Technology in Equatorial Guinea is still out of reach to most people, and that’s mainly two reasons. One, the cost associated with going to a cybercafé or cybernet café and accessing an email account. So if you are in Equatorial Guinea and you have a job with one of the oil companies or one of the companies working with the oil companies, then you have the – I think it’s about $2, mil francos, that it takes to go to Internet café and access your account for 15 minutes, right? If you have that job, well, if you’re in a situation where, with those $2, you have to decide whether you buy food or you go to the Internet; most people today are still buying the food for obvious reasons.
So for that reason primarily, Internet technology is still not available to the majority of young people inside the country. The other issue is also electricity, electricity and bandwidth – you know, this is the situation, a country where – most people inside Equatorial Guinea don’t have electricity at night. I was in Equatorial Guinea – last time I was there in 2004, 2005, I was still living with my family with a candle or a kerosene lamp. So because of electricity – right now we’re organizing a conference, and to get my colleagues to send me a copy of their passport, it’s an ordeal.
It’s taking weeks and weeks because they have to wait for the day when they can go to a cybernet with electricity, and they have to wait for the day when their scanner is working, and they have to figure out how to resize it small enough to be able to get it from Equatorial Guinea to the U.S. But we are better off today than we were 10 years ago, certainly. And I hope that in the next few years, it’s only going to improve. Slowly. It’s happening – it’s beginning to happen.
There are a couple of cybernets in the capital, and the same in the second-largest largest city, Bata. We still have a problem with power, electricity. There is no electricity, often. But more and more young people are getting accounts, opening accounts on Facebook. And more and more people are reading what is happening outside. There is a fantastic blogger. He’s a comic artist and blogger, Ramón Nsé. He runs a blog called Las Locuras de Ramón. And daily, he has a piece relevant to what’s happening politically, socially, in the country. And daily he has a comic drawing, an image to go with that. And between him and an organization called ASODEGUE, Asociacion para la solidaridad con Guinea Ecuatorial (The Association for Solidarity with Equatorial Guinea), also based in Madrid, they have managed to keep people inside Equatorial Guinea informed of what’s happening outside, and they have managed to let young people know that we can love our country and still be critical. And I am happy to report that, you know, that is beginning to have some change.
There is an opening there. EG Justice, the organization I run, is doing a lot of work right now with Ramón Nsé, this artist I talked about, and other artists that are also based inside the country for – the reason why I cannot mention their names – to form these networks inside the country where we can begin to get information out through using the little space these cybernets are providing, you know. And I think that is the way, that is the way to an Equatorial Guinean spring. That’s the way for – towards change in Equatorial Guinea. We have to use those mechanisms, and we have to use these young people. They have – they are creative, and they’re willing to use that creativity to interpret and influence this country that we have inherited.
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.