GABON: NGO ACTIVISTS EXPECTED TO BE RELEASED

C O N F I D E N T I A L LIBREVILLE 000003 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/06/2019 TAGS: PHUM PGOV GB SUBJECT: GABON: NGO ACTIVISTS EXPECTED TO BE RELEASED REF: LIBREVILLE 002 Classified By: Poloff Leslie Doumbia for reasons 1.4(b) and (d). -------------- SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (C) Marc Ona, other NGO activists and journalists arrested New Years' Eve are supposed to be released today according to Gabonese law (LIBREVILLE 002). In a status called "garde a vue", individuals can be held in police custody lawfully without formal charges against them for a total 72 hours, with a possible two-day extension period from the attorney general-not counting holidays. Local and international activists have expressed their outrage at the arrests and have called for the immediate release of the detainees. U.S. Ambassador raised the detentions with Deputy Foreign Minister Noel Nelson Messone, who said he would inquire. Most diplomatic and other missions in Gabon are waiting out the "garde a vue" period before taking sterner action with the Gabonese government. The detainees appear to be in good health, despite filthy living conditions, but access to legal council is still forbidden. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (C) According to Gabonese law, the NGO activists and journalists arrested December 31 should be released by the end of the day today or tomorrow morning, at the latest, if no formal charges are brought against them. Legally, individuals can be held in police custody lawfully without formal charges for a total 72 hours, with a possible two-day extension period from the attorney general-not counting holidays-in "garde a vue" status. This time frame--if omitting January 1 and 2 as Gabonese holidays--expires today. ¶3. (C) U.S. Ambassador raised the detentions with Deputy FM Messone, adding that, prior to his detention, Marc Ona had been prevented from departing Gabon for overseas travel. Messone said he was not aware of the details surrounding the detentions but assured the Ambassador that Gabonese laws would be followed. Messone said he would inquire about the detentions and the status of the detainees. French Ambassador Jean-Didier Roisin, contrary to media reports, has not attempted to demarche Gabonese officials or gain access to the detainees. He has discouraged other chiefs of missions from doing so until the "garde a vue" period actually expires. Roisin also told the U.S. Ambassador that he will have difficulty defending all of the actions of Marc and his colleagues, whom Gabonese authorities feel have been overreaching their mandates as non-governmental organizations. Nevertheless, he said that the French Embassy would pa rticipate in a meeting of European Union-member missions tomorrow morning to exchange information and discuss next steps. ¶4. (C) The detainees have been held in filthy detention cells since December 31, but the wheelchair-bound Ona, according to his wife, appears in good health. She was able to see him briefly January 5 when a sympathetic acquaintance at the Judicial Police informed her that Ona was meeting with one of the investigators in his office and she could see him there. She rushed over to bring food, clothes, and a chamber pot, but was not allowed to converse freely with her husband. She told an embassy employee that she has a meeting with the investigator today to see if she can set up a regular meeting schedule. While Post has not been able to confirm the condition of the other detainees, we believe that other than the filthy living conditions, they have not been subjected to further physical abuse. ¶5. (C) Both the European Commission mission and the wife of Ona claim that there are a total of seven detainees, although the identities of all are not known at this time. While it is not clear if any of the detainees other than Ona have been granted access to family members, they have not had access to their lawyers. According to some reports, Marc Ona is being represented by Louis-Gaston Mayila. Mayila, a former minister, resigned his seat as the vice-president of the ruling Parti Democratique Gabonais (PDG) in 2007 to create his own party, l'Union Pour La Nouvelle Republique (UPNR). In November 2008, however, he petitioned and won permission to realign himself with the coalition of parties that make up the presidential majority. REDDICK