Human rights in Equatorial Guinea

Equatorial Guinea is known for human rights abuses. Under the current government it has "limited ability of citizens to change their government; increased reports of unlawful murders of civilians by security forces; government-sanctioned kidnappings; systematic torture of prisoners and detainees by security forces; life threatening conditions in prisons and detention facilities; impunity; arbitrary arrest and detention and incommunicado detention; harassment and deportation of foreign residents with limited due process; judicial corruption and lack of due process; restrictions on the right to privacy; restrictions on freedom of speech and of the press; restrictions on the rights of assembly, association, and movement; government corruption; violence and discrimination against women; suspected trafficking in persons; discrimination against ethnic minorities; and restrictions on labor rights."[1]

There were multiple irregularities in the 2009 legislative elections, but they were considered an improvement over the flawed 2002 and 2004 elections.[1] There is a cult of personality in Equatorial Guinea around the leader. In order to improve his and Equatorial Guinea's image, long time autocrat Teodoro Obiang hired Racepoint, a global marketing and public relations firm, for $60,000 a year.[2] Transparency International includes Equatorial Guinea as one of its most 12 corrupt states.[3][4]

Equatorial Guinea also had the death penalty. In September 2022, this was cancelled by President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo and Vice President Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue.[5]

  1. ^ a b "Equatorial Guinea".
  2. ^ "How a U.S. agency cleaned up Rwanda's genocide-stained image" – via The Globe and Mail.
  3. ^ e.V., Transparency International. "Research - CPI - Overview". www.transparency.org. Archived from the original on 2019-01-12. Retrieved 2012-02-02.
  4. ^ "Equatorial Guinea profile". 20 September 2017 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  5. ^ "Equatorial Guinea abolishes death penalty, state television reports". TheGuardian.com. 19 September 2022.