Equatorial Guinea: An Opportunity to Put an End to Impunity

On 18 February 1997, the president of Equatorial Guinea, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, publicly announced that several measures would be adopted to put an end to human rights violations in his country without specifying the nature of these measures. The Head of State also recognized that some civilians, as well as military and security officers, were 'systematically violating human rights', and announced that perpetrators would be held responsible and punished. Although in the past President Obiang had made promises to improve the human rights situation in the country, which then he failed to fulfil, this was the first time that he publicly admitted to the systematic violation of human rights in Equatorial Guinea and held civilian and security authorities responsible, and announced that they would be punished. Bringing to justice those who violate human rights is essential to end impunity and to the effective prevention of further violations. Since its independence from Spain in 1968, human rights violations in Equatorial Guinea have gone unchecked. The mass killings and other forms of severe human rights violations that occurred under former President Francisco Macías Nguema and continued, on a lesser scale under President Obiang, were never investigated nor were perpetrators brought to justice, giving rise to the atmosphere of impunity that reigns in the country today, particularly among the security forces. Until now the authorities have shown little inclination to curb the power of the security forces and to bring their behaviour under control. It is essential to end impunity. If this is not done, any other measures to protect human rights will have no effect and President Obiang's stated intentions might turn out to be empty words.