The last official execution dates from 2014 in this small oil country in Central Africa among the most authoritarian in the world. International NGOs regularly denounce forced disappearances, arbitrary detentions and tortures.
Le Monde with AFP
Equatorial Guinea abolished the death penalty. The announcement was made on Monday, September 19, by state television citing a law promulgated by Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, the president of this oil country in Central Africa. The event was described as “historic for our country” by a journalist in a lapidary announcement at the very end of the television news.
“I write it in capital letters to seal this unique moment: Equatorial Guinea has abolished the death penalty”, also tweeted the vice-president Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue , nicknamed Teodorin. Son of the Head of State, omnipresent for two years on the political scene and presented as his runner-up, he disseminated extracts from a text from the new Equato-Guinean penal code.
Previously adopted by Parliament, where 99 of the 100 deputies sit on behalf of the Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea (PDGE), the presidential training, the provision will come into force “within 90 days of its publication in the Official Bulletin of the ‘State “.
The last official execution in Equatorial Guinea dates back to 2014 according to the human rights organization Amnesty International. The death sentences were usually executed by soldiers. In a report published in August, the NGO denounced the policy of combating gangs undertaken by Equatorial Guinea which “undermines human rights”, pointing cases of arbitrary detentions, tortures and forced disappearances.
World record of longevity in power
“Equatorial Guinea completely ignores Amnesty International’s statements on human rights because they lack foundation and credibility”, replied Mr. Obiang who, at 80, holds the world record for longevity in power – over forty -three years, excluding monarchies. Amnesty International had estimated that in the space of three months, several thousand young men had been arrested across the country.
“Under the guise of the fight against crime, the authorities arbitrarily arrest and hold young people, many of whom are tortured, mistreated or lose their lives, or are subject to a forced disappearance,” said Marta Colomer, Responsible for campaigns for Central and West Africa in Amnesty International.
The organization denounced the same year torture, political repression and the numerous violations of human rights under the chairmanship of Mr. Obiang, citing in particular a law prohibiting torture approved in 2006, but which did not not been applied.
About fifty states continue to apply the capital punishment in the world. In Africa, more than thirty countries maintain it in their legislation, even if a little less than half have carried out executions in recent years.