Sub Saharan Africa

Equatorial Guinea
Last reviewed: 17 March 2008

Country information

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POLITICS

Equatorial Guinea is nominally a multi-party democracy but there is little effective political opposition within the country. Power is concentrated in the hands of President Obiang, who won the last presidential elections in 2002 with over 99% of the vote. His political party, the Partido Democratico de Guinea Ecuatorial (PDGE), secured 98 out of the 100 seats in Parliament and 237 out of 244 councillor positions in the municipal and legislative elections of April 2004. The judiciary and legislature are subject to presidential control. Observers generally considered the most recent elections an improvement on the past, but serious irregularities remained. The next elections are expected in the second half of 2008 (legislative) and December 2009 (presidential).

The discovery of large oil and gas deposits in the mid-1990s have in part stimulated the separatist Mouvement d'Autodetermination de l'Ile de Bioko (MAIB) as well as rivalries between the dominant Fang community from the mainland and the minority Bubi natives of Bioko. A number of members of the secessionist MAIB are presently in prison, along with members of the FDR, following the 'attempted coup' in April/May 2002. There is a self-proclaimed ‘Government in Exile’ based in Spain, led by former Minister Severo Moto of the Partido del Progreso de Guinea (PPGE).

BBC News Country Profile: Equatorial Guinea
BBC News: Africa

HUMAN RIGHTS

Equatorial Guinea has a poor human rights record. The use of torture, arbitrary detention, and restrictions on freedom of speech and assembly has been widespread and systematic. It is thought that as many as one third of Equato-Guineans may be living in exile abroad because of fierce political repression over the last 2 decades.

Reports indicate that security forces continue to commit various human rights abuses, including torture, arbitrary arrest and detention, though there were fewer reported incidents of such abuses than in previous years. Members of the security forces were allowed to commit these abuses with impunity. The judiciary in Equatorial Guinea is heavily controlled by the State, and the government severely restricts the freedoms of the press and of speech. Domestic radio broadcasting is controlled by the state, journalists must register with the Ministry of Information and the law authorises government censorship of all publications.