Gabon's Harassment of Transparency Advocates Continues
On December 31, anti-corruption campaigners in Gabon, including PWYP Gabon Co-coordinator Marc Ona and coalition Gabon member Georges Mpaga, both RWI grantees, along with civil servant Grégory Ngoua Mintsa, and two journalists, Gaston Asseko and Dieudonné Koungou, were arbitrarily arrested and detained for a full week without formal charges or official warrants against them. The arrests follows a campaign of official harassment against Ona and other activists who have raised concerns about management of public money in Gabon and called for more transparency and accountability in the country's oil and mining sectors.
On January 7, the detainees were charged with "possession of a document for dissemination for the purpose of propaganda"' and with "oral or written propaganda for incitement of rebellion against state authorities." The charges relate to an open letter criticizing Gabon’s President Bongo published on the internet. The men's lawyer, Maître Ruphin Nkoulou Ondo, commented: "My clients are not the authors of this letter, which is in the possession of hundreds of people: are they all to be detained too?"
The men spent a total of 12 days in detention in appalling conditions which fall well below recognized international norms with no access to sanitation or medical facilities. The men were released on bail on January 12, 2009 following an outpouring of international criticism. Among that criticism was a letter written to Gabon's president El Hadj Omar Bongo Ondimba by U.S. Representative Ed Royce (R-CA), Representative Barney Frank (D-MA) and others, expressing concern about the "flawed legal procedures that led to arrest and detention... and the charges that are currently still pending against them." The letter further said that Members of Congress are "extremely alarmed that independent Gabonese civil society members campaigning against misuse of public funds face harassment and intimidation by government authorities," and questioned Gabon's commitment to EITI principles and practices.
In January 2008, 22 non-governmental organizations (NGOs), including members of PWYP Gabon, were temporarily suspended by the government for alleged violations of public order. The suspension, which froze the legal status of the Gabonese NGOs and barred them from activity, was reversed following an international outcry.
In July 2008, Ona and other civil society campaigners were summoned for questioning by the Gabonese police after they called for an investigation into a controversy concerning the financial affairs of the country's chief prosecutor. No charges were brought against them.
Ona, is a member of a national committee that oversees the implementation in Gabon of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), a global initiative for greater openness in the oil, gas and mining industries. Gabon has endorsed the EITI, and its government officials sit on the same committee as Ona. Despite these positions, Ona continues to face unjustified travel restrictions which have prevented him from traveling abroad since June 2008.
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