Joaquín Elo Ayeto

Joaquín "Paysa" Elo Ayeto (born 24 September 1979) is an Equatoguinean human rights activist. A member of the opposition political party Convergence for Social Democracy and the co-founder of the civil society organisation Somos+, he has been arrested and imprisoned on various occasions since 2016.

Biography Elo Ayeto is a member of Convergence for Social Democracy, the main opposition party in Equatorial Guinea. He served as the party's secretary of mobilisation, propaganda and citizen participation. In addition, Elo Ayeto was a founding member of Somos+, a civil society non-governmental organisation. Somos+ was founded in 2015, originally with the intention of supporting young people who had been arbitrarily detained during the Africa Cup of Nations, which was held in Equatorial Guinea. Somos+ went on to broaden its scope to report on human rights violations in Equatorial Guinea. In 2020, Elo Ayeto attempted to formally register Somos+ with the Ministry of Interior and Local Corporations; however, the attempt was unsuccessful as authorities stated Somos+ required validation from the General Directorate of Human Rights, despite this not being required under Equatoguinean law.

On 29 November 2016, Elo Ayeto was assaulted by two officers from the Armed Forces of Equatorial Guinea after he had posted an article online about an officer refusing to pay a toll. He filed a criminal complaint, but was accused by a judge of giving a "bad image" of Equatorial Guinea and was placed in pre-trial detention at Black Beach, a prison in Malabo, though no charges were identified as the reason for his imprisonment. Elo Ayeto was released from detention at the start of the new judicial year in January 2017 after a month in prison.

In December 2022, Elo Ayeto was arrested for organising a human rights conference to commemorate Human Rights Day "without official authorisation".

On 4 August, Elo Ayeto's lawyer, Ángel Obama Obiang Eseng, was arrested on charges of "representing an illegal organisation"; he was detained for 48 hours before being released. He was subsequently temporarily suspended from the Equatorial Guinea Bar Association, meaning he could no longer legally represent Elo Ayeta in criminal proceedings.

Ambô Legadu, the news agency for Annobón, called on the international community to "strong condemn" Elo Ayeto's arrest and to put pressure on the Obiang government to respect human rights and to release all political prisoners.