Foro de Inteligencia, Espionaje y Servicios Secretos

19 de Noviembre - El relator especial de la ONU sobre la Tortura, Manfred Nowak, finalizó el martes su misión en Guinea Ecuatorial, concluyendo que el país ha avanzado algo en la mejora de las estructuras físicas de las cárceles, pero sigue habiendo un camino largo que recorrer en la eliminación de la práctica de la tortura.

Durante su visita en Guinea Ecuatorial, Manfred Nowak visitó las cárceles y se entrevistó con las autoridades nacionales, socios al desarrollo, sociedad civil y los medios de comunicación.

Tras su llegada al país el pasado 9 de Noviembre, la delegación realizó un pequeño entrenamiento con el Equipo de las Naciones Unidas en el País (UNCT) y entrevistó altos cargos, entre ellos el presidente del Parlamento y los ministros de Asuntos Sociales y Derechos Humanos, Asuntos Exteriores y Defensa, al tiempo que realizaba visitas aleatorias a las cárceles y dependencias de retención de la Policía y de la Gendarmería.

En la rueda de prensa ofrecida a los medios de comunicación nacionales e internacionales en Malabo, Nowak señaló que Guinea Ecuatorial ha realizado grandes progresos en la mejora de la infraestructura física de las cárceles como las de Black Beach y la Comisaría de Policía de Bata; pero persisten otras condiciones inhumana que el Gobierno tiene que tratar de eliminar, como algunos castigos físico que aplican la Policía y la Gendarmería durante los interrogatorios, la no separación de dependencias entre mujeres y hombres, lo cual eleva el riesgo de violencia sexual para las mujeres, la carencia de cuartos de aseos en muchas dependencias carcelarias, los presos duermen en el suelo en otras, la incomunicación de muchos presos y la falta de aplicación del habeas corpus; todo ello a pesar de la promulgación de la Ley contra la tortura y otras medidas anunciadas por el Ejecutivo pero raramente respetadas.

A pesar de haber sido invitado por el Gobierno y agradecer la colaboración de las autoridades nacionales lo cual, en su opinión, reflejaba la voluntad del Ejecutivo en avanzar sobre este tema, Nowak ha denunciado que le fue denegado el acceso a ciertos lugares de los campamentos militares.

La misión avanzó que en el informe que será presentado al Gobierno se le recomienda la reforma del sistema judicial para que pueda ser independiente, establecer mecanismos de supervisión y rendición de cuentas, "porque la Policía sigue utilizando sistemáticamente la tortura en sus interrogatorios" en tanto que - ha señalado - la Gendarmería parece mejor instruida que los primeros.

Además, muchas personas que son acusadas de practicar torturas siguen, no solo en la más absoluta impunidad, sino incluso ejerciendo todavía en sus puestos, señala el informe.



© afrol News

Discreet Mercenaries In Africa

November 22, 2008: An Israeli woman, Yardena Ovadia, has managed to sell Equatorial Guinea about $100 million worth of weapons and military equipment recently. That's an amazing achievement, given that Equatorial Guinea is run by people who dabble in piracy and kidnapping. For example, two years ago, Equatorial Guinea seized over a hundred UN armored vehicles (for peacekeepers in Congo) on a Ukrainian ship that had stopped by to drop off some cargo. The year before that, Mark Thatcher, son of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, was forced to pay Equatorial Guinea a $500,000 fine to get out of the country. Thatcher had earlier been arrested and charged with attempting to overthrow the government. There's certainly a need for that.

Equatorial Guinea has been ruled, since 1979, by dictator Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo (who inherited the job from his uncle, via a coup.) Obiang has grown increasingly paranoid and unstable of late. That's because oil was discovered in the 1990s, and that produced more money than has ever been seen before in the tiny country of only 600,000 people. Obiang has stolen most of the billion dollars in annual oil income, handing out enough of it to cronies to keep himself in power. But, in a situation like that, who can you really trust? So when a ship comes by, with a hundred UN peacekeeper vehicles on deck (worth some $20 million), what do you do? After all, the army of Equatorial Guinea consists of only three battalions, and the stuff on the ship would equip one of those battalions with better gear then they have now.

The situation in Equatorial Guinea is not likely to resolve itself, as Obiang appears to be losing control, with his son, and other members of the family (including those that run the armed forces) apparently wanting to get their hands on the oil money bank accounts. The United States has long protested the corruption in Equatorial Guinea, actually closing its embassy from 1995 to 2003 because of the atrocities committed by the government.

