There is no freedom of information in Equatorial Guinea. There is no freedom of the press in Equatorial Guinea. There is one radio and TV station owned by the government, which only publishes information that is positive about the government, so it’s basically a propaganda machine. And there is one radio and TV station owned by the son of the president, which basically publishes – produces information that is positive about the son. That’s it.
We know that CPDS, Convergence for Social Democracy, the political party in the opposition with the most support inside the country, at one point tried – acquired the equipment to open its own radio station so it could reach people. Within a day of that being known, the military went to their offices and destroyed the whole office looking for that radio station. They couldn’t find it, so right now nobody knows where that piece of equipment is. Equatorial Guinea, in terms of news, is very isolated from the rest of Africa. It’s the only Spanish-speaking country in sub-Saharan Africa. So information coming from Cameroon, Gabon in French or produced in Cameroon, Gabon, in Chad, Central Africa Republic, the neighboring countries, doesn’t get into EG and doesn’t have an impact because it’s in French and people inside Equatorial Guinea speak Spanish. There are no newspapers produced in Equatorial Guinea.
You couldn’t go out to the streets and buy a magazine or a paper. There are no bookstores in Equatorial Guinea, so you couldn’t go out and buy a book written by an Equatorial Guinean writer in Madrid or inside the country. The only places, the only two spaces right now where, if you’re a citizen inside the country, you can go and get some information other than what the government wants you to have is at the Spanish cultural center or at the French cultural center. We are still pushing the U.S. embassy in the country or the U.S. ambassador and State Department to open a U.S. cultural center – to open a democracy center, rather, you know.
We know that the U.S. has done this in other African countries, a democracy center, a center where people could go, use a computer, find out what’s happening outside and interact with members of civil society, other people doing other work outside the country. Sadly, that hasn’t happened yet. I have been pushing the State Department to think about how we could have Voice of America use a close by relay station to broadcast in Spanish into Equatorial Guinea. Sadly, that hasn’t happened yet. I should say that over the last few years, as oil has become an issue in EG, it has gotten some coverage in the U.S.
There are a few key journalists, people like Ken Silverstein, people like Peter Maass and others, who periodically have written about the corrosive system that we have in Equatorial Guinea, and that is beginning to make its waves and reaching out to other people. The Pulitzer Center, also based in Washington, D.C., recently sent in a journalist because Equatorial Guinea hosted the Cup of the African Nations (an international football tournament). And as a result of this, journalists going in and coming out with photos and material, some news is getting out.
So little by little, news is getting out, and the U.S. has been a friendly ally in that process. But it’s still a very closed society. The center for – the Committee to Protect Journalists still lists Equatorial Guinea, I believe, as the third or fourth closed – most closed society where you don’t have independent media.
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.