Equatorial Guinea: A country that stands out through repression and the reign of terror

For too long, people have been living in a climate of fear because of the impunity of human rights violations and violations of these rights, including the imprisonment of human rights defenders, activists and political opponents on the basis of accusations forged from scratch.

A glimmer of hope has emerged, as with the 2006 law prohibiting torture, and President Nguema’s recent announcement of a bill to abolish the death penalty. However, unless the government takes real measures to enforce the law, to guarantee full respect for human rights and to end repression, the number of victims of human rights violations will continue to increase in Equatorial Guinea.

President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasago took power on August 3, 1979 after a coup against President Francisco Masie Nguema. Since then, the country has been the scene of a very worrying deterioration in the human rights situation, marked by torture, extrajudicial executions, arbitrary detentions and prosecutions against political activists and human rights defenders.

The executions, under the regime of President Nguema, began a month after the coup d’état that brought him to power, and they continue, with extrajudicial executions apparently committed by soldiers and police officers.

Also, President Nguema’s 40 years of power have also been marked by the lack of independence of the judicial system. During all these years, many government critics and human rights defenders have been subjected to unfair trials.

Miss OLY