Equatorial Guinea Dozens of islanders detained over letter

Earlier this year, residents of the small island of Annobón began noticing withering plants on their farmland and large cracks in their houses. They attributed the damage to years of dynamite explosions linked to mining operations on the island, a province of Equatorial Guinea that lies in the Gulf of Guinea, about 220 miles west of Gabon off the west coast of Africa.

- Eromo Egbejule \

In July, 16 people on the island wrote to authorities in Malabo, the capital of Equatorial Guinea, expressing concern about the deterioration of the environment and demanding an end to the use of dynamite.

The response came swiftly: within a few days soldiers arrested the letter's signatories and dozens of activists sympathetic to their cause in raids. Mobile service and internet access were shut down.

“The troops went from house to house to arrest our relatives,” a family member of one detainee said anonymously for fear of being targeted. “They took them to police stations on Annobón and then put them in planes without water or food to deport them to Malabo.”