26 Feb 2018 | Campaigns -- Featured, Equatorial Guinea, Statements
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The trial of an artist on dubious counterfeiting charges, apparently brought in retaliation for drawing cartoons critical of the government, will be a test both of the independence of the judiciary and of free speech in Equatorial Guinea, seven rights organisations said on Monday 26 February 2018. The presiding judge announced that the trial will begin on February 27, 2018, for Nsé Ramón Esono Ebalé, who has been held in prison in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea’s capital, since his arrest on September 16, 2017.
Esono Ebalé, who had been living abroad since 2010, is a cartoonist who frequently uses his art to lampoon senior government officials. He portrays the president and other officials as stealing public money to fund lavish lifestyles and sexual exploits, without any regard for the grinding poverty around them.
“Ramón has done nothing more than ask the questions that the rest of his countrymen fear to ask and his answer was a prison cell,” said Dr. Robert Russell, executive director of Cartoonists Rights Network International. “More should be done to challenge those institutions, interests, and individuals who enable the EG government to operate so far outside the boundaries of law.”
The human rights groups are Cartoonists Rights Network International, Committee to Protect Journalists, EG Justice, Human Rights Watch, International Federation for Human Rights, Index for Censorship, PEN America, and PEN International.
Esono Ebalé was arrested while he was in Equatorial Guinea to request a new passport, accompanied by two Spanish friends. All three were initially questioned together in Malabo’s Central Police Station, but the two Spaniards were released after a short period. The interrogation focused solely on Esono Ebalé’s work as an artist, one of the Spanish friends said. The friend also said that the police claimed that only members of approved political parties are permitted to criticize the government.
Three days after Esono Ebalé’s arrest, the state-owned TV channel ran a report alleging that he had been arrested for counterfeiting and attempting to launder approximately US$1,800 of local currency found in the car he was driving. The report claimed that police had followed him during multiple trips to the country since 2014, although Esono Ebalé can be seen destroying his Equatoguinean passport in a video posted to YouTube in 2012, and he has been unable to travel since.
That same day, the police officer who conducted the initial interrogation summoned the Spanish friend to the station in order to explain that the questions he had asked about Esono Ebalé’s art on the night of the arrest were merely a strategy to get to this other crime and stressed that Equatorial Guinea respects the right to freedom of expression.
Despite this quick turnabout, Esono Ebalé was not formally charged until 82 days after his arrest. This prolonged period – during which the investigating judge did not respond to three pleadings or motions submitted by his lawyers – calls into question the credibility of the evidence. It also appears to violate Equatorial Guinean law, which mandates that a judge must charge suspects within 72 hours of arrest, unless the judge recognizes an exception.
The charge sheet alleges that an undercover agent, working on a tip, approached Esono Ebalé to provide change for a large bill and was given counterfeit money in return. The charge sheet also states that the head of the National Police testified regarding receiving information about Esono Ebalé’s alleged involvement in counterfeiting money and that the false notes were presented to the judge. It includes no information as to where the police found the money or other alleged members of the counterfeit ring. The judge refused bail and ordered Esono Ebalé to pay a 20 million CFA francs (US$36,000) assurance to satisfy any fines the court may levy on him.
“Ramón has been sitting in prison for more than five months and yet the prosecution’s feeble efforts at evidence cannot dislodge the appearance that this is a sham prosecution in retaliation for his biting cartoons,” said Mausi Segun, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “We hope the judge sees through it and acquits him.”
The case has garnered international attention, particularly from cartoonists, who have mobilized to support him. On February 2, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights sent a letter of appeal to the Equatorial Guinean government raising concerns that the arrest violates Ebalé’s right to free expression.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_basic_grid post_type=”post” max_items=”1″ element_width=”12″ grid_id=”vc_gid:1519640893178-7c5eb27e-0fc3-0″ taxonomies=”19377″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
16 Nov 2017 | Artistic Freedom, Campaigns -- Featured, Equatorial Guinea, Statements
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”96393″ img_size=”full”][vc_column_text]Mr. Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo
President of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea
Palacio Presidencial
Avenida de la Libertad
Malabo, Guinea Ecuatorial
Your Excellency,
We write to express our deep concern in response to the unjust arrest and subsequent detention without charge of Ramón Esono Ebalé in Malabo on 16th September 2017, and to urge you to release him immediately.
Mr. Ebalé and two of his friends were stopped by police, handcuffed, and had their mobile phones seized while getting into Mr. Ebalé’s sister’s car after leaving a restaurant in Malabo. Police then interrogated Mr. Ebalé about his drawings of, and blog posts about members of the Equatoguinean leadership, and told him – in front of his two friends – that he needed to make a statement explaining those drawings and blog posts. It was confirmed by police that only Mr. Ebalé was the target of the arrest, and not his two friends.
