Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09LIBREVILLE3
2009-01-06 13:56:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Libreville
Cable title:  

GABON: NGO ACTIVISTS EXPECTED TO BE RELEASED

Tags:  PHUM PGOV GB 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO0579
PP RUEHDU RUEHMR RUEHPA RUEHRN RUEHTRO
DE RUEHLC #0003 0061356
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 061356Z JAN 09
FM AMEMBASSY LIBREVILLE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0818
INFO RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE
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
-------

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