Equatorial Guinea: Deep concern over closed-door trials

May 27, 2025.- Geneva, Switzerland – EG Justice, the African Association of Education for Development (ASAFED), the Opening Central Africa Coalition, the Sassuofit Collective and the Lusophone Platform for Human Rights (PLUDH) express our deep concern about the recent actions that weaken judicial independence and undermine the rule of law in Equatorial Guinea, and urge the Government to prioritize effective judicial protections, through the utmost respect for an independent and impartial judicial system.

The signatory organizations have received credible information about the closed-door trials of dozens of citizens from the island of Annobón, without prior notification or the presence of their lawyers. These secret trials are taking place after more than ten months of detention, during which time, twenty-six (26) of the detainees held in the maximum-security prison in Oveng Azem, have not even had access to their lawyers.

According to Mr. Cruz Eya Nchama, President of ASAFED: “Holding a closed-door trial, in the absence of the detainees’ freely chosen lawyers, clearly violates the Constitution of Equatorial Guinea, which guarantees to every citizen the right ‘not be condemned without a prior trial, nor deprived of the right of defense at any stage of the judicial process’.” He added that likewise, “the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights ratified by Equatorial Guinea in 1987 guarantees to every citizen the right to a fair and public trial by an impartial tribunal.” Furthermore, the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights specifically states anyone’s “right to defense, including the right to be defended by counsel of his choice”. 

The signatories note that the closed-door trials are occurring within the context of a series of actions that have the effect of undermining confidence in the independence of the judiciary and exacerbating the lack of legal defense. In July 2024, some residents of Annobón island held a peaceful protest and sent a letter to President Obiang, requesting an end to dynamite blasting by the company SOMAGEC in its construction projects. They argued that the dynamite blasting was damaging their homes, as well as the fauna and flora of an island designated as a Nature Reserve by the government.

Following the demonstration, the government arbitrarily detained several people in Annobon. It also detained family members who went to the detention facilities in Malabo to show support for their loved ones transferred there. In the end, thirty-three (33) men and four (4) women were arraigned and charged. According to the latest indictment dated May 10, 2025, the detained are charged with six crimes, some of them extremely serious: libel and slander; abusive exercise of fundamental rights; rebellion; breach of constitutional order; and acts that compromise the peace (public disorder).

According to Tutu Alicante, Executive Director of EG Justice: “Equatorial Guinea’s human rights record was again examined by the UN Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review in March 2025, and the EG Government accepted eighteen recommendations calling for the release of all individuals arbitrarily detained, and the ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. This closed-door trial contravenes the letter, and the spirit of these commitments adopted in Geneva.”

In this context, we, the signatories to the statement, call on the State of Equatorial Guinea to respect the country’s current legislation and the fundamental human rights of citizens detained in connection with their peaceful activities in Annobón. We also alert the UN Human Rights Council and other international bodies to the situation of these and other detainees in the country’s squalid prisons, whose rights continue to be blatantly violated.

EG Justice: Equatorial Guinea Justice

ASAFED: African Association of Education for Development, ECOSOC Member since 1983.

OCA: Opening Central Africa Coalition 

SASSOUFIT Collective

PLUDH: Plataforma Lusófona de Direitos Humanos