US raps E-Guinea for executions

2010-08-31 07:46

Washington - The United States on Monday sharply criticized Equatorial Guinea for having executed four men implicated in a 2009 attack on the presidential palace in the capital Malabo.

"The United States was deeply concerned to learn that the government of Equatorial Guinea executed four individuals after a summary military tribunal on August 21," State Department spokesperson Philip Crowley said.

"While we respect Equatorial Guinea's right to defend its national security, the trial failed to meet minimum international human-rights guarantees," Crowley told reporters, reading from a statement.

Amnesty International has already decried the swift execution of Jose Abeso Nsue, Manuel Ndong Anseme, Alipio Ndong Asumu and Jacinto Micha Obiang on August 21 by a military court in Malabo.

While acknowledging the death sentences against the four accused - three of whom were military officers - the authorities in oil-producing Equatorial Guinea have neither confirmed nor denied that the executions were carried out.

A group of armed men allegedly came by sea to attack the presidential palace, intending to kill longtime head of state Teodoro Obiang Nguema and carry out a coup d'etat.

Crowley also said the US government was "disappointed in the 20-year jail sentences handed down by the same military tribunal" to two opposition leaders who had been acquitted by a civilian court.

"The government of Equatorial Guinea must commit itself to upholding the rights guaranteed by its own constitution and its obligations under international human-rights law," Crowley said.

- AFP