Africa18 September, 20262 min read
Equatorial Guinea Police Arrest U.S. Deportees Samson Birhane And Ahmed Soliman At Hotel Bamy
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Two men deported by the U.S. to Equatorial Guinea were arrested and beaten by police. They were hooded, bags placed over heads, and held gunpoint in a hotel detention center.
Arrests at Hotel Bamy
Two men deported from the United States to Equatorial Guinea were arrested by local police forces and transferred to a prison earlier this month, after they spoke out about conditions at Hotel Bamy in Malabo. On September 11, police forces arrived at Hotel Bamy in the city of Malabo, where more than two dozen people have been confined after their deportation from the United States to Equatorial Guinea. Samson Birhane, who is from Eritrea, and Ahmed Soliman, a gay asylum seeker from Egypt, said they were arrested and taken to prison for speaking out about the inhumane conditions endured by U.S. deportees at the hotel and threats by armed forces.
Human rights lawyer Tutu Alicante said, "The State Department reports that the U.S. has been putting out for the last three decades are consistent about the fact that Equatorial Guinea uses torture". Amnesty International is calling for the release of two men deported from the U.S. to Equatorial Guinea, and it described the arrests as apparent retaliation for speaking out about conditions and threats.
Beatings and gunpoint detention
Witnesses and human rights lawyers said Ahmed Soliman and Samson Birhane were bound, fitted with bags over their heads, beaten and pushed down a flight of stairs in plain view of other U.S. deportees before being taken to a prison.
Police officers shouted, "Where is the phone? Where is the phone!" as they beat the men, after they were accused of breaking a mirror at the hotel.
The two men were arbitrarily arrested after police covered their heads with a bag, beat them and held them at gunpoint in a hotel-turned-detention center.
Amnesty International said in a statement that the authorities must immediately release the men, inform them of any charges against them and allow them unimpeded access to counsel.
Ahmed Soliman said in a text message, "We are in imminent danger now and can’t keep living like this," while he was a deportee at the hotel.
Legal limbo and accountability
The deportees were being held in the Hotel Bamy, a dilapidated building on the outskirts of the city of Malabo, and armed police officers stand guard 24 hours a day. Democracy Now! said Amnesty International is calling for the release of two men deported from the U.S. to Equatorial Guinea, and it described the arrests as apparent retaliation for speaking out about conditions and threats. The U.S. has sent at least 66 people from different African countries, Cuba and Brazil to Equatorial Guinea, and the Trump administration has pursued dozens of similar deals with countries to take in immigrants the U.S. cannot deport directly.
Bella Mosselmans, director of the Global Strategic Litigation Council, said, "This is a human rights catastrophe," and added that the U.S. and Equatorial Guinea "must be held accountable for the atrocities they are committing". None of the immigrants are charged with a crime in Equatorial Guinea, and the indefinite detention reflects a contradiction in arrangements between Washington and foreign governments.