In Late October, Equatorial Guinea’s long time President Teodoro Obiang announced that the country would amnesty political prisoners in jail or standing trial. While at first glance this seems like a momentous step forward for the human rights-troubled West African state, the lack of detail has served to temper the expectations of human rights activists.
Equatorial Guinea has long topped the list of human rights violators and failed governance across the continent.
Obiang holds the unseemly title of the continent’s longest serving despot, having taken power in 1979 after overthrowing his uncle in a bloody coup d’etat. During his three and a half decades of rule the list of human rights violations in the tiny West African state is baffling.
According to Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for West and Central Africa Stephen Cockburn, “This decree would be an encouraging step for human rights in Equatorial Guinea if it leads to the release of people imprisoned solely for the peaceful exercise of their human rights, but the authorities must be transparent about the details.”
A recent Freedom House report titled “Worst of the Worst” saya that political prisoners are plentiful in Equatorial Guinea as “opponents are monitored, harassed, arrested, and tortured; ethnic groups that do not belong to Obiang’s clan are deprived of their political rights and marginalized; journalists are censored and prosecuted; and the parliament and judiciary serve as nothing more than a rubber stamp.”
While the woeful state of affairs in governance and human rights defies measure, perhaps even more jarring is the incredible corruption and kleptocracy Obiang has fostered during his tenure.
Equatorial Guinea ranks as one of the most impoverished countries the world. According to the World Bank, in 2006, the last year for which data was made available, 77 percent of the population lived in poverty. This was the highest in the world by a margin of nearly 10 percent.
On its own, this statistic would be horrifying. It is compounded, however, by the country’s immense oil wealth that should bring prosperity to the population.
According to the US Energy Information Administration, the country has the eighth-highest confirmed reserves on the continent. This amounts to more than 1.1 billion barrels. The production averaged 318,000 barrels per day in 2012, more than enough to provide for its population of just over 750,000.
This is, of course, where government corruption and malfeasance comes in. Despite a GDP of over $15.5 billion USD and a GDP per capita of more than $20,500 USD the vast majority of the country lives in dire poverty.
Why is that? The answer is tremendous corruption at the highest levels.
The New York Times has reported that recently seized properties in an international corruption investigation have turned up a building in Paris worth as much as $180 million that ”has 101 rooms, including a Turkish bath, a hair salon, two gym clubs, a nightclub and a movie theater.” In the house there was also artwork and furniture worth as much as $50 million and 11 of the worlds most expensive cars. The property and cars belonged to Obiang’s son, Teodorin.
Mansion In Malibu
A simultaneous American investigation lead to the forfeiture of a mansion in Malibu, Michael Jackson memorabilia and more expensive cars, also belonging to the dictator’s son, according to the Voice of America.
The human rights record and corruption of the Obiangs is a major element of the distrust for the recent decree freeing political prisoners. If the law were well crafted it could be a remarkable step forward for a country that has systematically silenced dissent, but a poorly crafted law has the potential to further entrench the country’s nepotistic, “rule of man over rule of law” atmosphere.
According to Cockburn and Amnesty, the law is neither clear on what prisoners will benefit from the amnesty nor does it clearly define amnesty, leaving political prisoners with no more clarity on their fate than they previously had.
The amnesty law was meant to be the beginning of a wider process of reconciliation between Obiang and the long suffering populace. Not only would political prisoners be released, but discussions with political opponents were planned. The lack of clarity sends the process off to a troubling start.
Obiang has ruled the tiny West African country with an iron fist for three and a half decades. While it is easy to read an announcement that political prisoners will be amnestied and assume the country is on the right track, there is no guarantee this is the case.
Not only is the amnesty unclear on what will actually be done, a constitutional amendment adopted a few years ago allows Obiang to handpick his successor and analysts believe the choice is clearly none other than Teodorin, with his father recently making him the country’s to Second Vice President.
This means that in three and a half decades of rule, not only has Obiang willfully violated human rights and left an astounding trail of corruption, he has opted to leave the country to his son whose similar transgressions have been documented from Paris to Malibu. This does not auger well for the country’s future.
While it could be a simple matter of poor drafting that has led to a lack of clarity in the amnesty, Obiang’s record leads one to believe that there is something darker afoot. Let us hope, for the people of Equatorial Guinea, that this is the beginning of a national reconciliation process that will lead to change, not simply more of the same.
Andrew Friedman is a human rights attorney and consultant who works and writes on legal reform and constitutional law with an emphasis on Africa. He can be reached via email at afriedm2@gmail.com or via twitter @AndrewBFriedman.
