• Equatorial Guinea remains mired in corruption, poverty, and repression under President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, who has been in power since 1979. Vast oil revenues fund lavish lifestyles for the small elite surrounding the president, while most of the population lives in poverty. The government regularly engages in torture and arbitrary detention. Journalists, civil society groups, and members of the political opposition face heavy government repression. To date, President Obiang and his family are the subject of multiple foreign corruption investigations.
  • Mr. Fabián Nsue Nguema, a respected human rights lawyer in Equatorial Guinea.
    Authorities in Equatorial Guinea have arbitrarily detained the prominent lawyer Fabián Nsue Nguema in Black Beach prison in Malabo, the capital of Equatorial Guinea, and are refusing to allow him visitors. Nsue’s wife told Human Rights Watch that she was twice refused when she asked to see her husband but that prison authorities had privately confirmed to her that he is being held there.

Reports

  • Oil and Human Rights in Equatorial Guinea
  • A Call for Action on HIV/AIDS-Related Human Rights Abuses Against Women and Girls in Africa

Equatorial Guinea

  • Dec 6, 2012
    The most recent arbitrary detention of a leading opposition politician in Equatorial Guinea on December 4, 2012, raises concerns about human rights conditions in the lead-up to legislative elections in the first half of 2013. Since November 2011, the government has detained at least four high-profile members of the country’s beleaguered political opposition.
  • Oct 25, 2012
    Authorities in Equatorial Guinea have arbitrarily detained the prominent lawyer Fabián Nsue Nguema in Black Beach prison in Malabo, the capital of Equatorial Guinea, and are refusing to allow him visitors. Nsue’s wife told Human Rights Watch that she was twice refused when she asked to see her husband but that prison authorities had privately confirmed to her that he is being held there.
  • Oct 24, 2012
    The authorities in Equatorial Guinea should immediately investigate the alleged enforced disappearance of a top human rights lawyer who has been unaccounted for since the evening of October 22, 2012.
  • Aug 14, 2012
    The arbitrary arrest and detention of a former business associate of the son of Equatorial Guinea’s president demonstrates the government’s continued violation of basic rights. The arrest came just days before Equatorial Guinea is to host an event designed to improve its global image.
  • Aug 9, 2012
    We understand that you have been invited by the Leon H. Sullivan Foundation (Sullivan Foundation) to participate in its IX Sullivan Summit, which is scheduled to take place in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, from August 20-24, in collaboration with President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo. The selection of President Obiang as the host of the upcoming summit is controversial, particularly given the Sullivan Foundation’s mission of empowering underprivileged people and the event’s intended focus on economic and social development in Africa.
  • Jul 15, 2012
    UNESCO’s decision to issue a controversial prize sponsored by President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea is disappointing and irresponsible, seven civil society groups said. A ceremony to award the prize is scheduled for July 17, 2012, in Paris. Obiang, in power for 33 years, leads a government known for corruption and repression.
  • Jun 15, 2012

    The president of Equatorial Guinea should take concrete steps to respect human rights, address corruption, and improve transparency. On June 15, Global Witness, Human Rights Watch, Open Society Foundations, and Oxfam America met with President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo in Washington, DC, to press for meaningful reforms.

  • Jun 6, 2012
    The pardon by President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea of Dr. Wenceslao Mansogo Alo, the prominent political opponent and human rights defender, is a positive step. The country’s judicial system, however, which pursued the unjust and politically motivated charges against Dr. Mansogo, is riddled with problems that need to be addressed.
  • May 25, 2012
    Authorities in Equatorial Guinea should cease all harassment of a jailed political opponent and those close to him. Dr. Wenceslao Mansogo Alo, a medical doctor, human rights defender and leading member of the political opposition who was convicted and sentenced on May 7, 2012, to three years in prison following a politically motivated trial, was transferred on May 18 without explanation to a filthy, isolated cell in Bata central prison.
  • May 7, 2012

    The conviction of a prominent member of Equatorial Guinea’s beleaguered political opposition is a travesty of justice. A trial court in the city of Bata found Wenceslao Mansogo Alo, a medical doctor, guilty of professional negligence and sentenced him to three years in prison in a politically motivated trial.