Galdámez, Archbishop of San Salvador, who was murdered in 1980 by a death squad while celebrating mass. Following a judgment by the Supreme Court in 2016 in which the 1993 Amnesty Law was ruled to be unconstitutional, the Court held a hearing in July to determine what steps the government had taken to comply with the ruling. In that hearing, both the executive and legislative branches of government admitted to being in contempt of the ruling. In September the government created a commission to search for people who were subjected to enforced disappearance during the armed conflict. In November, the Supreme Court of the USA cleared the way for Colonel Inocente Orlando Montano Morales to be tried in Spain on charges that he conspired in the killing of six Jesuit priests, their housekeeper and her daughter in El Salvador in 1989. 1. Americas: “No safe place” – Salvadorans, Guatemalans and Hondurans seeking asylum in Mexico based on their sexual orientation and/or gender identity (AMR 01/7258/2017) EQUATORIAL GUINEA Republic of Equatorial Guinea Head of state and government: Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo Harassment, intimidation and arbitrary detention of human rights defenders continued. The rights to freedom of association and assembly were curtailed; people attending peaceful gatherings were arbitrarily detained and beaten. Pregnant girls were barred from attending school. BACKGROUND On 27 October, Vice-President Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, the President’s son, was given a three-year suspended prison sentence, and a suspended EUR30 million fine by a court in Paris, France, for 158 corruption and money laundering while he was Minister of Agriculture and Forestry. In November’s legislative and municipal elections, the ruling Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea won 99 of 100 seats in the Chamber of Deputies, all elected seats in the Senate, and all but one seat in the municipal elections. Opposition parties denounced electoral irregularities and intimidation. Internet access was severely disrupted for at least five days. HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS The authorities continued to harass, intimidate and arbitrarily detain human rights defenders. On 17 April, Enrique Asumu and Alfredo Okenve, leaders of the Centre for Development Studies and Initiatives, were detained in the capital, Malabo, after they objected to the authorities’ decision to prevent Enrique Asumu from boarding a plane to Bata city the previous day. Enrique Asumu was released eight days later on health grounds after paying a fine of CFA francs 2 million (USD3,500). Alfredo Okenve was released on 4 May after paying the same fine. The Ministry of Interior had suspended the Centre’s activities in 2016. On 16 September, state security agents arrested and detained Ramón Esono Ebalé, a cartoonist and critic of the government, and two Spanish nationals as they left a restaurant in Malabo. They were handcuffed, their mobile phones confiscated, and taken to the Office against Terrorism and Dangerous Activities where Ramón Esono Ebalé was questioned about his cartoons. The Spanish nationals were released the same day. Ramón Esono Ebalé was transferred three days later to the Black Beach prison in Malabo. National TV reported that he was accused of heading an organization involved in money laundering and counterfeiting money. On 27 November he was charged with counterfeiting money and remained in detention at the end of the year. Amnesty International Report 2017/18