Mr Ebalé has learned that he faces potential charges of counterfeiting and money laundering; offences that were apparently never mentioned to him or his friends when they were arrested. Mr. Ebalé’s prolonged detention without charge gives rise to serious concerns that these allegations are no more than a pretext to justify the ongoing arbitrary deprivation of liberty he is being subjected to.
Mr. Ebalé’s extended detention at Black Beach prison without charge appears to be a clear violation of Equatorial Guinean law, which requires charges to be filed within 72 hours of an arrest. A judge has not mandated preventative detention in his case, which under exceptional circumstances would allow the police to hold him without charge for longer, nor does there appear to be a basis for such an order.
Mr. Ebalé, a renowned cartoonist who has been living abroad since 2011, has now spent 60 days in prison. His arrest in Equatorial Guinea—where he returned to renew his passport—has received global attention with calls for his release from fellow journalists, artists, activists, and human rights and press freedom organizations.
As Equatorial Guinea prepares to join the UN Security Council in January 2018, the world is watching the case of Mr. Ebalé closely. We hope that as your country takes this prominent position on the world stage, your government respects all human rights, including the right to freedom of expression, as enshrined in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
In this vein, we call on your Excellency, and the judicial authorities in Equatorial Guinea to respect the rights of all artists, human rights defenders, activists, and, more generally, all individuals in Equatorial Guinea who wish to exercise their right to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association without fear of being harassed or prosecuted.
To this end, we urge you to order Mr. Ebalé’s immediate and unconditional release from prison.
Thank you for your consideration.
Yours Sincerely,
Amnesty International
API Madrid
Arterial Network
Association of American Editorial Cartoonists
Baroness Helena Kennedy QC, Member of the House of Lords, President of JUSTICE
Cartoonist Rights Network International
Committee to Protect Journalists
EG Justice
International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders
Freemuse
Human Rights Watch
Index on Censorship
PEN International
Reporters Without Borders
The Doughty Street International Media Defense Panel
Transparency International
UNCAC Coalition
World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), within the framework of the Observatory for the
Protection of Human Rights Defenders[/vc_column_text][vc_video link=”https://youtu.be/DD3aNb2GTj8″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Don’t lose your voice. Stay informed.” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_separator color=”black”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]Index on Censorship is a nonprofit that campaigns for and defends free expression worldwide. We publish work by censored writers and artists, promote debate, and monitor threats to free speech. We believe that everyone should be free to express themselves without fear of harm or persecution – no matter what their views.
Join our mailing list (or follow us on Twitter or Facebook) and we’ll send you our weekly newsletter about our activities defending free speech. We won’t share your personal information with anyone outside Index.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][gravityform id=”20″ title=”false” description=”false” ajax=”false”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_separator color=”black”][/vc_column][/vc_row]
3 Nov 2017 | Artistic Freedom, News and features
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”96393″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]Cartoonist Ramón Esono Ebalé has been named the winner of the 2017 Cartoonists Rights Network International Award for Courage in Editorial Cartooning.
An outspoken and gifted graphic novelist and cartoonist, Ebalé is imprisoned in Equatorial Guinea’s notorious Black Beach prison under as yet unspecified charges.
“The Equatorial Guinean government, one of the most notorious kleptocracies in Africa, is clearly angered by his outspoken comic and cartoon based criticism of the ruling family,” Joel Pett, president of the CRNI board of directors, wrote in a statement accouncing the award.
Ebalé, alias Jamon y Queso, was arrested on 16 September in Malabo, the capital of Equatorial Guinea. He was initially questioned by security agents in relation to his cartoons that are critical of President Obiang and other government officials. News outlets reported a few days later that he is being investigated for alleged money laundering and counterfeiting money.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”96264″ img_size=”full” onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2017/10/exhibition-repressive-governments-world-fear-cartoonists/”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]
Repressive governments the world over fear cartoonists. Cartoonists get straight to the point. Join Index, CRNI and the UK’s Professional Cartoonists Organisation for an exploration of cartooning.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Don’t lose your voice. Stay informed.” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_separator color=”black”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]Index on Censorship is a nonprofit that campaigns for and defends free expression worldwide. We publish work by censored writers and artists, promote debate, and monitor threats to free speech. We believe that everyone should be free to express themselves without fear of harm or persecution – no matter what their views.
Join our mailing list (or follow us on Twitter or Facebook) and we’ll send you our weekly newsletter about our activities defending free speech. We won’t share your personal information with anyone outside Index.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][gravityform id=”20″ title=”false” description=”false” ajax=”false”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_separator color=”black”][/vc_column][/vc_row]
