PUBLIC AI Index: AFR 24/003/2009

19 March 2009

UA 79/09 Torture/Denial of medical treatment

EQUATORIAL GUINEA Epifanio Pascual Nguema Alogo (m)

José Eworo Mba (m)

The two men named above are held without charge in Bata Central Police Station. They are in urgent need of medical treatment, which the police have refused. Torture and other ill-treatment are routine practice at Bata Central Police Station. One of the men is known to have been tortured, and the other is diabetic and needs daily medication.

Epifanio Pascual Nguema Alogo, a carpenter, was arrested without a warrant on 22 February, in a bar opposite his workshop. He was taken to Bata Central Police station. On 27 February, the police accused him of procuring documents for his wife to travel abroad; and of having said that the obstacle in Equatorial Guinea was called Obiang Nguema, and that if President Obiang presented himself as a candidate in the next presidential elections nobody would vote for him. Epifanio Pascual Nguema Alogo denied the allegations.

On 2 March, just before midnight, he was taken from his cell to a cellar, where he was tortured for four hours. He was beaten. The police officers specifically targeted his kidney area, belly and genitals. He suffered wounds to his genitals which bled for several days. He has also been passing blood in his urine and is unable to walk or stand up straight. He has asked to be seen by a doctor but the police have refused.

José Eworo Mba, who is normally resident in Spain and was visiting his mother in Bata, was arrested, without a warrant, on 13 February. The police have apparently accused him of being a member of the Spanish national security apparatus and of spying for them. He is diabetic, and, according to information received the police confiscated the device he uses to measure his blood sugar levels, which were high the last time he tested them. He has run out of the medication he takes every day, and the police have neither provided him with more medication nor allowed him to see a doctor.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

The government of Equatorial Guinea passed a law in November 2006 forbidding torture, but since then Amnesty International has continued to receive reports of political detainees and others held at Bata Central Police Station being tortured. No officer from the station has ever been prosecuted for torturing detainees.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in Spanish or your own language:

- expressing concern that Epifanio Pascual Nguema Alogo and José Eworo Mba are held without charge at Bata Central Police Station, and urging the authorities to charge them immediately with a recognizably criminal offence, or else release them;

- expressing concern at reports that Epifanio Pascual Nguema Alogo has been tortured, and urging the authorities to order an independent enquiry and bring those responsible to justice;

- calling on the authorities to ensure the men are humanely treated and not subjected to any form of torture or other ill-treatment;

- urging the authorities to provide Epifanio Pascual Nguema Alogo and José Eworo Mba immediately with any medical attention they may require.

APPEALS TO:

President

General Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo

Presidente de la República

Gabinete del Presidente de la República, Malabo, Equatorial Guinea

Fax: +240 09 3313/ 3334

Salutation: Excelencia/Your Excellency

Attorney General

Sr. Don José Oló Obono

Fiscal General de la República, Fiscalía General de la República, Malabo, Equatorial Guinea

Fax: +240 09 1338

Salutation: Sr Fiscal/Dear Attorney General

Minister of National Security

Sr Don Nicolás Obama Nchama

Ministro de Seguridad Nacional, Dirección General de Seguridad Nacional, Malabo, Equatorial Guinea

Fax: +240 09 8259

Salutation: Sr. Ministro/Dear Minister

COPIES TO:

Minister of Foreign Affairs

Pastor Michá Ondó Bile

Ministro de Asuntos Exteriores y Cooperación Internacional

Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores y Cooperación Internacional, Malabo, Equatorial Guinea

Fax: +240 09 3132

+240 09 2320

Vice-Prime Minister in charge of Human Rights

Salomón Nguema Owono

Vice-Primer Ministro 2º. Encargado de Asuntos Sociales y Derechos Humanos

Gabinete del Vice Primer Ministro

Malabo

Equatorial Guinea

and to diplomatic representatives of Equatorial Guinea accredited to your country.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.Check with the International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after 30 April 2009.