Equatorial Guinea: Reverend Bienvenido Samba Momesori

Protestant pastor Reverend Bienvenido Samba Momesori, arrested in 2003, is being held in Evinayong Prison without charge or trial. He was first held incommunicado, but now shares a cell with fellow prisoner of conscience Felipe Ondó Obiang.

Update July 2007: Unfortunately this year President Obiang did not grant a pardon on the occasion of his birthday. This is very disappointing, particularly as in November 2006, during an official visit to Spain, he publicly promised the Spanish government that he would release political prisoners, although he did not say when.

There are still two further important dates on which President Obiang may choose to release some or all prisoners: 3 August, the date he took power, and 12 October, Independence Day.

Please continue to send appeals to President Obiang, urging him to take advantage of 3 August to release Reverend Bienvenido Samba Momesori.

Campaigning update In early June 2007 Amnesty International were informed that a consignment of letters of solidarity sent by Amnesty supporters in the UK arrived in Equatorial Guinea and were handed over to Reverend Bienvenido Samba Momesori’s family. The family sent their thanks to all the "groups and people working for the release of their father”, and said they would tell Reverend Samba about these letters the next time they visited him.

The family were also very moved by an article by the Archbishop of Canterbury, UK, about Reverend Samba which appeared in the New Statesmen in February 2007. The article received wide coverage in the press, particularly in Spain. Read the article at newstatesman.com

Protestant pastor Reverend Bienvenido Samba Momesori, arrested in 2003, is being held in Evinayong Prison without charge or trial. He was first held incommunicado, but now shares a cell with fellow prisoner of conscience Felipe Ondó Obiang.

Reverend Samba, pastor of the Church of Cherubs and Seraphs, was arrested on 26 October 2003. Police officers in civilian clothes looked for Reverend Samba at his home; when his wife sent their daughter to the church to fetch him, the police followed. The pastor and his daughter were then taken to the police station, where Reverend Samba was taken into an office. After one and a half hours, his anxious daughter went to look for him. An officer told her that her father had gone home, but when she arrived he was not there. The authorities initially denied detaining Reverend Samba. After two weeks the family discovered he was being held in Black Beach prison. Later he was transferred, apparently when the authorities heard that a Red Cross delegation were looking for him. The authorities again refused to disclose his whereabouts. In early December 2003 the family learned Reverend Samba was imprisoned in Evinayong.

Reverend Samba is a Bubi, the ethnic group native to Bioko Island. Amnesty International believes he was arrested solely on grounds of his known, peaceful political opinions and ethnic origin, and considers him to be a prisoner of conscience.

There has been some improvement in Reverend Samba’s conditions of detention: the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is now able to visit regularly. Family visits are allowed at any time, but Reverend Samba’s family are only able to visit approximately every five months because of the distance from their home.

Amnesty now knows that Reverend Samba has five children: four daughters and one son. When his family visit they bring food, or money to buy food, as provision of food remains inadequate in all prisons in Equatorial Guinea. Prisoners often share their food with those who do not have families to provide for them.

Reverend Samba’s family, and the ICRC when they visit, also provide medicines for his chronic ailments, as the prison does not provide treatment for any chronic illness.

Protestant pastor Reverend Bienvenido Samba Momesori, arrested in 2003, is being held in Evinayong Prison without charge or trial. He was first held incommunicado, but now shares a cell with fellow prisoner of conscience Felipe Ondó Obiang.

Update July 2007: Unfortunately this year President Obiang did not grant a pardon on the occasion of his birthday. This is very disappointing, particularly as in November 2006, during an official visit to Spain, he publicly promised the Spanish government that he would release political prisoners, although he did not say when.

There are still two further important dates on which President Obiang may choose to release some or all prisoners: 3 August, the date he took power, and 12 October, Independence Day.

Please continue to send appeals to President Obiang, urging him to take advantage of 3 August to release Reverend Bienvenido Samba Momesori.

Campaigning update In early June 2007 Amnesty International were informed that a consignment of letters of solidarity sent by Amnesty supporters in the UK arrived in Equatorial Guinea and were handed over to Reverend Bienvenido Samba Momesori’s family. The family sent their thanks to all the "groups and people working for the release of their father”, and said they would tell Reverend Samba about these letters the next time they visited him.

The family were also very moved by an article by the Archbishop of Canterbury, UK, about Reverend Samba which appeared in the New Statesmen in February 2007. The article received wide coverage in the press, particularly in Spain. Read the article at newstatesman.com

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