U.S.
Department of State Human Rights Report 1998
The Fundamental Law provides for freedom of religion, but the Government
limited this right in practice. There is no state religion, and the
Government does not discriminate against any faith. However, a religious
organization must be recognized formally by the Ministry of Justice
and Religion before its religious activities are allowed. The Government
continued to restrict the freedom of expression of the clergy, particularly
regarding open criticism of the regime.
The Government restricted the activities of the Catholic Church, of
which most citizens are at least nominally members. In February security
forces arrested Father Eduardo Losoha Belope, who is a Bubi, a priest,
and the president of the Malabo chapter of the Catholic NGO, Caritas,
in connection with the January 21 revolt. In July the Archbishop of
Malabo, Laureano Ekua Obama, stated publicly that the Government now
requires Catholic priests to obtain government permission before celebrating
mass, and commented that the Government does this because the Church
repeatedly has denounced human rights violations, social injustice,
and corruption in the country. The Archbishop also stated that government
harassment made it very difficult to be a Catholic priest in the country.
The Government relaxed some restrictions on religious activities by
foreign missionaries in 1996. Missionaries in Bata and Malabo reported
little government interference in their work. However, in January
security forces broke up a religious revival in Bata, the largest
town on the mainland, by a popular European evangelist, and expelled
him from the country. According to several sources, the governor of
Bata and the police chief expelled the evangelist and his group the
following day in order to take possession of the evangelist's vehicles,
sound system, and other equipment. Diplomatic intervention by a number
of foreign governments allowed the evangelist to depart with his vehicles.
Source: Country Reports
on Human Rights Practices for 1998, U.S. Department of State.
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