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afrol.com, 20 February - Reports from Equatorial Guinea confirm that six taxi drivers have been detained in Malabo for more than a week, being accused of having organised a political strike. Malabo taxi drivers had gathered together in front of the city's town hall on 12 February to protest against new municipal taxes. According to reports from the Equatorial Guinean opposition, confirmed by talks the French news agency AFP had with Malabo policemen, the six taxi drivers are in detention by the direct orders of Mayor Gabriel Mba Bela, son-in-law of the country's dictator Obiang Ngeuma (accused of corruption and drug trafficking himself). The strikers' protests had directed directly against Mba Bela. On Friday 9 February, Mayor Mba Bela had sent an invitation to the taxi drivers to a meeting the following day, but many of the drivers did not receive the notification. Thus, almost nobody showed up at the 10 February meeting, where a new municipal tax was presented. As the city's taxi drivers realized what had happened, they mobilised to take action against the municipal plan on 12 February. On Monday 12 February, the taxi drivers laid down their work in a political strike and left for the town hall to demonstrate against the new municipal tax. There, the majority of the city's taxi drivers were immediately arrested and their vehicles were confiscated. Those making resistance allegedly were beaten badly and exposed to police torture, methods that are the normality at the Malabo police headquarters. The majority of the taxi drivers were released the same day after paying a fine of 10,000 francs CFA (approx. 14 US$). Their vehicles were given back to them. Six drivers were however kept in detention, accused of having organised the strike and manifestations. They are reportedly in custody of the Malabo police; where there are fears they might be subdued to torture. It has been reported that they will have to pay up to 200,000 franc CFA to get their confiscated vehicles back when/if released. Mayor Mba Bela claims the six drivers are rightfully detained. He bases his decision in the Equatorial Guinean Constitution, which, according to him, prohibits both strikes and manifestations. This is denied by to major opposition parties, the Union of Independent Democrats (UDI) and the Movement for Autonomy for the Island of Bioko (MAIB), which state that the Guinean Constitution provides for the right to manifestation. "The right to strike has been recognised in Equatorial Guinea since 1991, when Article 10 of the Constitution was reformed," the parties state. Article 13 of the Constitution states that "Every citizen has the right to free association, meeting and manifestation." The right to strike is not mentioned. Although the Equatorial Guinean Constitution provides for the right to organize unions, the legislation prohibits strikes and does not recognise the right to collective bargaining. The country's Labour Code contains provisions to uphold worker rights, but the Government generally does not enforce them, according to US State Department sources. According to the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), the labour rights in Equatorial Guinea are grossly violated. The ICFTU sums up the situation in this way: "Basic trade union rights are denied. The government continues to deny unions official registration and there are no functioning trade unions. The security forces repress independent union activity." Government authorities have supported the decision of Mayor Mba Bela. They see these protest manifestations of the taxi drivers as a clear support to the political forces in opposition to President Obiang and treat them as if they were oppositional manifestations. Government sources have already attached the political opposition to the strike and claims that the leader of the protesting drivers was of the Bubi people and belongs to the Movement for Autonomy for the Island of Bioko (MAIB) opposition. The Bubi people constitute the majority of the inhabitants of Bioko Island, where Malabo is located. The Bubi people traditionally has formed the strongest opposition to the government. According to the MAIB, however, the strike and manifestation was exclusively based in the trade's reaction to the municipal taxes and there was no ethnical component in the action. "Actually, the majority of those detained in police headquarters are of the Fang people." The Fang people, originating from the Río Muni mainland, constitute the majority of Equatorial Guinea's 400,000 inhabitants and almost the entire ruling class. The two opposition parties UDI and MAIB have called for solidarity with the affected, which have demonstrated much courage fighting for their rights against the local authorities.
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