AFRICA - House Foreign Affairs Committee Democrats

204
DAR, Jose Maguga, Church representatives practiced self-censorship on these issues
during the year. The Government required permission for any religious activity outside
the church building, but in practice this requirement did not appear to hinder
organized religious groups. The Government required that DAR inform the local delegate
in Ebibeyin each time that it had a board meeting (see Section 2.b.).
Religious study was required in schools and was usually, but not exclusively,
Catholic.
For a more detailed discussion see the 2002 International Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel, Emigration, and Repatriation.—The
law provides for these rights; however, the Government limited
them in practice. Local police routinely extorted bribes from occupants of vehicles
traveling outside the capital. The police routinely stopped citizens at roadblocks,
subjected them to searches, and extorted money from them. Police and solders continued
to target citizens of Cameroon, Gabon, and Nigeria (see Section 1.c.). The
Government justified these roadblocks as customs controls to compensate for its inability
to control the country’s borders effectively. These checkpoints effectively restricted
the freedom of movement of members of the opposition. Prior to the presidential
election, the Government re-opened a number of military roadblocks on the
island of Bioko between Malabo and Luba and also in the vicinity of Bata on the
mainland.
All citizens were required to obtain permission to travel abroad from the local Police
Commissioner, and some members of opposition parties were denied this permission.
Those who did travel abroad sometimes were interrogated upon their return
(see Section 2.a.). On January 20, the Inter-Ministerial Human Rights Commission
eliminated exit visa requirements for citizens traveling outside the country;
however, the Government refused issuance of exit visas to some opposition figures
early in the year.
During the year, President Obiang continued to urge exiled opposition figures to
return to the country and to legalize their parties; however, there were no reports
of returnees during the year.
The law provides for the granting of asylum and refugee status in accordance with
the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol.
In recent years, an average of one or two persons requested refugee status in the
country. The Government provided first asylum and generally granted asylum requests;
the Government cooperated with the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR).
There were no reports of the forced return of any persons to a country where they
feared persecution.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their government
peacefully; however, in practice there have been no free, fair, and transparent elections
since independence in 1968. The President exercised strong powers as head
of state, commander of the armed forces, and leader of the Government party, the
PDGE. Impeachment of the head of state is forbidden in the constitution. Leadership
positions within the Government in general were restricted to the President’s
Mongomo clan of the Fang ethnic group and its closest supporters. The Government
completely dominated the elected Chamber of Deputies and the Minister of the Interior
also acted as President of the National Electoral Board.
In 1997 the Government and 13 political parties promulgated a revised national
pact that called for the creation of a multiparty electoral commission and an observance
commission to monitor compliance with the agreement. The pact also stipulated
an end to various political and electoral abuses and the extension of voting
rights already nominally provided in the Constitution. However, the Government
has not abided by most of the pact’s provisions, and opposition activists reported
that the Government made virtually no effort to implement the pact. The Government’s
refusal to issue exit visas to some opposition figures early in the year violated
the pact’s principle of freedom of travel and the Government’s own elimination
of the exit visa requirement. The continued arrests of CPDS and UP party leaders
further undermined the Government’s claims that it abided by the pact, as did its
continued restrictions on freedom of movement and the continued lack of access to
government media by the opposition (see Sections 2.a. and 2.d.).
The electoral law mandates the replacement of open voting by secret ballots in
future elections but prohibits coalitions between political parties. Nevertheless, five
opposition groups including the CPDS, Front for Democratic Opposition (PSD), PP,
Progressive Democratic Alliance (ADP), and the UP formed the Front of Democratic
VerDate 11-MAY-2000 08:43 Jul 22, 2003 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00234 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6621 86917.004 SFRELA2 PsN: SFRELA2