I think the international community has a key role to play to help change governments like the one from Equatorial Guinea. To go from dictatorship to democracy in a place like Equatorial Guinea, the international community should first and foremost be putting pressure on the government. That government, the government of Equatorial Guinea, should not be allowed to visit any foreign countries without the question of democracy, human rights, transparency, be raised by a journalist or be raised by some of the government officials they’re meeting with. NGOs in those societies – Equatorial Guinea for several years has escaped scrutiny by NGOs, not only by governments.
It’s funny, I mean, I tell people this joke about how Equatorial Guinea, in many ways, is a very international country. It’s a country that was colonized by Spain, so we speak Spanish. The money that we use is based on the French money, so we use Franc CFA, which was francs from French. The military in Equatorial Guinea is trained by Moroccans and Israelis. The education system is basically financed by Spain. The health care system – but for the Cuban doctors, there would be no health care system inside the country. So you have all this international influence. Yet nobody knows about Equatorial Guinea until someone like myself from civil society gets out there and tells them where Equatorial Guinea is.
I mean, I’ve been to Congress several times. When I talk to a congressional staffer about Equatorial Guinea, a congressional staffer working on Africa – and in the next sentence, they will say, oh, Equatorial New Guinea. There is no such country as Equatorial New Guinea, you know. And we always confuse with Ecuador, maybe because we speak Spanish, and we always confuse with Guinea-Bissau or Guinea-Conakry. So people don’t know where Equatorial Guinea is.
So really, journalists can do a lot in shining a light on what is happening inside EG, if we would talk more, if we would write more about Equatorial Guinea. Journalists can do a lot of about denying President Obiang good press internationally. So when the Sullivan Foundation, for instance, accepts to have the Sullivan Forum in Africa, in Equatorial Guinea, there should be journalists from Washington, D.C., criticizing both the Sullivan Foundation and the Equatorial Guinean government.
When the Equatorial Guinean government decides to have the UNASUR (Union of South American Nations) conference in Malabo, there should be journalists from Venezuela, from Brazil, from Ecuador or Colombia or Mexico, et cetera, criticizing that step, so there is a lot they can do over there. Right now I have Wenceslao, my friend Dr. Wenceslao Mansogo, in jail. It is critical for ambassadors or countries with an ambassador inside Equatorial Guinea to be pushing for this innocent man to be released immediately. The life of an innocent man, the liberty, the freedom of an innocent man should not be an issue of negotiation. When you have had a trial that was attended by diplomats in which not a shred of evidence was shown, was given, as to why these men should be in jail, the international community should be vocal about why this man should be freed immediately. I mentioned President Teodoro Obiang’s son, who is also Teodoro Nguema Obiang. There is an international arrest warrant pending right now against him issued by the French authorities. I would hope that all the international communities, all nations out there, we cooperate with the French, with INTERPOL to arrest Teodoro wherever he goes for money laundering and fraud, you know.
So there are concrete things that the international community can do to help ensure that there is rule of law or that the president of Equatorial Guinea senses that the international community would not bow down to his oil or to his corruption, to his human rights violations.
Tutu Alicante is a human rights lawyer from the island of Annobon in Equatorial Guinea. In 1993, Mr. Alicante was in a Roman Catholic seminary, preparing for the priesthood. A group of citizens, among them one of Mr. Alicante’s cousins, organized a peaceful demonstration at the governor’s house calling for respect for human rights and measures to address widespread poverty. In response, government forces arrested and killed a number of the demonstrators and burned Mr. Alicante’s family home to the ground. He left Equatorial Guinea in 1994 to pursue his education abroad.
After obtaining a law degree from the University of Tennessee and a Masters in Law from Columbia University, he worked on legal defense programs for migrant farm workers and as a consultant for a branch of the Open Society Institute promoting legal accountability and transparency in extractive industries.
Tutu Alicante founded and serves as Executive Director of EG Justice, a nonprofit and nongovernmental organization that educates, empowers, and engages a new generation of democracy and human rights advocates at home and abroad. It undertakes grassroots campaigns to reform institutions inside Equatorial Guinea and documents human rights violations, collecting oral and written testimonies inside the country and abroad to hold violators accountable. EG Justice publishes periodic reports and educates the public. EG Justice collaborates with international institutions to bring critical human rights issues to the attention of global policymakers, including the United Nations, the African Union, and other multilateral organizations. It undertakes and supports legal advocacy to hold human rights abusers accountable in local, regional, and international tribunals and works closely with community-based partners to empower them through the litigation process.
Follow Tutu Alicante on Twitter at @TutuAlicante and follow EG Justice on Twitter at @EGJustice
Equatorial Guinea is one of Africa’s smallest countries, with a population of roughly 650,000 people. It is the only independent country on the continent where Spanish is the official language. Extensive oil reserves were discovered in 1996 and have dramatically altered the country’s fortunes. Oil has made Equatorial Guinea the wealthiest country in Africa on a per capita basis, with the World Bank estimating the country’s per capita GDP (Purchasing Power Parity in current international dollars) at over $35,000 – nominally higher than that of France or Japan. However, the country’s resources are distributed very unevenly, with more than 70 percent of the population living below the poverty line.
The area now known as Equatorial Guinea was home to many indigenous tribal groups when it was first discovered and colonized by the Portuguese in 1471. In 1778, Portugal ceded the area to Spain and it became home to many plantations. Immigrants came from other African countries as well as Spain looking for work. Freed slaves also came to the country, creating a mixture of ethnic and cultural groups. Spain ruled the country as a colony until 1968, when it granted Equatorial Guinea independence.
In 1968, Francisco Macias Nguema became the first president of the nation. During his rule, Macias carried out the execution of those who he perceived as a threat to his rule as well as many members of the Bubi ethnic minority. By the end of his time in power more than a third of the population of Equatorial Guinea had either fled the country or had been executed. The nation experienced a massive “brain drain” as Macias specifically targeted intellectuals and those involved in education. Macias also declared himself president for life, closed down some churches, prevented Equatoguineans from leaving the country, and banned things he perceived as “un-African,” including Western medicine.
In 1979, current President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo overthrew and executed his predecessor and uncle, Francisco Macias Nguema, in a bloody military coup. However, Obiang continued many of the policies and practices of his uncle’s regime. The judiciary and parliament are firmly under the control of the president. Obiang’s regime has never held credible elections. Basic freedoms, such as freedom of expression, assembly and conscience are not respected by the regime.
Equatorial Guinea’s oil resources are controlled by Obiang’s supporters and other elites. Corruption is rampant – in 2013, Transparency International ranked Equatorial Guinea 163rd out of 177 countries surveyed.
In its 2014 “Freedom in the World” Report, Freedom House labeled Equatorial Guinea as “not free”. The nation received the worst possible score of seven in political rights, civil liberties, and as its overall freedom rating. Freedom House’s 2014 “Freedom of the Press” Report gave Equatorial Guinea a score of 90, where 0 is the best possible score and 100 is the worst possible score.