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afrol.com, 21 September - Yesterday, the main Equatorial Guinean opposition party published its letter of protest sent to the president of the European Commission, Romano Prodi. UDI president, Daniel M. Oyono, informed Prodi about the critical situation in the country, documenting the detentions and torture, only in the last few weeks. Prodi was to meet with Equatorial Guinean dictator Teodoro Obiang in Brussels. - Receiving him in Brussels with all official honours, means a slap in the face to our people, the only legitimate proprietor of our nation and resources, the president of the Union of Independent Equatorial Guinean Democrats (Unión de Demócratas Independientes de Guinea Ecuatorial, UDI) stated in his letter of 14 September. It also gives an incredible support to Obiang's regime, "something which, of course neither supports nor helps to come to the political solution we need to get to a peaceful, democratic transition in our country," the letter goes on. "This even less when the democratic countries of the European Union exclusively obey economic interests and give into this regime, marginalizing our people together with the Equatorial Guinean opposition." Oyono describes the 21 years of the Obiang government in the letter, in which the people and the opposition has been deprived its human rights, political freedom and democracy. "Being a political Guinean organisation, in opposition the the regime of general Teodoro Obiang Nguema, we, as the rest of the people, are very surprised that the president of the European executive invites, or accepts to receive, the head of a government which despises, oppresses and represses his people by means of a policy of violence and harassment and of permanent violation of basic human rights such as welfare, political freedom and democracy. A leader, which has denied these rights for 21 years, will be received in the headquarters of the democratic governments of the European Union."
"It is more than that," Oyono added, "You will know as it is public knowledge, so often revealed by humanitarian organisations and prestigious international NGOs, the Guinean government keeps its population defencelessly and submissively in the most scandalous misery." The main reason for Obiang's visit to Brussels on 14 September, about which afrol.com reported last week, was to achieve the resuming of the economic aid of the European Union. The aid was frozen due to the misgoverning of public funds, in general by the president himself and the executive. According to Oyono, the state of corruption in Equatorial Guinea has not changed, as Obiang is trying to make the international society believe. - This regime not only disrespect and ignore the calls and recommendations by the European Union, the UN Special Commission for Human Rights and the international democratic community regarding the democratisation of the country. It also disrespects and ignores the advices of the World Bank and the IMF about the utilisation of the immense resources produced by the exploitation and commercialisation of the natural resources of our country, mainly consisting of oil, gas and timber. These are used capriciously for the president's private benefits, in harm of our people, challenging everybody. Nominally, Equatorial Guinea is producing more than 315.000 barrels of petroleum a day. But this does not benefit the development of the country, nor the living standards of the Guinean population. Not one dollar arriving from the oil and gas exploitation and commercialisation figures in neither the national budget nor in the accounts of any other public agency. The UDI president also addresses the present situation in Equatorial Guinea, which has grown worse only the last weeks, as the Obiang regime seems to have turned into a more paranoid policy, suspecting everybody to be oppositional, and thus increased the political persecution. "The last six months, the last week and today, as I address You, Mr. President, a general insecurity is governing in my country, caused by the tiring and discontent of he Guinean population. Against this, the regime has ordered a de facto hunting against the Guineans, with large-scale detentions in all sectors: civil servants; politicians, ex-ministers; highly decorated militaries - all suspected of conspiracies; all tortured inhumanely." The letter is signed by Daniel M. Oyono, president of the UDI and spokesperson of the oppositional union Comité de Coordinación UDI-MAIB. Prodi met with Teodoro Obiang the same day. Since this, the acting Minister of Justice has been arrested in Equatorial Guinea.
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