It's possible that Ovadia is selling Obiang more than patrol boats and armored vehicles. There could also be contracts for mercenaries involved, to help keep Obiang in power. Or at least prevent him from dying (violently) in office. Such mercenary deals are frowned upon by the UN, Israel, and most governments in Africa. So such deals would be made quietly. But former Israeli soldiers and commandos do a brisk business in the security field. And right now, president Obiang needs a lot of security.

Nigeria: Militants - JTF Arrests Two Foreigners, 14 Citizens
Daily Independent (Lagos)

28 November 2008
Posted to the web 28 November 2008

Harris-Okon Emmanuel
Warri

Two foreigners and 14 suspected Nigerian militants have been arrested by the Joint Task Force (JTF) in 'Operation Restore Hope' which rounded them up in Warri as they were about to board a bus for Port Harcourt.

The number is in addition to the 18 suspected oil thieves the JTF arrested at Gbaratoru Natural Liquified Gas in Yenagoa.

One of the foreigners, Justino Ondo Edjang, 58, is from Equatorial Guinea; the other, Miguel Francisco Eyeghe, 54, from the Republic of Benin.

The Nigerians are Joshua Opuweri, Benjamin Oyabrede, Keleivi London, Joseph Baed, Godday Satu, Briton Ogorye, Peter Yusuf, James Temisan, Standley Freeborn, Moses Gbesinga, Emmanuel Satu, Yerin Augodideke, Victor Ikpa, and Prince Joe.

Items recovered from them included map of Equatorial Guinea, a map showing JTF locations, foreign currency, and assorted charms with blood stains.

According to JTF, preliminary investigation showed that the suspects are connected to militant groups in the Niger Delta.

JTF Co-ordinator, Lieutenant Colonel Rabe Abubakar said "the suspected militants are said to be regrouping to destabilise the peace process for their selfish interests, but we commend all those who gave the information that led to their arrest."

He urged Nigerians to continue to assist the JTF by providing information to facilitate crime control in the Niger Delta.

"The militant suspects would be handed over to the appropriate authority as soon as JTF concludes full investigation."

The JTF has also uncovered an illegal refinery at Trailer Park on the Warri-Sapele Road, and it is "intensifying efforts to get the suspected bunkerers now at large arrested and bring them to face the law," Abubakar said.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200811280721.html

Guinea Donates Two Million to Cuba

Havana, Nov 28 (Prensa Latina) Equatorial Guinea's government handed over to Cuba a check for two million euros, to alleviate damages caused by three hurricanes that devastated the Island, Granma newspaper reported Friday.

Pastor Micha Ondo Bile, Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and Francophonie of that Central African country, officially delivered the donation Thursday to Cuban Foreign Investment and Economic Collaboration Minister Rodrigo Malmierca.

"This donation is not because we have a lot of resources, we were the poorest African country just 10 years ago, but we are also affected when Cuba is undergoing a difficult situation, and we want to express our gratitude for what the Island is doing in the continent," Ondo Bile stated.

He said he was very honored by his meeting with Army General Raul Castro, president of the Cuban State and Minister Councils, another example of friendship and fraternity between both governments.

His agenda here included laying a wreath at the monument erected to National Hero Jose Marti at the Revolution Square, and Cuban martyrs who died in internationalist missions and the struggle for the national liberation, at the Pantheon of those Fallen for the Defense of the Homeland at Havana's Colon Cemetery

The minister already ended his visit to Cuba, which fostered the ties of friendship between both nations. http://www.plenglish.com/Article.asp?ID ... anguage=EN

China has given Equatorial Guinea 5.7 million euros towards a series of public works projects in the oil-rich former Spanish colony, the country’s state radio reported.
The report said agreements were signed on Sunday during an official visit by Chinese Vice Minister for Foreign Trade Chao Wu-Chen. China agreed to give the 5.7 million euros (more than R74 million) to fund a number of government projects in the Gulf of Guinea, according to the report. China has maintained uninterrupted diplomatic relations with Guinea since 1970. Three years ago, it lent Equatorial Guinea around two billion dollars to fund improvements to the infrastructure to be carried out by Chinese companies.

The country is currently the third-biggest oil producer in sub-Saharan Africa after Nigeria and Angola, producing some 500,000 barrels a day.
Since the increase in oil exploitation in Equatorial Guinea, China has invested heavily in the country’s construction, public works, oil and electricity industries.

