five years began contributing to the global energy supply.
Equatorial Guinea is now working to serve as a pillar of stability
and security in its region of West Central Africa. The country
hosted the Summit of the African Union in 2011 and 2014, the Africa
Cup of Nations in 2012 and 2015. For more information, visit
http://www.guineaecuatorialpress.com.
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SOURCE Republic of Equatorial
Guinea