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Equatorial Guinea denies human rights violation claims

Tuesday April 24 2018
President Obiang PIX

President Teodoro Obiang Nguema. FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

Equatorial Guinea authorities have denied human rights violations and having political prisoners as suggested by the Portuguese parliament, DW Radio reported.

In a statement, the Equatorial Guinea embassy in Lisbon, expressed its surprise at the move.

“The Portuguese MPs, with some exceptions, allow themselves to be manipulated by appearance and see human rights violations in responses to criminal acts,” DW Radio quoted the statement as saying.

“There are no political prisoners in Equatorial Guinea,” it stated.

Holding protests

The Portuguese parliament on Friday approved a condemnation vote on the “Equatorial Guinea limitations of political liberties and human rights violations”.

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According to the Portuguese parliament, President Teodoro Obiang' Nguema's regime had jailed 135 opposition activists for holding protests during the November 12 vote.

The ruling Equatorial Guinea Democratic Party (PDGE) won the legislative and municipal polls.

PDGE, in power for 40 years and its allies, secured all the 75 senate seats and 99 of the 100 positions in the Chamber of Deputies, the Lower House of parliament.

PDGE has dominated parliament of the tiny oil-rich country since single-party rule was scrapped in 1991.

Death penalty

President Nguema is Africa's longest-serving leader, who has ruled the former Spanish colony for 38 years and been repeatedly accused of abuses by human rights groups.

Equatorial Guinea, though originally a Spanish-speaking country, applied to join the Portuguese-speaking lusophone bloc in 2006 and was admitted.

The country on the west coast of Africa, has a population of 740,000 people occupying a mainland territory called Rio Muni and five small islands, including Bioko, where the capital Malabo is located.

In 2015, before the country formalised joining the Portuguese-speaking bloc, Amnesty International said the Equatorial Guinea authorities had killed nine opposition members.

In 2016, the country’s government said it had abolished the death penalty.

Earlier this month, the Equatorial Guinea government said it had thwarted “a coup” in late December mounted by mercenaries who sought to attack President Nguema.

SEE ALSO: Clashes in Equatorial Guinea after government 'foils' coup attempt

In a statement read on public radio, Security minister Nicolas Obama Nchama said: “Mercenaries... were recruited by Equatorial Guinean militants from certain radical opposition parties with the support of certain powers.”

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