Cameroon holds 3 Eq. Guinea soldiers in border spat
Fri Jan 9, 2009 3:41pm GMT
By Tansa Musa

YAOUNDE, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Cameroon's authorities have detained three marines from Equatorial Guinea after complaints by local fishermen of persecution by soldiers from the neighbouring state, a senior military officer said on Friday.

The Cameroonian officer, who asked not be named, said the three soldiers were being held at the southern port of Kribi.

They were detained after Cameroonian naval forces at Kribi received information that three local fishermen from the Rio Campo border settlement had been seized by Equatorial Guinean troops on Tuesday and taken away in a helicopter.

Cameroon's navy "immediately mounted a riposte off the Cameroon coast which culminated in the capture of the three marines," the officer said.

There was no immediate reaction from the government of Equatorial Guinea, sub-Saharan Africa's third largest oil producer, whose Gulf of Guinea territory includes an island-based capital, Malabo, and a mainland portion that borders Cameroon.

Cameroonian media have reported tension mounting on the southern border following the death last month of a Cameroonian fisherman, Guillaume Penda.

The Cameroonian officer said Penda had died in "suspicious circumstances" and that one of the detained Equatorial Guinea marines was suspected of involvement. But he did not elaborate.

In protest, Cameroonian villagers in the southern border region had barricaded roads leading to Equatorial Guinea.

Cameroonian media said the construction of the terminal at Kribi for a Chad-Cameroon oil pipeline had diminished inshore fishing catches in recent years, forcing local fishermen to go further out to sea.

This brought them close to Equatorial Guinean waters, where they faced harassment from the military there, the media said.

Tensions have flared in the past between the two Gulf of Guinea neighbours.

In December 2007, hundreds of Cameroonians fled Equatorial Guinea's mainland to escape harassment by security forces after gunmen robbed two banks and escaped in speedboats to Cameroon.

In October last year, Cameroon arrested two of its own policemen accused of kidnapping a political refugee and handing him over to Equatorial Guinea, where he faced a 30-year jail sentence for allegedly plotting a coup against President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo. (For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: africa.reuters.com/) (Editing by Pascal Fletcher)

Cameroon holds 3 Eq. Guinea soldiers in border spat
Fri Jan 9, 2009 3:41pm GMT
By Tansa Musa

YAOUNDE, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Cameroon's authorities have detained three marines from Equatorial Guinea after complaints by local fishermen of persecution by soldiers from the neighbouring state, a senior military officer said on Friday.

The Cameroonian officer, who asked not be named, said the three soldiers were being held at the southern port of Kribi.

They were detained after Cameroonian naval forces at Kribi received information that three local fishermen from the Rio Campo border settlement had been seized by Equatorial Guinean troops on Tuesday and taken away in a helicopter.

Cameroon's navy "immediately mounted a riposte off the Cameroon coast which culminated in the capture of the three marines," the officer said.

There was no immediate reaction from the government of Equatorial Guinea, sub-Saharan Africa's third largest oil producer, whose Gulf of Guinea territory includes an island-based capital, Malabo, and a mainland portion that borders Cameroon.

Cameroonian media have reported tension mounting on the southern border following the death last month of a Cameroonian fisherman, Guillaume Penda.

The Cameroonian officer said Penda had died in "suspicious circumstances" and that one of the detained Equatorial Guinea marines was suspected of involvement. But he did not elaborate.

In protest, Cameroonian villagers in the southern border region had barricaded roads leading to Equatorial Guinea.

Cameroonian media said the construction of the terminal at Kribi for a Chad-Cameroon oil pipeline had diminished inshore fishing catches in recent years, forcing local fishermen to go further out to sea.

This brought them close to Equatorial Guinean waters, where they faced harassment from the military there, the media said.

Tensions have flared in the past between the two Gulf of Guinea neighbours.

In December 2007, hundreds of Cameroonians fled Equatorial Guinea's mainland to escape harassment by security forces after gunmen robbed two banks and escaped in speedboats to Cameroon.

In October last year, Cameroon arrested two of its own policemen accused of kidnapping a political refugee and handing him over to Equatorial Guinea, where he faced a 30-year jail sentence for allegedly plotting a coup against President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo. (For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: africa.reuters.com/) (Editing by Pascal Fletcher)