Equatorial Guinea accused by Amnesty over US deportees

Amnesty accused Equatorial Guinea's authorities on Friday of beating and jailing two men who had been expelled from the United States to the central African country, where neither of them is from.

The rights group named the men as Ahmed Soliman, originally from Egypt, and Samson Birhane, originally from Eritrea. It said they had been living in a hotel in Malabo since arriving in Equatorial Guinea.

Amnesty said the two men were beaten and violently removed from the hotel last Friday, then placed in an overcrowded cell at a paramilitary police base. It said they were unlawfully arrested and accused of “breaking a mirror” at the hotel.

“Police officers covered the two men's heads with a bag and beat them in their heads, backs and ribs,” Amnesty said, adding that the treatment appeared to be a reprisal for speaking out.

The group said the men had since been held in inhumane conditions and were unable to speak to their lawyer. It demanded their immediate release.

Washington has expelled dozens of people under a Trump administration-backed plan to reduce immigration by paying countries to take non-nationals. Soliman told AFP last month that he and others staying at a hotel in Malabo had been mistreated and felt authorities wanted them to leave.