On August 1, Equatorial Guinean human rights defender, Joaquín Elo Ayeto, was arrested at his house in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea’s capital, when members of the Gendarmerie forcibly entered his house and took him away. He was accused of carrying out illegal activities through the civil society platform, Somos +, which he is a member of and which the authorities claim is not legally registered. He was initially sent to Malabo Black Beach prison before being transferred on August 13 to Oveng Azem prison, in the eastern city of Mongomo, where he is held in pretrial detention. The Equatorial Guinean authorities must immediately release Joaquín Elo Ayeto from arbitrary detention which stems solely from his work as a human rights defender.
PLEASE TAKE ACTION AS SOON AS POSSIBLE UNTIL: January 31, 2025
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contact information:
Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo
President of Equatorial Guinea
Palacio Presidencial de Guinea Ecuatorial
Avenida de Libertad,
Malabo, Guinea Ecuatorial
X/Twitter: @teonguema (Vice President)
Embassy of Equatorial Guinea
His Excellency Dr. Crisantos Obama Ondo
2020 16TH St NW
Washington, DC 20009
Email: [email protected] OR [email protected]
Salutation: Dear Ambassador Dr. Crisantos Obama Ondo
sample letter:
His Excellency, or Dear Ambassador,
I am writing to bring to your attention the case of human rights defender, Joaquín Elo Ayeto, a member of civil society platform Somos+ and the political opposition party Convergence for Social Democracy, who was arrested on August 1 and is currently being detained in Oveng Azem prison.
Joaquín Elo Ayeto was accused of carrying out illegal activities through his organization Somos + which, they said, has not been properly registered.
In June 2020, Joaquín Elo Ayeto applied for registration of Somos+ to the Ministry of Interior and Local Corporations. However, several days later, he was notified that the application should be validated by the General Direction of Human Rights, although such validation is not required by the law.
In light of the above, I urge you to immediately release Joaquin Elo Ayeto as his arbitrary detention stems from his peaceful activism and the exercise of his constitutional rights of freedom of association, expression and peaceful assembly. Pending his release, I urge you to ensure that he is protected from torture and other ill-treatment and has access to a lawyer, who must be allowed to carry out their work freely and without fear of reprisal.
Yours sincerely,
[YOUR NAME]
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