Right now at EG Justice, an organization that is based outside, we focus on a lot of legal advocacy, and we use other tools, you know, going to Congress, going to the U.N. But the work that I’m most excited about is the work that we do with young people inside the country – young artists, young activists. And this is a group, young people inside the country, that over the last few years have reclaimed this space that many of us thought did not exist inside the country. There are hip-hop artists right now inside the country that are using lyrics that I did not think a few years ago could be said inside the country.
Yes, some of them have been arrested, but eventually they’re released. They’re not seen as a threat. They’re not seen as a real political threat. They are youth groups right now using theater in exciting ways, street theater. There are young people who are on Facebook, increasingly more, between folks inside the country, young people inside the country and young people outside. There is the comic artist and blogger there that I mentioned, Ramón Nsé. And really, I see in these young people the hope for change in Equatorial Guinea. Our role as an organization that’s based outside is seeing how we can come up with both the resources and the network opportunities to support what these young people are doing inside, and to put them, link them with people, young people doing similar things in other similarly restrictive places.
I have a friend from Bahrain who runs a human rights organization, working with young artists, doing so many types of things that could help change the platform in EG in a very short time. So part of my work is linking them together. There are young people in Zimbabwe and other places using comic strips, using hip-hop, et cetera. So part of what we’re trying to do is link these different networks together so that we can learn from their experiences. So that’s a definite place, the young people, where I see an important future. Another group that has a lot of potential is women.
I think women are also part of a group. They have a space that, up until now, remains very closed to men in Equatorial Guinea. Over the last three years, on March 8th (International Women’s Day), women in Equatorial Guinea have been able to hold a march, peaceful march, but they have been able to hold a march. In Equatorial Guinea, supposedly, it is against the law to march; you cannot march in Equatorial Guinea. You cannot have a protest of any sort. But women have been able to do a peaceful protest, a peaceful march, on March 8 for the last three years. I have talked to women working in Equatorial Guinea and working on issues of domestic violence, working on issues of criminalizing domestic violence.
I’ve talked to women working with young girls who are not going to school because their families do not have the resources or because the family does not want to educate them based on gender discrimination issues that we’re still facing in the country. And these are women; they are willing to use this little space that they have right now to start talking and discussing some of these basic rights issues that the country is facing as a whole. So that’s a platform yet again, women, in which, with some resources, some changes could be – could be brought about inside EG, inside Equatorial Guinea, in a short amount of time – fairly short amount of time. Because for me, you know, that’s what freedom is all about, right? Becoming a full-fledged citizen.
You’re not free if you don’t have basic freedoms that keep you from being a full human being. A lot of our work right now, you know, is that – civic participation, getting people to think about, as a citizen, what rights do you have? You have a right to a budget. You have to know how much money you’re going – your government is making from oil and from timber and from everything else. And once you know that, you have a right to demand your local governor, where is the money that was supposed to be used for a clinic in the village. And you as a citizen, that is your right, you know. And if you’re not doing that, then paying taxes and everything else, you know, is an exercise in nothingness.
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.