DAKAR, Senegal — The State Department is calling on the Republic of Congo to respect the rights of a 70-year-old naturalized American citizen who has been held in prison without charges for more than a year.
The American, Marcel Pika, a retired colonel who once served in the Republic of Congo’s military, has been detained since March 2016 after voters cast ballots in a presidential election that set off days of violence.
Mr. Pika had lived for years in Nebraska, becoming an American citizen in 2005, but moved back to his home country in 2007, where he also retained citizenship. His family says it believes he was detained because he was a supporter of the opposition party.
President Denis Sassou-Nguesso, who won the 2016 election and has ruled the nation for decades, has been accused of numerous human rights violations throughout his years in power and specifically in the aftermath of the vote.
DAKAR, Senegal — The State Department is calling on the Republic of Congo to respect the rights of a 70-year-old naturalized American citizen who has been held in prison without charges for more than a year.
The American, Marcel Pika, a retired colonel who once served in the Republic of Congo’s military, has been detained since March 2016 after voters cast ballots in a presidential election that set off days of violence.
Mr. Pika had lived for years in Nebraska, becoming an American citizen in 2005, but moved back to his home country in 2007, where he also retained citizenship. His family says it believes he was detained because he was a supporter of the opposition party.
President Denis Sassou-Nguesso, who won the 2016 election and has ruled the nation for decades, has been accused of numerous human rights violations throughout his years in power and specifically in the aftermath of the vote.
A few days after last year’s election, armed men arrived at Mr. Pika’s home in the Pointe-Noire area of the country and took him away, shirtless, in an unmarked green vehicle, his family said. Family members eventually learned that he was being detained in Brazzaville, the capital.
The State Department said Mr. Pika should have been released after no more than six months because he had not been charged with a crime.
State Department officials are closely monitoring developments involving Mr. Pika and have “repeatedly raised concerns about Mr. Pika’s case, including his health, at the highest levels in the Republic of Congo,” according to a recent email from the State Department sent in response to inquiries.
“Despite several court hearings and legal procedures, he remains in prison with an uncertain future,” according to the statement. “The government claims it needs more time for the investigation.”
Mr. Sassou-Nguesso is one of Africa’s so-called presidents for life. His most recent election took place after a referendum that extended the age limit for the presidency beyond 70. Mr. Sassou-Nguesso is 73.
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Mr. Sassou-Nguesso first came to power in 1979 and governed for 13 years before losing an election in 1992. He again assumed power after a civil war in 1997 killed 10,000 people and displaced thousands more.
In last year’s election, Mr. Sassou-Nguesso won 60 percent of the vote, but opposition candidates called the victory a sham. Western nations complained about a lack of transparency in the counting of votes. During the election period, the government cut off television broadcasts and access to the internet.
In the days after the vote, shooting broke out in opposition areas. Human rights groups have accused Mr. Sassou-Nguesso of ordering airstrikes and a ground offensive against his political opponents.
Mr. Pika fled the Republic of Congo in the late 1990s. He first took his family to Benin but feared that the government there would hand them over to Mr. Sassou-Nguesso’s administration. In 1999, he and his family moved as refugees to Lincoln, Neb., with the help of the United Nations.
Mr. Pika had returned to the Republic of Congo in 2007 with his wife to farm and eventually retire, according to his son, Percy Pika.
Percy Pika said that he had visited his father in detention and that the conditions were grim. His father is diabetic and has lost a lot of weight. He said other members of the opposition were also being held without charges.
Percy Pika said the government had issued multiple two-month extensions to local laws to keep Mr. Pika in prison.
Officials at the American Embassy in Brazzaville said they also had visited Mr. Pika in detention and were providing “all possible consular assistance.”
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