A prominent human rights activist in Equatorial Guinea, Joaquin Elo Ayeto, known as Paysa, has been detained by authorities for over a week due to his involvement with a banned organisation, his lawyer disclosed.
Ayeto, who serves as the coordinator of Somos+ Sociedad Civil, a rights group deemed illegal by the Equatorial Guinean government, was arrested at his home in Malabo last Thursday. His lawyer, Angel Obama Obiang, reported that the police accuse Ayeto of seeking assistance from the French embassy despite his association’s unregistered status.
The authorities have not yet officially commented on the arrest of Ayeto, one of the few remaining human rights activists in the tightly controlled West African nation. A gendarmerie officer, who spoke to AFP on the condition of anonymity, confirmed that Ayeto is being held because of the illegal status of his organisation and its clandestine operations.
Obama Obiang himself was briefly detained on Sunday before being released the following day. He defended his client by stating, “The constitution of this country guarantees freedom of association, and as his lawyer, I can assure you that we have applied for the legalisation of the Somos+ association, but the government has consistently refused.”
In a brief video posted on Facebook shortly before his arrest, Ayeto expressed frustration at his repeated detentions. He was previously arrested in December 2022 for organising a conference on human rights and corruption in Equatorial Guinea without official permission.
In February 2019, Ayeto was charged with the “attempted assassination” of President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, who has ruled the country for 44 years. The charges were later downgraded to “defamation and making threats against the President.” Following a year in detention, Ayeto was released without trial on the president’s orders.
Equatorial Guinea, a small nation in West Africa, has been under the authoritarian rule of President Obiang, who at 82 years old, is the world’s longest-serving non-royal leader. He was re-elected in 2022 for his sixth seven-year term.